What is the Natural Foods Access Project all about?

Mission:
The San Francisco General Hospital Natural Foods Project is striving to create a healthy food environment for our community. We aim to make SFGH the first public hospital to give access to natural, locally grown, sustainable food to all of our patients, faculty, and staff.

Who are we?:
The Natural Foods Access Project started in May 2009 when 2 of our founding members met over lunch and began discussing food. When they shared with colleagues what they had discussed at lunch, they were interested and wanted to join in the discussion.

Many food related initiatives have been started in the past, but have not had the necessary support to get of the ground. The climate is right now for this project to have real success because the idea of changing the current food system and encouraging a shift to local, sustainable, natural foods is supported by the San Francisco mayor and the hospital CEO.

What are we doing?:
The project consists of several smaller projects which are

Farmers Market – The farmers market will be held at the hospital. This market will be unique in many ways. The time and location of the market will make healthy natural foods accessible to the hard working hospital employees as well as to patients. It will be able to accept Food Stamps and WIC vouchers.

CSA – Community Supported Agriculture is a system that allows people to have a basket of seasonal local produce each week. The baskets are made available at convenient on site pick-up location.

Free Farmers Market – SFGH’s primary patient base consists of vulnerable populations— the city’s homeless, marginally housed, immigrant, and un- and under-employed residents. The food pantry will be accessible feed clinic patrons. The focus of our project is to bring nutritious calories to the hospital community, and give patrons the tools to make healthy choices within their budget. The pantry will be supplied by the San Francisco Food bank. This project will be primarily run by volunteers who are also patients at the hospital and patrons of the pantry. The accessibility of natural foods to the clinic patients will empower the patients to participate in their own healthcare outcomes.

Sourcing of institutional food – the current dining options available for the patients, faculty and staff at SFGH will be revamped to be made from locally and sustainable grown natural foods. This is of particular importance because we must lead by example. A hospital is a place to heal, and one of the ways to do this is through food.

Nutrition Instruction – Local chefs will be invited to give cooking demonstrations and teach the community how to make delicious meals of their natural foods. We will also be working to compile recipe idea books based on dietary needs and available resources.

Why here?:
An abundance of unhealthy, unappetizing, and processed foods at SFGH contradicts the hospital’s mission of improving the care and comfort of patients. SFGH’s primary patient base consists of vulnerable populations— the city’s homeless, marginally housed, immigrant, and un- and under-employed residents. These patients are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases related to diet and nutrition including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and osteoporosis. It is becoming widely recognized that changes in diet are vital to chronic disease prevention and management. A 2003 World Health Organization (WHO) report states: “Nutrition is coming to the fore as a major modifiable determinant of chronic disease, with scientific evidence increasingly supporting the view that alterations in diet have strong effects, both positive and negative, on health throughout life. Chronic diseases are the main cause of premature death and disability among the poorer populations of industrialized countries.” Promoting healthy food and nutrition is fundamental to the effective treatment and care of SFGH patients.

Providing access to natural foods will empower patients to pursue opportunities for self care that complement the care they receive from providers. In addition to the convenience of one-stop shopping, the food pantry and other natural foods projects will help patients make the connection between nutrition and overall health. Recent surveys indicate that access to fresh foods is a matter of great interest to hospital staff. More than 10% of the hospital’s 5,500 employees have responded in the first two weeks of a survey, with 97% indicating a desire to increase their consumption of natural foods, and over 70% identifying a lack of convenient access as their number one barrier.