North Country Hospital joins Healthy Food Partnership

When we say North Country Hospital is the place where ‘caring runs deep’we really mean it! Not only do we give our best in caring for our patients, we care about the food they eat and their over-all health.
Our food and nutrition service has rolled out entirely new menu concepts for our patients and in the café. The new Hospital Healthy Food Initiative is the result of collaboration between our food service company Morrison and Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA).
‘We've been at the forefront of the industry on health and wellness for more than two decades. The PHA partnership is an extension of our philosophy of offering wholesome, nutritious, and better-for-you foods and will allow us to make healthful choices easy and even more accessible to millions of patients, staff and visitors,’said Tim Pierce, CEO, Morrison.
In joining the initiative, Morrison agreed to make a commitment to adopt standards for nutrition labeling, healthy food marketing, wellness meal offerings, elimination of deep fat fryers, increases in healthy beverages and increases in fruits and vegetables offered. World class chefs and nutritionists at Morrison have created delicious new recipes for hospital menus.
Using the latest research on healthful eating and incorporating techniques that influence behavioral change in food consumption, Morrison will improve the health profile of the hospitals it serves by implementing such changes as:
· eliminating 5.7 million pounds of sugar from bottled beverages
· switching to exclusive use of whole grain or legume-based pasta in the 3.7 million pounds of pasta we serve each year
· offering whole grains as an alternative to the 1.9 million pounds of rice served annually
· offering better-for-you foods in place of high impulse low-nutrient food at cash registers
· reducing fat calories by using healthier, misted oils exclusively in appropriate applications
· and featuring images of healthy nutrient-rich food in our regular marketing promotions
‘We believe we have a responsibility to help change people's lives through healthier food environments,’said Gordan Lodewyk, NCH manager of food and nutrition services. ‘By joining with PHA, Morrison can help hospitals in their mission of becoming models of healthful eating and implementing practices that support a more robust and healthier food system. They will be supporting us in encouraging behavioral change in the hospital environment and the community.’