Nursing Continuing Education and Nutrition
Highlight on Food
Food delivers the staple nutrition required to maintain health and a proper diet also speeds recovery from illness. It follows that hospitals need to focus on quality foods for patients, staff, and for the public. Under a holistic model of health, the hospital setting is an opportunity to provide quality food for its health benefits and to set an example to the community for healthy eating. One strong example of a quality food delivery system in the hospital setting is Sutter Maternity and Surgery Center in Santa Cruz, California. This 30 bed not-for-profit hospital serves fresh locally grown and certified organic foods. Patients can order meals in a similar fashion to food service in quality hotels. In addition, the fresh organic foods are available in the food cafeteria for the general public and staff. The process is accomplished with Sutter’s model of purchasing food directly from a farm. By contrast, the food courts in many hospitals provide fast-foods that provide profits but miss the mark in terms of healthy eating.
For a link to the US FDA Click Here .
