One of the most interesting and educational parts of the annual New York Produce Show and Conference is the lineup of industry experts who take part in the micro-sessions on the day of the show, presenting unique findings from research and studies the lecturers have done.
Up first in the micro-sessions for this year was a veteran to the room. Miguel Gómez, an associate professor of the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, returned for his second year at the show.
In 2013, Gómez presented on two new East Coast broccoli varieties, but this year his talk was on understanding and identifying the characteristics of hospitals that run successful farm-to-hospital programs.
“In healthcare facilities there is a growing awareness that our food system is misaligned with U.S. dietary guidelines,” Gómez says. “In 2006, the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge, a framework that outlines steps to improve the health of patients, communities and the environment, was introduced. Hundreds of hospitals and foodservice contractors signed the pledge to demonstrate commitment to ‘first, do no harm’ and treat food as preventive medicine.”
With a presentation entitled, “Identifying Factors Influencing Success of Farm-to-Hospital Programs,” Gómez examined results from a recent detailed study that surveyed more than 100 hospitals in the Northeast, with three in-depth case studies.
“Our research looked at how hospitals implemented fruits and vegetables and worked with farms,” Gómez says. “These farm-to-hospital programs are designed with two objectives: hospitals should be a brand of healthy eating and they are not, and they should be good citizens in the community where they operate and incorporate more local farmers.”
Hospitals that signed the pledge are more likely to have a farm-to-hospital (FTH) program, and larger hospitals are much likely to run successful FTH programs. Hospitals located in counties with strong direct-market channels are more likely to have successful FTH programs, yet neither type of foodservice management nor being located in rural counties influences a hospital’s decision to adopt an FTH.
Findings from the survey included:
*58% of hospitals have adopted an FTH program
*63% have self-operated foodservice
*The average amount of meals per day is 498
*The average percent of farms participating in CSAs is 1.62% within a hospital’s county
*36% of the hospitals signed the “Healthy Food in Health Care” pledge
The top challenges were identified as supply reliability, cost, lack of access to local food systems, and seasonality of foods. The top benefits included food safety, support of local economics, quality and freshness of food and environmental sustainability.
Source: PerishableNews.com
