Food Services: more local, less waste
At Sodexo, we recognize that our actions and decisions not only impact our customers, but also the lives of people around the world every day. Over the last few years we have seen our clients becomeincreasingly more aware of the connections between our services and how they impact the environment, health and wellness, and the community. We are receiving questions pertaining to where their food comes from; how we are giving back; how we handle waste; and the links between sustainability and health.
We are excited to announce that we have a number of initiatives underway to formalize our commitments around engagement, patient/resident satisfaction and environmental sustainability within VCH and PHC.
On June 1, 2014, we launched number of changes in both Patient and Retail Food Services. These include:
Environmental Sustainability
- Working to achieve a target 10% food waste
- Eliminating all Styrofoam products
- Emphasizing reusable service ware on patient trays. All disposable service ware is recyclable.
- Minimizing individually packaged foods to the greatest extent in Residential Care sites
- Working with our supply chain to reduce waste – 100% of packaging is received in recyclable or take-back recyclable containers
- Continuing to expand our nonorganic and organic recycling program
Patient and Resident Satisfaction
- Increasing fresh vegetables choices on patient menus
- Emphasizing cultural and ethnic foods
- Increasing fresh, local and seasonal food purchases
- Increasing sustainable fish and seafood on menus
Patient and Resident Engagement
- Look for us on the units! Food Services will be conducting regular patient ward visits to solicit patient/resident feedback on how we can improve their experience. We aim to improve meal satisfaction through increased engagement on the units.
We will continue to focus our initiatives on People First and Sustainability. These commitments address our approach to providing food services today, and what we hope to achieve in the future through partnerships with VCH and PHC.
Sodexo
Thanks Poonam!
In response to your inquiry, we currently recycle organics and nonorganic materials back of house. We are now in discussions to expand the organic recyling program front of house in the cafeteria. Thanks!
Poonam
Bravo on the reusable and compostable serving ware!!!
Can we have lots of compost bins available to capture this waste please?
Aneta
Dear Sodexo,
I have a few inquiries re: more snacks/baked goods becoming available for vegans and those who cannot or choose not to eat eggs and/or dairy. I have asked at Willow Bean and Café Ami and they said all their baked goods are supplied by Sodexo. Café Ami has an amazing variety of baked goods, including gluten free. Is it not possible to at least carry one vegan option? Secondly, would it be possible to have soy milk available when purchasing coffee at Sassafras cafeteria? Thank you for considering these suggestions.
Sodexo
Hi Aneta,
Thank you for your question, Sodexo does supply the baked goods for Willow Bean Café and Sassafras but not for Café Ami. Sassafras has soy milk available for coffee but it is kept in a fridge, just let the cashier know and she will get it for you. We have not seen any requests for Vegan baked goods so we have not developed any recipes yet but I will do my best to see if we can develop some this year.
Thanks again.
Linda
Sodexo, it would be nice (healthier too) to have kitchen made salad dressings rather than the bottled, Kraft kind. I don’t beieve they are made locally as I once asked for the recipe for the casesr dressing and was told it was Kraft, from a bottle. The calories and fat in bottled dressings do not make for a healthy salad. Do you have any plans to provide dressings that are not manufactured? Thanks for reading this.
Sodexo
Hi Linda,
We currently offer on the patient menu Thai Cucumber Dressing, Sour Cream Dressing (Tomato Cucumber Salad), Fusion Bean Salad, Couscous Salad, Creamy Coleslaw, Apple Carrot Slaw, and Peanut Dressing – just to name a few salad recipes that are made on site from scratch! A commercial item may be used for some items such as the Caesar Dressing. For the Caesar Dressing, this is a safer product in that it isn’t made with raw eggs (traditional Caesar dressing is made with raw eggs).
We’re proud that majority of our menu items are cooked on site using fresh ingredients. We will continue to add new recipes that incorporate seasonal, fresh, local ingredients as much as possible, and also meet the diverse cultural needs of our patients and residents. We are always on the lookout for new menu items to add, so please let us know your thoughts if you have suggestions for recipes.
Thanks for asking.