You are viewing this article in the AnnArbor.com archives. For the latest breaking news and updates in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area, see MLive.com/ann-arbor
Posted on Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 5:57 a.m.

St. Joseph Ann Arbor opens new, health-conscious cafeteria Wednesday

By Juliana Keeping

See All Thumbnails

Hospital food. The very phrase conjures up images of bland fare, bathing in fat and salt while basking in the unnatural glow of a heat lamp.

With its brand new cafeteria, St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor wants to turn that image on its face.

The new cafeteria, a $1 million space renovated over three months called St. Joe’s Market Cafe, opens today.

All summer, workers, patients and visitors have gone without a cafeteria. They've been bringing lunches, eating at Joe's Java — a cafe at the hospital — or going out to eat while the renovation was completed.

Today they'll be greeted by a sushi bar plus five fresh-to-order stations, a new executive chef lured from Google’s cafeteria and a color-coded system that allows workers to pick the healthiest options based on their diet objectives.

“It’s a high stress environment,” said Rob Casalou, the president and CEO of St. Joseph Mercy's Ann Arbor, Livingston and Saline hospitals. “We wanted to create real tasty food that is also healthier.”

Ryan Kendall, the new executive chef who previously worked for Google’s cafeteria in Ann Arbor, said he uses different spices and preparation techniques to amp up flavor while keeping fat and sodium lower.

The results of his work were on display Tuesday for a preview of the food for hospital doctors.

Station No. 1, for example, features entrees; the cost of a plate is $4.50. Doctors sampled either pork loin, salmon or rotisserie chicken with sides of rice pilaf and corn. Nutritional information is clearly listed on a sandwich board in front of the station.

The old cafeteria served about 1 million meals per year. About 70 percent of those meals are sold to approximately 3,500 workers at St. Joseph Ann Arbor, about five percent to patients and the rest to hospital visitors, said Jim Tripp, the manager of retail services.

The cost of meals in the new cafeteria actually went down, which was achieved in part by reducing the portion sizes, Tripp said.

Workers used to 16-ounce plates of chow will now be offered servings of between 10 and 12 ounces, Tripp said.

“It isn’t that people are going to leave hungry,”" Casalou said. "The fact is in this society we are way overeating.”

There are lots of other little changes that make the food healthier, like a fresh fruit and yogurt bar and homemade dressings at the salad stations.

The dressings contain the “good fats” and were chosen over bulk fat-free dressings, which contain lots of questionable additives, Tripp said.

And, the cafeteria has no deep fryer.

Before, the hospital offered 6-ounce servings of French fries cooked in peanut oil every day. At the new cafeteria, that option will be replaced with a 4-ounce serving of seasoned roasted potatoes. If there are fries on the menu, they'll be of the baked variety.

Burgers won’t make an appearance as often as before on the menu. And when they do, the meat used will contain 10 percent of fat, rather than the standard 20 percent offered at the old cafeteria.

Because the majority of those who use the cafeteria are workers, Casalou hopes a side effect of the health-conscious menu is a healthier hospital population. Health care workers have the same high rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes as the rest of the American population, he noted.

Casalou hopes that a healthier work force will lead to less absenteeism as well as cost savings in health insurance.

The new cafeteria fits with a new anti-obesity effort that urges hospitals across the state to put the health back into hospital food.

The Michigan Health and Hospital Association’s Healthy Food Hospitals program pushes for more locally grown foods and more nutritional choices for patients and staff at its 140 member hospitals.

The new cafeteria’s offerings are in keeping with that program’s objectives, Casalou said.

St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor is one of the few hospital campuses in the country that employs a farmer and operates its own working farm, including hoop houses that grow year round and help supply hospital campus farmer’s markets.

While the salad bar and soups use a small percentage of produce from the hospital’s farm, there are plans on the horizon to expand the farm and increase the amount of hospital-produced produce used in the cafeteria.

Are you a St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor employee, patient or guest who plans to try the new food? Let us know what you think in the comments section below following the Wednesday opening.

Juliana Keeping covers general assignment and health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter

Comments

David Muzzatti

Thu, Sep 8, 2011 : 9:07 p.m.

I'll bet the food is better than some 'Italian' restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor.

nixon41

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 9:18 p.m.

About time

Ignatz

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 6:20 p.m.

It's great that St. Joe's is offering so many options. Most institutional eateries offer just a few alongside the high fat/salt/carb meals. Good for them!

BhavanaJagat

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 5:08 p.m.

Food and Spirituality : I appreciate this concern about health and what has been described as 'health consciousness'. Nutrition facts, nutritional information may not provide the psychological satisfaction that man seeks by consuming food. Man must know as to what it means to be a substance and what it means to exist. Food is substance, which when consumed provides calories and is converted into body substance which further develops all the organs and tissues. The nature of this substance is SPIRITUAL. I call it spiritual because of its innate ability to survive, its imperishable, immutable, and eternal nature. This substance has survived ever since life arrived on planet Earth. It remains unchanged over a period of 3.5 billion years. Knowing the nature of Spiritual Self is important to promote the health, and well-being of man. We need to recognize that the essence of man describes the status of man as a physical, mental, social, moral, and spiritual being. Man is a created being and the spirituality establishes the connection between man and the food he consumes. <a href="http://bhavanajagat.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/adhyatma-vidya-the-knowledge-of-the-spiritual-self/" rel='nofollow'>http://bhavanajagat.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/adhyatma-vidya-the-knowledge-of-the-spiritual-self/</a>

julieswhimsies

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 4:16 p.m.

That's great for the employees at St. Joe's...but what about the patients. Will they be fed the same crap?

djacks24

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 3:53 p.m.

&quot;The cost of meals in the new cafeteria actually went down, which was achieved in part by reducing the portion sizes, Tripp said. Workers used to 16-ounce plates of chow will now be offered servings of between 10 and 12 ounces, Tripp said. "It isn't that people are going to leave hungry,"&quot; Casalou said. &quot;The fact is in this society we are way overeating."&quot; I'd like to know what the price of a 16 ounce plate was. To be perfectly honest at price per ounce between $.37 and $.45 for either 10 or 12 ounces, that would mean if all things were equal except portion sizes, people were previously paying $6.00 and $7.20 per plate. So, people previously paying anything less than these prices it will actually be a price increase. So I won't still be hungry after only 10 or 12 ounces of food, I'm just overeating? To be honest the key is to eat more frequently and not necessarily to eat less. This all seems to be smoke in mirrors and a nanny state in action.

Thomas

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 3:03 p.m.

Ignore all the crappy commenters, this is fantastic! It's nice to see a hospital lead the way with this. Way to go St. Joe's!!

racerx

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 2:27 p.m.

Will the public need a shot to enter?

OnTheRight

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 1:27 p.m.

There is a decrease in the number of nurses/patient aides on the patient units, but hey, at least those patients will be able to munch on roasted potatoes and sushi while they wait (and wait and wait) for someone to answer their call for assistance! Super trade-off.

Barb

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 2:16 p.m.

Don't kid yourself that healthcare isn't a competitive business. There's a reason why they're trying to attract more patients with this restaurant.

Barb

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 1:15 p.m.

Very excited to check this out!

Dog Guy

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 1:01 p.m.

Ok, but what happened to the article about a city hall restaurant called Tasty Greens? The article and its sixteen comments disappeared like a Stalin-era commissar from an official photo. I did not get to read it and now it never existed. St. Joe's Market Cafe should watch its back lest it too be disappeared by a2.com.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy

© 2013 MLive Media Group All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of MLive Media Group