At 700-resident Kirby Pines, an upscale retirement community in Memphis,
Tenn., implementing a wellness policy was the first subtle step in a transition to healthier dining. Here, Lisa
Gordon, executive chef, speaks about how she has introduced several new programs to get residents to eat healthier.
Five years ago, when 700-resident Kirby Pines, an upscale retirement community in Memphis, Tenn., implemented a wellness policy, the foodservice department started a subtle transition to healthier offerings. This spring Lisa Gordon, executive chef, has upped the ante with a host of new programs. For Gordon, getting the chefs and dietitians to work together to create nutritious, good-tasting food was the key to getting residents to eat healthier.
“We had a food fair in March, where we invited eight different vendors to bring in food samples. Some of the items were high-end items that would be for special functions, but most of the items were healthy options. We had comment cards out for the residents to tell us which items they liked and wanted to see added to the menus. The response was great; the residents were very receptive. We have already added some of the items to our menus. This is an ongoing process. We hope to do this once a quarter with different vendors each time.
We did not advertise the food show as being healthy options. We said we were going to have a tasting and we want you guys to come and tell us what you think. Once they got there and tasted things, they were saying these items were great. Then we dropped it on them that these items were zero trans fats, lower sodium and healthy. They were really surprised. I think if we had told them up front, we would not have gotten as big of a response as we did. If you tell people, especially here in the South, that you are going to make favorites like cornbread and fried chicken healthy, they are immediately turned off. But if you say, we want you to try a new recipe for cornbread, which happens to be healthy, they are more likely to enjoy it.
We also have recently brought in some Lean Cuisine items. We are promoting that as being heart healthy. We’re doing lots of our own heart-healthy dishes. We’ve got a salmon dish that the residents really like. When that is on the menu, everyone eats it. The entire department is also zero trans fats.
We have a full-service heart-healthy line. Our buffet line is 30 to 40 feet long and it is divided in the middle—one end is the regular line and the other half is the heart-healthy items. We have several entrées, several sides, a full-service salad bar and low-sugar desserts.
I go through every meal along with my dietary manager to talk with the residents. We visit every table and do some one-on-one education with them. We’ve got the POS nutritional information ready to go, but we’re trying to give them one-on-one education first. That gives them the opportunity to ask questions right then. This way they are a little bit more comfortable talking about it. They can discreetly ask questions without telling the whole world they are having a certain concern or problem. If we put the information out on the line, they won’t stop us in the middle of everything to talk about it.
If I were giving advice to someone who wanted to make changes to go healthy, I would say talk to your residents first. Don’t even talk about nutritionals at first. Find out what flavors they like. If they say they really like fried chicken, which is huge here in the South, then you take that to your chef and dietitian and work on a way to make a better-for-you version of fried chicken. It might mean using a different cooking technique such as braising or baking.
I have been harping on this for years. When you talk with dietitians, you are going to get, ‘this is what you have to have nutritionally.’ When you talk with chefs, we’re not as concerned with the nutritional end of things as we are with things tasting good and being presentable. I understand both sides and I’m trying to bridge that gap. Because I’m in healthcare things have to be healthy, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be presentable and taste good. You can pull that together; it takes a little bit more work and planning. You’ve got to get the two factions—the chef and dietitian—together with the residents’ desires to come up with something that will satisfy everybody.”