At the interdepartmental meeting the surgeon was irritated at all the hospital cafeteria food being fried and suggested offering some healthy entrees. Turns out they tried that once before but could never sell the healthy stuff.
December 6, 2008
December 6, 2008
At the interdepartmental meeting the surgeon was irritated at all the hospital cafeteria food being fried and suggested offering some healthy entrees. Turns out they tried that once before but could never sell the healthy stuff.
December 6, 2008 at 2:58 am
Had the same issues at our regional med center. Healthy -> food service going bankrupt, Fried/Mashed/Gravy covered -> food service turning a profit and being asked to cater in the community.
Oh well.
December 6, 2008 at 5:10 am
Same at our facility. As with any consumer product, you have to sell to profit. So what does our cafe sell? Burgers, fries, and deep fried everything…chicken, pork, veggies. Even the soup is high in fat. Salad bar you say? High fat-content dressing…you have to ASK for low-fat/no-fat dressing.
December 6, 2008 at 7:05 am
We’ve got “No-Fry Fridays” and everyone complains bitterly because you can’t get things like tater tots or a proper Pittsburgh Salad (who ever heard of french fries on salad??)
However, don’t worry, you can still get “grilled” items like a grilled cheese or a cheesesteak. Healthy indeed. :-/
December 6, 2008 at 8:20 am
Ha, ha, ha….reminds me of Dr. Perri Klass. In her book “Treatment, Kind and Fair”, She spoke to other physicans and asked them if they follow the advice they give their patients, especially concerning eating habits and exercise…most of them just laughed and shook their heads.
December 6, 2008 at 6:51 pm
So much for making the U.S. a “wellness culture.”
December 6, 2008 at 11:00 pm
if i had to spend the rest of my afternoon and evening catering to patients, i’d want the most morale-boosting meal i could find. cheeseburger, yes. salad, not so much.
December 7, 2008 at 11:25 am
Gosh….I tried to be healthy the other day and picked up a “spinach salad” opened it up and there was some bacon (which is in a real spinach salad) and I had my low fat dressing… And realized they covered the salad with ramano cheeze. It was disgusting. UGH! We have a subway and a sbarro and A tim hortons (for the rockin coffee). Much healthier than the cafe.
December 7, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I think the non-fried healthy items that actually taste great are a giant pain in the butt to make, not to mention expensive, and that may be what is driving the cafeteria’s choice to serve only the fried stuff. Well, and reduced sauces that contain alcohol are delicious, but no way are they going to serve THAT!
Additionally, doesn’t anyone know anymore that fat creates satiety? If you are facing a long prospective time of going without food, no way is a fat-free salad, regardless of how many cups of lettuce it has in it, going to last or create a sense of “I’ve eaten.” Protein, fat do the trick, and what is more efficient for that than fried meat?
December 7, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Being in california, we actually do have a lot of healthy options. But it’s SOOOOOO expensive. The other night I got a premade sandwich- ham and cheese on croissant (not healthy, but not fried either), a banana, cottage cheese and some pudding. It was 11.50. Had I eaten a “combo:” which consisted of some grilled/fried sandwich, fries and a 16 oz soda- it would’ve been $5.50.
December 8, 2008 at 1:55 am
Where do you draw the line? My 97 year old great-grandfather just wanted a little bit of gravy for his peas. He couldn’t get any, “might cause his arteries to clog and die from a heart attack”. If it didn’t kill him in the first 97 years, I doubt it would have done him in, the last year. There ought to be a rule to protect anyone 90 and over from food nazis.
December 8, 2008 at 6:47 am
Well, you know these are the problems living in a “free country”. What they should do is offer both foods but charge triple the amount for the fried crap as the healthy stuff. Kind of like cost shifting in patients with and without insurance….
December 8, 2008 at 7:33 am
My hospital serves up largely unhealthy food as well. There is a salad bar, but after seeing numerous people stick their bare hands in the olives, etc. I can’t really convince myself to use it. My issue is more with the cost at our place. We treat a largely uninsured population and you can’t get a meal for less than $7.
December 9, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Try being a vegetarian!
The cafeteria marks the vegetarian items with a V on the food placard, right? Yeah, right! Bacon in the peas and the green beans. Beef stock in the soups. “Marinara” sauce with ground beef in it.
At least they upgraded their veggie burger from wheat to black bean (x1000s tastier.) Of course, it was still twice as much as buying a double-bacon cheeseburger.
December 11, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Hahaha I live near a Hospital and I eat at the cafeteria just because of their cheap food and awesome curly fries! Also, cause one of those po’ folk from the projects.
December 16, 2008 at 9:38 am
Whenever institutional places go ‘healthy’ it always seems to just be bland. Where is the yummy bento and brown rice option or stuff like on the ‘hot bar’ at places like Wild Oats? I complained about this forever when I taught high school. The ‘healthy’ options for kids were lame so of course they went for the junk.
December 16, 2008 at 6:35 pm
I keep seeing the title of this post “Been There Done That” in my feed reader and I’m like, yep, seen this 10 times already.
December 20, 2008 at 9:15 pm
You still alive there ten?
-a lurking fan