It’s a paradox found all over the world: why is it so common for hospital food to be inherently unhealthy?
Tackling the problem head on, Boston Medical Center, already one of the nation’s greenest hospitals, opened two large rooftop gardens, giving patients and doctors access to fresh food while adding green spaces on the hospital campus.
BMC had a rooftop garden through which it supplied its cafeteria and inpatient catering services with fresh food, but now a second, utilizing the vast rooftop space of the hospital campus, is also able to provide fresh food to underserved communities, solidifying the BMC as a garden. place of healing, whether through a shot in the arm or a vibrant kale salad.
Through a partnership with Boston Area Gleaners, fruits and vegetables grown in the 4,915 square foot growing space will be distributed to local nonprofits and community centers twice a week during the growing season, fighting combatting food insecurity and increasing access to essential fresh food across Boston.
Called “Newmarket Farm,” it triples BMC’s total growing space and quadruples the amount of produce BMC plans to grow each year. The new garden will specialize in growing vegetables including collard greens, kale and arugula, as well as culturally relevant crops including Aji Dulce peppers, bok choy and callaloo.
It will also advance BMC Health System’s commitment to sustainability. Green space reduces heat-absorbing pavement in the community and slows the impact of stormwater runoff because plants directly collect and hold rainwater. The garden works while reducing water waste with high-tech irrigation that waters crops directly at the root.
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“Our rooftop farms increase green space in our community, reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint and strengthen at-risk local food systems. We are proud to expand the availability of fresh food in the local community while adding more avenues to support critical clinical programs, like the Preventive Food Pantry, at our hospital,” said David Maffeo, Senior Director of Services support at BMC.
“The Newmarket Farm shows how hospitals can invest more in the health of our communities while building environmentally resilient spaces.
BMC actually has a program called Food Is Medicine, which works with a local grocer to create labeling formats that speak directly to citizens’ disease risks and/or desire for knowledge about better nutrition.
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For example, foods that can help control blood sugar are labeled on the package as better for diabetics, or foods that can help lower blood pressure are labeled as potentially good for the heart.
The city’s cultural diversity has allowed labeling materials to be printed in a variety of languages, from Vietnamese to Haitian Creole.
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