Local organic food moves to hospitals

Caitlin Dickson - The Daily Iowan (University of Iowa)

Issue date: 11/11/08

Apparently, you really are what you eat.

At least according to Preston Maring, a visiting lecturer who stressed Monday the importance of eating organic and locally grown food.

"What you eat is one of the most important determinants of your health," Maring, a California obstetrician and gynecologist, told nearly 30 people in Schaeffer Hall.

A doctor for 38 years, he said he's dedicated to limiting the onset of illnesses by promoting healthy, organic eating - which doesn't seem to be happening enough, he said.

"Preventing illness is the future of health care," said Maring, who founded a farmers' market at his hospital. "Treating illness is the past."

Soon after Maring introduced the farmer's market in the California facility, 28 hospitals across the nation followed suit. But this trend hasn't yet spread to Iowa City medical centers.

Cathy Scanlon, a clinical dietitian at the UI Hospitals and Clinics, agrees that people's diets can influence their susceptibility to disease, saying it would be a "good idea" if the hospital allowed farmers to sell their goods at the facility.

"You can actually prevent yourself from getting cancer with a plant-based diet," Scanlon said. "You might even have cancer, and your body can fight it, and you don't even know you ever had it."

Still, Scanlon hasn't completely fallen in love with organic foods.

"Our environment is pretty contaminated," she said. "And we have so many chemicals in our body from the things we cook our food in, like non-stick coating on pans, that it's pretty hard to get an actual pure food.

"I don't think the American Dietetic Association is that big on organic food because we don't have enough proof that it's beneficial."

Ron Hall, the Mercy Hospital chef, said the patients always come first when preparing food, and Mercy procures the majority of its food from U.S. Food Service. Contrary to some medical food professionals, Hall said he thinks organic food can benefit hospital patients by adding needed healthy supplements to their diets.

Though the farmers' market has been a success at Maring's hospital, only a small portion of the food served at the hospital is actually organic, Maring said.

But Maring said he and hospital administrators are working with food distributors to incorporate organic items into the menu.

After Maring's presentation, Kurt Friese, the chef and owner of Devotay, said farmers should sell their food at Iowa City hospitals.

"If anyone is interested in getting a farmers' market started at the hospital here, I would love to help," Friese said. "And if anyone thinks it's impossible, I would like to talk to you, too."

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