Bryan Health's salad bowl goes local, thanks to the collective clout of small Nebraska farms

Like many healthcare operators, Nazim Khan, executive chef of nutrition and dining services at Bryan Health in Lincoln, Nebraska, typically purchased salad greens from his broadliner.

“Bags of mesclun greens would come in from California, but after three or four days, they became wilted and rotted,” he said. So Khan, who describes himself an “activist chef,” reached out to some of the local farmers he had worked with to see if they could bring in salad greens year round.

When he began these conversations, most of the farms were growing vegetables only three or four months out of the year. Plus, Nebraska weather can be harsh, and the supply was inconsistent. But Chef Khan has long had a strong commitment to local sourcing, coming from the world of fine dining and hotels. “It’s been ingrained in me to source as much locally as you can and I am on a mission to give patients [and staff] the same value as restaurant guests,” he said.

That’s a tall order at Bryan Health, where Khan oversees foodservice for 5,000 diners daily at two cafeterias on the large campus. But he started small, mobilizing several farmers and creating a network that now provides the hospital with 100% Nebraska-grown greens. He promised the farmers to buy what they grew and pay them more than they were getting from other customers.

One of those farmers is Abie Vegetable People in nearby Abie, Nebraska. Farmer Mark Roh erected greenhouses to extend the growing season, starting with one to two beds of salad greens. “The farm now has 10 beds dedicated to greens and provides 60 pounds to Bryan Health,” said Khan. “I can now tell patients and their families that the greens we’re serving come from a nearby town.”

Through Khan’s networking efforts, Bryan Health also contracts with Robinette Farms in Martell, Nebraska, a grower of microgreens. Every week, farmer Alex McKiernan sells Khan five pounds of fresh microgreens that the chef mixes with the regular salad greens for a salad base that not only tastes better, it has a longer shelf life, he said.

In his continuing mission toward a locally sourced supply chain, Khan also connected Abie Vegetable to Lone Tree Foods, a co-op that picks up vegetables from the network of small farmers and delivers them to Bryan Health and assorted Lincoln restaurants. “We may have 20 farmers growing in small towns around Lincoln but it’s not practical for them to make deliveries to chefs,” said Khan. “Using Lone Tree Foods may raise the price a little, but they collect all the produce, cheeses and other products and bring it over.”

Chef Khan partners with Lone Tree Foods to distribute the local produce. 

Chef Khan came to Bryan Health about 10 years ago, and ever since, has supported the Lincoln community and forged strong local connections. He always offered salads every Thursday and Friday made with locally sourced produce, but his veggie-centric approach ramped up during the pandemic. That’s when he reorganized the cafeteria into stations and established a permanent plant-based station with a rotating menu of global vegan dishes. Staff and visitors are big fans.

The chef is also a regular at the Lincoln Farmer’s Markets, holding culinary demos to promote his “food as medicine” approach. In Khan’s view, locally grown greens are one of the best prescriptions for a healthy body and spirit.