'Taking responsibility' with food
HOSPITAL: St. Luke's makes an effort to buy more organic products for its kitchens.
BY PETER REBHAHN
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Mark Branovan knows better than to mess with tater-tot hot dish. Some things are perfect just as they are.
``It sells out every time it's on the menu,'' said Branovan, director of hospital services for St. Luke's in Duluth.
However, evaluating the pedigree of the potatoes used to make the hot dish is very much Branovan's business.
St. Luke's in Duluth may be the first health system in Minnesota to embrace a trend that has hospitals rethinking menus with an eye on ecologically sound practices.
Branovan said St. Luke's quietly began its organic buying program about 18 months ago with the aim of expanding it slowly. ``It started with the idea that we, as a hospital, need to take responsibility for the quality of the products we serve to our population,'' Branovan said.
``What they're doing is pushing the envelope a little bit for Minnesota, but it's really part of a trend,'' said Jamie Harvie of the nonprofit Health Care Without Harm.
As food work-group coordinator for Health Care Without Harm, Harvie coaxes administrators at hospitals and health systems to rethink their food purchases.
``It's not only the organic movement, it's a broader public health movement,'' said Harvie, whose biggest partner is California-based Kaiser Permanente, a health-plan giant with members in nine states and Washington, D.C.
Organic generally means the food was grown or raised without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals. Organic products have hit the mainstream in Europe, where consumer sentiment has sparked protests and bans on the use of bovine growth hormone in dairy production and other practices routinely employed in the United States.
The organic movement has gained momentum in the United States in recent years. Organic products are even showing up on the grocery shelves of merchants such as Wal-Mart.
Harvie's organization aims to create support for environmentally conscious food production by harnessing the enormous buying power of the health-care industry.
St. Luke's served about 13,000 meals to patients in November, a typical count, Branovan said. The hospital's cafeteria made 33,000 transactions.
``When you have larger health systems saying, `This is what we intend to do,' I'd say it's not fringe anymore,'' Harvie said.
LeeAnn Tomczyk, manager of hospital services, said many St. Luke's employees only became aware of the organic push Tuesday at the hospital's annual Holiday Tea, which featured many organic foods.
``It makes complete sense,'' said Michael Larson, a billing coordinator whose plate held a sandwich made with antibiotic-free pork from an organic producer in southern Minnesota.
Branovan said the pork was a first. So far, menu changes have been limited to organic fruits, produce and dairy products. Next up: A push to serve more antibiotic-free meat and poultry.
Most antibiotics in the United States are given to healthy animals, not people, because they've been found to stimulate growth. The World Health Organization has called for ending wholesale use of antibiotics in farm animals because of evidence that excessive exposure to the drugs could encourage antibioticresistant bacteria in humans.
``When a health-care system purchases meat, they're ultimately contributing to antibiotic-resistant bacteria,'' Harvie said.
Branovan faces problems in expanding the organic menu. Duluth's short growing season makes it tough to forge relationships with local producers - often the best way to ensure a steady supply of produce.
Convincing suppliers that organic is more than a boutique notion is another problem. Organizations such as St. Luke's buy most of their food via membership in what's known as a group purchasing organization.
A GPO works much like the buying cooperatives that allow family-owned hardware stores operating under big-name banners to enjoy the volume wholesale discounts given big-box merchants.
Branovan said St. Luke's is bound by its GPO membership to buy about 85 percent of its food from a single vendor, which uses its purchasing muscle to negotiate deals with mainstream food producers that usually don't offer organic options.
Supply problems and the higher cost of most organic foods mean that St. Luke's is unlikely to offer a 100 percent organic menu anytime soon. Still, Branovan said, St. Luke's has committed to a slow expansion of the program. But one thing won't change.
Branovan, who trained at the California Culinary Academy and spent 10 years working as a chef in West Coast restaurants (where tater tot-hot dish wasn't held in high regard), said he tried to yank the church-basement classic from the St. Luke's menu when he came to town five years ago.
The change caused a mini-insurrection, and Branovan quickly saw the error of his ways.
``We can make some changes and do the right thing with organics, but you can't take away tater-tot hot dish,'' Branovan said.
PETER REBHAHN reports on health-care and nonprofit organizations. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 720-4154 or by e-mail at prebhahn@duluthnews.com.Duluth News Tribune (MN)
