10/21/11

Training Promoted Local Sustainable Foods in Maryland and D.C. Hospitals

University of Maryland Eastern Shore at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) joined forces with Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment on October 14th to host a training event on for hospital and corporate culinary teams to promote food procurement policies in health care facilities that are environmentally sound, economically viable and socially responsible.

Implementing New Choices

The training focused on how to fabricate and make use of less familiar cuts of meat and whole birds in high-volume institutional settings. Instructors also addressed cost-effective solutions for shifting away from industrialized purchasing and pre-packaged meat products.

Buying Local, Going Global

The chefs and Cooks Training at USG was a local implementation of the national Healthy Food in Health Care initiative from the international coalition, Health Care Without Harm. Sponsors of the event included the USDA Federal State Marketing Improvement Program and the Blaustein Fund.


Susan Callahan, Chef Instructor at University of Maryland Eastern Shore at the Universities at Shady Grove, was the lead instructor.

Emily Tan, Production Manager for George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, learns how to make a beef stew using only natural and organic ingredients.


James Gray, Executive Chef for Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., prepares Quinoa-Stuffed Acorn Squash with local, sustainably grown squash.


Senior Manager of Culinary Development at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Md., served as a chef trainer during the event at USG. He is pictured making Roasted Chicken and Apples with Mustard.