Mass. hospitals focus on buying local, composting

Sept. 5—Walk into the Addison Gilbert or Beverly Hospital, Gloucester, Mass., kitchens in the morning and homemade stock, the base for all the soups served to patients and visitors, is simmering on the stove.

Along with stocks, the kitchens make their own salad dressings, light mayonnaise and breads. The pizza alone—thin homemade dough with a draping of cheese and browned red onions—served in the Beverly Hospital cafeteria, is a sign that something seriously good is happening to hospital food.

“There’s a revolution going on in health-care food service around the country,” Alan Hawley, MBA, CDM, District Manager for Undine Corporation, the food service provider contracted by Northeast Health Systems, says. “Northeast Health System is at the forefront of this revolution in recognizing that the philosophy of ‘first do no harm’ extends to the food served to patients, families and caregivers.”

Composting, recycling, shopping locally, the anthem of well-meaning, globally-thinking food people, is now being sung by Addison Gilbert and Beverly Hospital chefs.