healingways
common conditions such as allergies, and hyperactivity in children. Hospital farms also benefit the
environment and facilitate other healing ways. Saint Joseph Mercy Health System Ann Arbor’s hospital farm, created in 2010 in Ypsilanti, Michigan, is a win- win-win solution. “We can model the connection between food and health to our patients, visitors, staff and commu- nity,” says hospital spokesperson Laura Blodgett. Their Health Care Without Harm pledge commits the hospital to providing local, nutritious and sustain- able food. The farm repurposed some of the
Farm-to-Hospital On-Site Farms Grow Organics for Patients by Judith Fertig
M
ost people would agree with the results of a 2011 study by the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine: Typical hospital food is full of the dietary fat, sodium, calories, cholesterol and sugar that contribute to the medical problems that land many in the hospital in the first place. The study’s dietitians further found that some hospitals house up to five fast-food outlets.
Because studies from institutions
such as the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the university of Maryland show that a poor diet contributes to a host of illnesses and longer recovery time after surgery—all of which increase healthcare costs—it befits hospitals to embrace healthier eating. Now, a dozen pioneering hospitals have their own on-site farms and others are partnering with local farms, embracing new ways to help us eat healthier, especially those that most need to heal.
42 Long Island Edition “In a paradigm shift, hospitals are
realizing the value of producing fresh, local, organic food for their patients,” says Mark Smallwood, executive direc- tor of the nonprofit rodale Institute, in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It recently partnered with St. Luke’s University Hospital, in nearby Bethlehem, to help support operations of the hospital’s 10-acre organic farm that yields 30 varieties of vegetables and fruits served in hospital meals to support patient recovery. New mothers are sent home with baskets of fresh produce to help instill healthy eating habits. “Organic fruits and vegetables
offer many advantages over conven- tionally grown foods,” says Dr. Bonnie Coyle, director of community health for St. Luke’s University Health Network. She cites the higher amounts of vita- mins, minerals, essential fatty acids and antioxidants as contributing to a reduced incidence of heart disease and some cancers and a lowered risk for other
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hospital’s 340-acre campus, eliminat- ing considerable lawn mowing and chemicals. Today, its organic produce also supplies an on-site farmers’ mar- ket. Most recently, collaboration with a rehab hospital treating traumatic brain injuries resulted in a solar-heated greenhouse to continually produce organic food using raised beds and a Ferris-wheel-style planting system that enables patients to experience gar- dening as agritherapy. “Patients love the hands-on healing of tending the garden,” says Blodgett. Another innovative hospital is
Watertown Regional Medical Center, in rural Wisconsin. Its farm, located behind the 90-bed hospital, raises 60 pesticide- free crops a year, including vegetables, herbs and even edible flowers. “we believe that food is medicine,” says Executive Chef Justin Johnson. He also serves his healthier fare to the public via special dinners in the hospital’s café, celebrating spring and fall harvests. In Arcata, California, Mad River Community Hospital’s designated farm- er, Isaiah Webb, tills six plots and two greenhouses to supply organic carrots, beets, tomatoes, basil, potatoes, sweet corn, artichokes, squash, pumpkins, lettuce, blueberries, apples and straw- berries to patients and guests. An in- house work/share program encourages hospital employees to volunteer garden- ing time for a share of the produce. A three-way partnership of the
Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, Fletcher Allen Health Care and Cen-
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