Morrison Healthcare Food Services, BJC's food service provider, has implemented a number of programs in conjunction with BJC Help for Your Health. With a healthier focus apparent in all BJC cafeterias and dining rooms, Morrison offers healthy and tasty menu selections every day.
Chef John Beck and Aaron Reinberg, RD, make roasted Mediterranean eggplant.
2 large eggplants, cubed (peeled if desired)
1 red onion, diced, 1 inch pieces
2 bell peppers, cut, large cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 teaspoons dried basil (or 2 tablespoons fresh basil)
1 small red onion, minced
1/2 cup halved yellow grape tomatoes
1/4 cup reduced-fat feta
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 425°
Toss eggplant, onion, bell peppers, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on cookie sheet and roast 20 minutes. Over low heat, sauté garlic and basil in olive oil for about a minute until garlic is soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When vegetables are roasted, add to a large bowl. Combine with garlic oil and remaining ingredients.
Suggestion: Serve with whole wheat pasta or grilled chicken.
Per 1 Cup Serving:
170 calories
11 gram total fat
16 gram carbohydrate
7 gram fiber
3 gram protein
Balanced Choices
The Balanced Choices program offers healthy and great-tasting dining choices in BJC cafeterias and dining rooms Monday through Friday. Debuting at Barnes-Jewish Hospital North, Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital and Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, the Balanced Choices program uses icons to make it easy to identify healthy foods. In addition to the icons, nutrient information specific to the food item is posted. BJC dietitians say food labeling is an important step in trimming Americans' waistlines.
Jennifer Polniak, Boone Hospital Center registered dietitian, says, "When I show clients the nutritional information in the food they're eating, it does make them think twice about their choices. Making this information more widely available is an excellent idea in response to the obesity epidemic. Gaining control of one's food environment is a key factor in weight management. Providing nutrition information is one step forward in the process of giving the public this needed control."
Balanced Choices offers entrees that are:
Moderate in Calories, Fat, Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium
Fewer Than 400 mg of Sodium Per Plate
Offering Health Benefits Beyond Basic Nutrients
No Meat, Poultry or Fish, But May Contain Dairy or Eggs
In addition, Morrison provides a monthly "Eat Well, Live Well" article that features hot health topics and promotes a monthly "Lunch and Learn" table in each cafeteria that features health information and healthy food samples.
Vegetable and Fruit Frequency Cards
BJC cafeterias offer an employee vegetable and fruit frequency punch card. Once you buy nine servings of fruits or vegetables, the 10th is free, up to a value of $1 (before employee discount). Employees can get the punch card from the food service cashier, and employees must wear their badge to use the card.
Breakfast Stations
Hearty offerings can be found in every cafeteria, including:
- Oatmeal
- Whole-grain toast
- Fresh cut and whole fruit
- Fat-free yogurt
- Turkey sausage (at most locations)
- Low cholesterol scrambled eggs (at most locations)
Weight Watchers Menu Items
Morrison has an exclusive partnership with Weight Watchers and offers Weight Watchers entree, vegetable and snack selections at almost every BJC HealthCare hospital.
Flavors 450 -- Available at Barnes-Jewish Hospital South Cafeteria and Missouri Baptist Medical Center
Morrison's Flavors 450 is an innovative culinary concept in hospital meal choices designed by celebrity chef and New York Times best-selling cookbook author Cary Neff. Flavors 450 offers nutritious gourmet options that are rich in nutrition and flavor but contain only 450 calories or less.
Chef Neff -- who Oprah Winfrey says “does amazing things with nutritious food” -- has collaborated with Morrison executive chefs to rotate more than 60 gourmet meal recipes using fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables with a special focus on healthy eating and wellness -- all without sacrificing taste.
Chef Neff says, “Flavors 450 is designed to entice the taste buds, but also satisfy the soul and maintain the body. By bringing a unique perspective to the way recipes are created, we are able to balance savory, great-tasting meals with good nutrition and healing properties that can help improve one’s health. Our recipes offer sophisticated and delicious options with health and prevention in mind. For example, by using ingredients that have preventive qualities, we’ve created recipes that work well for those with health conditions such as diabetes and high cholesterol.”
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 within 150 miles, whenever possible. Plus, because Flavors 450 meals are 450 calories or less, each selection meets American Heart Association guidelines, which is good for heart health.
Sustainability Initiatives
Serving Seafood That Comes from Sustainable Sources
Morrison and its parent company, Compass Group, are committed to protecting the threatened global fish supply. In collaboration with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, Morrison established a landmark purchasing policy in 2006 that removes unsustainable wild and farmed seafood from its cafeteria menus. They are working diligently to engage the salmon, shrimp and tilapia aquaculture industry to implement sustainable methods of production using open and frequent dialogue paired with specific goals and time lines. The goal is to remove 500,000 pounds of unsustainable farmed seafood over a three-year period ending in 2013.
The Marine Stewardship Council, an independent, global, nonprofit organization established to address "over-fishing"; and the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch offer facts and figures about seafood that comes to your table from sustainable sources.
Providing Fresh Yogurt and Milk That Is Free of Artificial Growth Hormones
Science and experience have demonstrated that the use of artificial bovine growth hormones in dairy cows is detrimental to the well-being of the animal. The medical community has expressed apprehension that the use of these hormones may also be harmful to human health. Due to these concerns, Morrison serves only fresh fluid milk and fresh yogurt from cows that have been certified to be free of the artificial growth hormones rBGH/rBST.
Bovine growth hormone occurs naturally in dairy cows and is present in all raw milk. rBGH is a genetically engineered animal drug injected into cows to increase milk production. The FDA approved rBGH in 1993, and advises that residual levels of these hormones in food have been demonstrated to be safe. rBGH is not approved for use in most industrial nations, including Canada, Japan and all 25 nations of the Eurpoean Union.
Morrison Tips
These Help for Your Health flyers are available to display in your workplace: