From the hormone-free yogurt at the hospital café to the organically grown fruit delivered to patients, a food revolution is taking place at Mile Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta that has healthy implications for patients, staff, and local producers.
It is a revolution in increments, one in which change is measured in salad greens and vending machines, but the aim is ambitious just the same. The goal is to improve the health of patients and staff by offering fresher, more nutritious food, and also encourage local food producers so that the wider community can eat healthier as well.
This spring, Miles and St. Andrews employees will take part in what may be the first community supported agriculture program of its type at a Maine hospital. Each Friday for 18 weeks, Morning Dew Farm of Newcastle will deliver fresh, locally grown organic produce to Miles and St. Andrews employees who have purchased shares in the farm’s harvest.
Tom Albee, of Albee Farm, will also offer fresh produce at Miles on Thursdays through a more traditional farmers’ market venue.
The connection with local farms is part of a focus on healthy food by the Works on Wellness Committee that has gained new momentum with the signing of the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge by Lincoln County Healthcare CEO James Donovan.
That pledge commits Miles and St. Andrews Hospital to a wide range of goals, from increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables offered to patients, visitors and staff, to building links with local growers like the Albee, Morning Dew Farm, and Goranson Farm.
For Becky Werber, food service director of Miles Memorial Hospital and Coves Edge, the pledge is an extension of a long-term movement toward more locally grown food at Miles. About 3 percent of Miles’ food budget last year was spent locally, and Werber hopes to increase that to about 5 percent.
All of the whole fruit sold at the Miles café or delivered to patients comes from Rising Tide Community Market, a cooperatively owned natural foods grocery.
Organically grown Fair Trade coffee comes from Wicked Joe Coffee, a coffee roaster in Brunswick. Fresh eggs come from Bowden’s Egg Farm in Waldoboro, bread from Borealis Breads in Waldoboro and many of the vegetables in the hospital salad bar during the summer come from local farms such as Spear’s Farm in Nobleboro.
Locally grown produce tends to have more nutrients than produce grown thousands of miles away and trucked across country before consumption.
Industrial farms also often use high levels of antibiotics as growth promoters in the production of meat and milk, encouraging the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are responsible for thousands of deaths a year.
But perhaps the most important goal is fostering a healthier relationship with food.
“The bigger issue is just getting people to eat more vegetables – something that looks like a vegetable when you cook it, not something that comes out of a box,” said Dr. Tim Goltz, co-chairman of the Lincoln County Healthcare Works On Wellness Committee.
Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and many forms of cancer have been linked to diets rich in highly processed foods. More than one third of American adults are obese and since 1980, obesity rates for adults have risen significantly, while rates for children have tripled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
