By Healthcare Facilities Today

Chris Damiani, assistant food Service director at Mercy Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y.,  recently encouraged a healthier style with a cooking show for Mercy Hospital patients, according to a blog by Scott Scanlon on the Buffalo News web site. 

Damiani and registered nurse Karen Calandra made spaghetti squash with tomatoes, basil and pine nuts.  Calandra is a holistic health coach.

“Healthy cooking is a trend that’s happening because of the health care crisis,” she said in the blog. “The only way to counteract that is start eating healthy because all the processed food is causing a lot of illness today.

The Mercy kitchen staff – which makes an average of 1,600 meals a day for hospital workers, visitors and patients – does a lot of steaming, according to the blog.

“Every night there’s a steamed vegetable,” Damiani said. “We also cook a lot of simple potatoes. We don’t want to overwork the food too much. We serve the patients nutritional levels of food. We don’t put a giant plate in front of you. It’s a 4-ounce portion of protein at lunch, and 2 or 3 ounces at dinner." 

Read the blog and watch the video.