Palomar Health to offer more plant-based menu options

NORTH COUNTY – Palomar Health patients, visitors, and staff can expect to see even more plant-based menu options in the coming months.

The health system recently hosted a two-day culinary training workshop for food and nutrition staff from Palomar Health and several other local hospitals. Participants learned how to prepare entrées and desserts without using meat, eggs, or dairy products.

"In order to take our healthy food programs to the next level, we understand the need to focus on plant-based menus," said Dan Farrow, vice president of hospitality and facilities. "Our goal is to make delicious vegan dishes that will appeal to guests of all dietary preferences."

Chef Wanda White led the training. White was formerly the executive operations chef at the University of North Texas, where she worked to open the nation’s first vegan dining hall, 'Mean Greens'. She showed attendees how to prepare dishes such as tofu scramble, mushroom street tacos, garbanzo bean sliders, vegetable alfredo lasagna, shepherd’s pie, and bananas foster.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) worked together with Palomar Health to co-host the first West Coast Culinary Experience, focused on showing chefs how plant protein can become the center of the plate. "We held our first plant-based chef training at the prestigious Harvard University in January, where we trained 20 culinarians from Harvard, Boston University, Boston College, Tufts and RISD," said Ken Botts, food policy manager for HSUS. Harvard and Palomar Health are setting the example for other institutions by providing more plant-based food that is good for people, the planet and saves animal lives."

Plant-based eating is gaining momentum at schools and hospitals across the country, including many in San Diego county, as they institute programs like Meatless Monday.

"As a regional leader in health care, the relevance of sponsoring this summit with the Humane Society of the United States demonstrates Palomar Health’s commitment to patient health, wellness and functional sustainability," said Jim Metzger, director of hospitality. "By elevating health care through nutrition, we envision a future based on local and regional products."

In February, the USDA Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended a shift towards a more plant-based diet, suggesting a diet higher in plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and lower in calories and animal-based foods is more health promoting and is associated with less environmental impact than is the current U.S. diet.

"Palomar Health is leading on the issues of population health and sustainability with our 'Food Forward' strategy of prevention-based health care," said Barbara Hamilton, manager of sustainability at Palomar Health. "Hippocrates said it first, 'Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.'"

The culinary training, held on March 12-13, was another step in this direction, as chefs hope to create even more healthy options for patients to choose from.

"At Palomar Health, we began our healthy foods journey in 2010 when we signed Health Care Without Harm’s 'Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge'," said Farrow. "Since that time, we have had substantial success in reducing meat consumption, increasing procurement of sustainable, local and organic products, and decreasing sugar-sweetened beverages in our facilities."

By working together with other regional health-care systems, such as Kaiser and UCSD, Palomar Health chefs hope to create a positive, lasting impact on the county population's health and wellness.