Local and sustainable foods in… hospitals?

Flickr image by Marj Joly

We all know that sustainable and locally-sourced foods are everywhere: high-end restaurants, special grocery stores. But now, Skoll social entrepreneur Health Care Without Harm is putting them in an unlikely place: hospitals.

The Ecology Center, Health Care Without Harm’s affiliate in Michigan, worked with the Michigan Hospital Association to start serving healthier foods – and 20 percent of them sourced locally and sustainably. It’s part of a larger initiative to help prevent obesity in the state. Right now, nearly one-third of adults in Michigan are obese, and medical costs associated with obesity are estimated at $3 billion annually.

“You can’t have healthy people without a healthy food system,” says Hillary Bisnett, Healthy Food program coordinator at the Ecology Center. “This initiative goes beyond hospital nutrition. It is about transforming Michigan’s food system infrastructure to be healthy for people, the environment, and local economies.”

Besides where the foods are sourced, other upcoming changes include healthier kids’ menus, adding nutritional labels to foods and encouraging hospitals to host farmers’ markets, farm stands and community-supported agriculture programs.

Read More

Photo Credit