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Of course, it’s one thing for an HMO to tell its members to eat more fruits and vegetables. It’s something else to make high-quality fresh produce available at its medical centers. “It’s the greatest idea that Kaiser’s had,” says Pam Marcus, a physical therapist carrying a bag of rosy-skinned stone fruit. “It’s helped the staff eat more healthily, having access to a farmers market with premium organic food at work.”
The farmers seem to like the idea, too. Marlene Gonzales, of Lone Oak Ranch in Reedley, has had a stand at the Oakland site since the beginning four years ago. “It’s a wonderful concept,” she says, while bagging some pears. “I enjoy educating the customers on how to pick the right fruit and the value of it being organic instead of chemically grown.”
Kaiser also wants to give “hospital food” a better name. The HMO is working with dozens of small, independent farmers to provide sustainably farmed produce for patient in its California hospitals. By the end of 2007, about 25 percent—or 50 tons—of the fruits and vegetables served to Kaiser’s hospital patients in Northern California will be supplied by small, pesticide-free farms that follow sustainable agriculture practices. Over time, the HMO plans to extend the scope of this pilot project to other regions. Given “the size of Kaiser, when we do something like this, the impact it could have is enormous,” says Jan Sanders, Kaiser’s national dietitian.
What vendors charge for the produce depends on the site. At the Oakland market, prices ranged from a few cents above to a few cents below what comparable produce cost in local supermarket chains. There’s evidence that Kaiser has found a good recipe for improving public health. Some 71 percent of 1,200 shoppers surveyed at 17 Kaiser farmers markets in 2005 said they were eating more fruits and vegetables since they began shopping at the markets. Another 63 percent said the markets had tempted them to try eating something new.
“I believe from what I was able to gather from that survey that having fresh fruit and veggies right in front of you when you’re walking from the parking garage to your job makes a difference,” Maring says. “You know it’s hard to walk by a big basket of fresh arugula even if you aren’t sure what to do with it.”
As for Maring, his impact is felt in ways big and small—from the woman who dropped four dress sizes to the inner-city neighborhood that’s seeing their dinner tables transformed. Shortly after the Oakland market began, he started emailing a weekly farmers market newsletter to the staff at his hospital. Several months ago, he upgraded to a blog with recipes he concocts from what’s good at the market that week. A reader might stumble upon tips for mincing garlic, the best way to roast a pepper, or the trials and tribulations of using a blender to puree soup.
January 14, 2008
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-nurse_get_this_patient_some_arugula.html
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