April 2006 | Choice News
The Upgrading of Hospital Food
Anyone who has ever stayed overnight in a hospital room or kept vigil with a loved one eventually asks the same question: What’s up with all of this lousy, unhealthy food?
The upcoming CleanMed 2006 conference April 18 to 20 here in Seattle at the Westin Hotel will attempt to answer that question differently.
“We are spending a whole day on food,” says Stacy Malkan, a spokeswoman for the Health Care Without Harm organization, one of the conference sponsors. “We will be looking at how hospitals can support healthier food systems. The idea is to find food suppliers that support organic, local and sustainable foods.”
Malkan explained, for instance, that four Portland-area hospitals have made it their business to serve only hormone-free milk on the premises, whether in patient rooms or cafeterias. The upgrading of hospital food is likely to take off in the next few years.
At the conference, some 400 attendees will explore whether it is possible, say, to make large-scale buys of chicken without unnecessary antibiotics. They will hear from Lynn Garske, environmental stewardship manager, about Kaiser Permanente’s program of staging on-site Friday farmers markets, which started in Oakland and now occurs at 25 locations around the country. It takes the apple-a-day recommendation to a whole new and healthier level.
The Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility group is involved with organizing the event, which feature keynote speakers such as herbacides researcher Tyrone Hayes and noted green economy author-activist Paul Hawken. Another highlight will the EPA’s Hospitals for Healthy Environment awards with several Northwest nominees in the running.
It is the fourth CleadMed gathering since 2000. Past gatherings always include ground-breaking green initiatives such as eliminating products with mercury content or establishing better labeling on hazardous materials. For more information, check out www.cleanmed.org.
—Andrew Mulholland
PCC’s Caughlan Golden for City, State
Her PCC Natural Markets cooking class students already know the wisdom that comes from Goldie Caughlan, PCC’s nutrition expert and a popular instructor. Now Seattle Public Schools and the state department of agriculture will benefit from Caughlan’s insights. She was named in March to the public schools Nutrition Advisory Committee and appointed to a three-year term on the Washington Small Farm Advisory Board.
Caughlan and 14 colleagues on the schools committee will be busy. The short-range agenda includes new breakfast and lunch menus as hot issue among parents.
The mission of the WSDA Small Farm and Direct Marketing Program is to increase the economic viability of small farms and build community vitality, two results Caughlan has helped achieve for PCC stores and their customers.
—A.M.
Bastyr Opens New Clinic in the City
Bastyr University continues to grow and earn the reputation as American’s top natural health medical school. To wit, it has opened a brand-new natural medicine clinic at the corner of 38th and Stone Way that covers 32,000 square feet, including 22,000 square for patient care and another 2,500 square feet of retail space and dispensaries. The new Bastyr Center for Natural Health is seven blocks south of its former location.
Some special features include a two-person sauna for heat treatments, peat bath and hydrotherapy room, plus a water-art piece providing soothing sounds in the waiting room.
The facility has all sorts of green-building touches, including sustainable cork and linoleum flooring, low-VOC adhesives and paints and an comprehensive air-quality plan.
“From the beginning, we wanted a beautiful yet functional teaching clinic that would serve patients, students and faculty and be an asset to the community,” says Dr. Jamey Wallace, director of the clinic. “Our dreams have come true. Students will receive their training in the crown jewel of natural medicine clinical education. And patients will find a healing environment in a state-of-the-art facility.”
The clinic operates as teaching arm of Bastyr, where patients are seen by advanced students and supervising physicians. Patients can see practitioners in naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, nutrition, homeopathy and physical medicine.
—Bob Condor
Sending Messages to Your Pets
Pet owners, mark your calendars for the first weekend in May. That’s when nationally recognized animal healer and communicator Polly Klein will be conducting a two-day clinic May 6 and 7 to help you communicate with pets and other animals. The fee is $200 for 13 hours of sessions.
Klein, owner of Tonglen Healing Arts for Animals, is a certified animal cranio-sacral therapist and master Reiki teacher. She will help participants discover how to communicate with your animals at a distance, how to send and receive information and how to use dialogue, body sensations, emotions and pictures to reach your pets. Klein is asking people to bring photos of their pets and will have a variety of live animals on hand.
Bastyr University is hosting the workshop. Call 425-602-3075 or visit www.bastyr.edu/continuinged for registration and more details.
—A.M.
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