Home > Media Relations > Mercy News Archive

Media Relations: Mercy News Archive

Joan Norman (left) of One Straw Farm makes her delivery of organic food products to Mercy.

Mercy Medical Center Takes the Pledge: "Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment Initiative," Local Foods for Local Hospitals

Mercy Medical Center recently hosted a special event to announce The Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment Initiative coordinated by the University of Maryland School of Nursing The program serves to use locally-grown, chemical-free food supplies for patient and staff meals.

Mercy is among the top hospitals to sign the “Healthy Food in Health Care” pledge.Steve Lentz, Mercy Medical Center representative and.District Manager, Cura Hospitality, was among the guest speakers. Joan Norman of One Straw Farm in White Hall made her weekly delivery of fresh produce at the entrance to Mercy's Weinberg Center as all four area television stations and various print media were on hand to cover the event.

Steve Lentz of Cura Hospitality explains the "green friendly" programs now instituted at Mercy Medcial Center.

Mercy Medical Center is already purchasing local foods through their distributor and organic produce directly from One Straw Farm which Mercy highlights weekly in The Bistro, the hospital’s cafeteria. Mercy serves rBGH-free milk and fair trade coffee; composts food waste, recycles bottles, cans and cardboard; recycles fryer grease into bio-fuel and uses recycled paper napkins. Mercy also recently switched to using chinaware and silverware for outpatient food services, inpatients on isolation and emergency room patients, making the switch to bio-based cold cups and ‘On the Go’ containers in the Bistro. By eliminating Styrofoam and going back to reusable food service ware, Mercy estimates its annual cost savings this year to be $80,000. This policy will also be in effect in the new Mary Catherine Bunting Center, the $400 million, state-of-the-art inpatient medical facility scheduled to open as the newest addition to Mercy’s downtown campus in 2010.

Led by Baltimore area hospitals including Mercy, hospitals across Maryland are signing up for a program coordinated by the University of Maryland School of Nursing called the Local Foods to Local Hospitals initiative. The program calls for greater reliance on local chemical-free food and dairy products and is intended to have (1) less reliance on national food distribution, resulting in increased food security and food safety, (2) support for small farms and the state economy, and (3) increased hospital composting practices. The initiative, supported by the Maryland Department of Agriculture, also is intended to reduce transportation costs.