Employees and patients at Missouri Baptist Medical Center do not have an excuse not to eat healthy anymore.
Celebrity chef and author Cary Neff has helped to create a nutritious way for Missouri Baptist Medical Center staff and patients to eat on a daily basis. Neff and his food service provider Morrison Healthcare Food Services collaborated with dieticians at Missouri Baptist in creating Flavors 450.
“This provides an opportunity for us to help heal the healer. That healer is the doctor,” Neff said.
Flavors 450 offers healthy gourmet options to individuals in portions that only contain 450 calories or less. All dishes are low in fat with an emphasis on whole grains, lean proteins, low-fat dairy products and the freshest ingredients, including local produce grown within150 miles.
“We do that in order for us to embrace the best fruits, vegetables and whole grains that are available in the season,” Neff said.
Neff and Missouri Baptist Medical Center, part of BJC Hospital Systems, hosted a grand opening recently, giving employees, patients and guests a chance to try some of the new Flavors 450 meals. In collaboration with Missouri Baptist dieticians, the meals are seasonal and fits specific diets relating to some patients’ health issues.
“This provides an opportunity for us to help heal the healer. That healer is that doctor.” – Chef Cary Neff
“We tried to design the menu so there is diversity, for people to try something new,” said Clinical Manager Deanna Miller.
“We want something that is very flavorful yet healthy eating for our patients, staff and all of our visitors.”
Neff said he decided to “go back to the basics.”
Neff cooks for his mother, who demands that the food taste good when it comes to eating healthy. Neff’s daughter is a picky eater also, so Neff makes sure the food looks and taste good. With those two individuals to please at home, creating meals for a hospital was considered easy for him.
Neff said the Flavors 450 venture is reaching out to a community that needs to learn how to eat and live healthy.
“I’m hitting the people that need it the most. Now they are getting the same foods, same passion that I put in my food,” Neff said.
Some of the ingredients and recipes will be available at Missouri Baptist Medical Center for people to buy and create at home. DVDs will also be available for purchase to show how to create healthy meals and learn about how to serve meals to people with strict diets due to health issues.
“I’m pretty proud. I hope that we’re doing something that spreads and we’re not doing anything you couldn’t do at home,” said Terri Powell, director of Nutrition at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.
Rhonda Brandon, vice president of Human Resources, oversees the hospital’s wellness programs. She said this initiative is “part of Missouri Baptist Medical Center’s continuing commitment, not only to provide leading health care services to the community in which we serve, but to expand that high level of care in our café, offering our patients, visitors and employees even healthier meal choices.”
Â
Â
