A lot of things about a hospital stay make it feel like an absolute drag: needles, shared rooms, backside-baring gowns and the food. While mushy meatloaf and watery Jell-O might be just what you need to kick your recovery into high gear, for the average patient – along with their stressed family and friends – the food isn’t exactly worth looking forward to.
Most hospital cafeterias rely on low-cost ingredients to create a variety of dishes for hundreds of patients each day. But this approach often results in meals that are high in sodium, sugar and fat. And the lack of culinary creativity can be frustrating for guests who are used to higher-quality restaurant fare.
It’s also important to note that hospitals must keep costs under control, balancing budgets with the nutritional needs of patients. For this reason, many hospital restaurants offer a more limited selection of menu items than what you’d find at a typical restaurant, often focusing on reducing salt, sugar and fat as well as providing healthy options for those with dietary restrictions.
While the idea of a restaurant inside a hospital may seem like an appealing concept, most hospitals struggle to get their restaurant operations up and running. Creating menus, buying the right equipment and training employees requires time and money, which can act as a barrier to entry for many new ventures. But there are plenty of ways to bring fresh, delicious, healthy food to the hospital that won’t break the bank.
The key is starting with good ingredients sourced with care. More and more hospitals are aligning their values – such as local sourcing, equity and diversity, climate, health and more – with their food purchases. This allows them to give their staff and patients access to the food they want and need while reducing waste, greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.
A number of trends are also gaining momentum – partnering with smaller local businesses to provide take-out, offering a range of authentic foods from different cultures, serving celebrity chef recipes and even creating gardens on-site. Each of these ideas comes with its own stumbling blocks, but they can all be made to work by using production expertise to adapt the concept to healthcare environments while also making it efficient and economical.
While hospital food isn’t something people are usually looking forward to, it’s a good thing that the issue is getting attention and that there are some solutions out there. If you or someone you know is spending some time in the hospital, we recommend bringing your own meals from home to avoid the fried foods and sugary snacks that are so prevalent on most hospital menus. After all, what you eat is just as important for your healing as the procedure itself. The truth is, if you eat bad food while recovering, it’s going to take you much longer to heal.