Always on the Menu

FM Staff

It's chicken soup for the foodservice professional's soul-HFM style. The role of food in providing proper nutrition is intuitively understood, but the emotional power of food and food service in the lives of on-site foodservice professionals is often less evident.

Always on the Menu is a compilation of messages shared by HFM "on-staff" professionals who have touched the lives of patients, staff and visitors in the healthcare industry.

Esther, a retirement home resident, refused her dinner while Patti Dollarhide was working the evening shift. Patti promised to check in at the end of her shift to see if Esther had changed her mind.As she walked in she saw Esther crying. Patti asked what was wrong. Esther explained how, when her husband was alive, they would get banana splits at the Dairy Queen. She started to cry again. Patti ducked out while the nurse gave Esther her HS meds. She returned with two banana splits from Dairy Queen.

"Esther grinned from ear to ear wiping a few tears as we sat eating ice cream together like she used to with her husband."

They aren't outdated cliches, but stories that actualize the difference foodservice professionals make daily to their organizations, their patients, and their guests.