St. Luke’s University Health Network in eastern Pennsylvania started a farm to encourage staff and patients to choose a healthful lifestyle, according to an article on the Hospitals & Health Networks website.
During harvest season, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and other vegetables produced on the five-acre organic farm on St. Luke’s Anderson Campus are used to prepare staff and patient meals — and surplus produce is sold in the cafeterias.
“I’ve become so spoiled that I don’t want to go to the grocery store,” Denise Rader, director of media relations, said in the article. “Everything looks anemic by comparison.”
St. Luke’s Anderson Campus partnered with Rodale Institute, a nonprofit organization that researches and advocates for organic farming practices, to establish the farm earlier this year. Rodale provides an on-site farmer who plants and harvests the produce and coordinates deliveries to the hospitals.
Cleanliness in Hospitals: Clinical Priority and Community Perception
Dana-Farber Receives $50M Gift for Planned Cancer Hospital
Clarinda Regional Health Center Reports Data Security Incident
Gaps in Nurses' Environmental Cleaning Knowledge Grow Amid Rising EVS Pressures
Ground Broken on the Southern Nevada Forensic Facility