Justin Johnson, chef at Watertown (Wis.) Regional Medical Center's Harvest Market restaurant, is starting his own company to help healthcare kitchens become more sustainable, according to an article on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Sustainable Kitchen will change menus and recipes, overhaul kitchen systems and train staff and even installing garden space.
According to the article, the effort underscores a trend in the food industry for healthier, more natural meals.
While at Watertown Regional Medical Center, Johnson retrained the staff, moved to an all-scratch-food cooking model and created an 11,000-square-foot garden that supports most of the kitchen's vegetable needs during the growing seasons.
The approach cut costs for the hospital and integrated the staff into the earlier steps of preparing food and invested them more in the end result, Johnson said in the article.
Two Steps to Controlling the Hot Zone
RiverSpring Living Breaks Ground on River's Edge Senior Living Community
Encompass Health Reveals Plans to Build Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital in Post Falls, Idaho
Creating Compassionate Spaces in Healthcare
Study Shows Connection Between Odor and Patient Experience