So, what are you having for breakfast and/or lunch, Katie Bradford?—DHMC Cafeteria
So, what are you having for breakfast and/or lunch, Katie Bradford?—DHMC Cafeteria
The Director of Food and Nutrition weighs in. And the Jell-O?
Here’s a sure sign I have turned into my parents. In their later years, they joked that their social life consisted of doctor appointments followed by coffee and biscotti in the hospital coffee shop. I spend far too much time now in doctors’ waiting rooms, and as a consequence, often find myself in the DHMC cafeteria on Level 2. And not only do I love the cafeteria, I am always more than game to proselytize about its virtues: its breadth of choices, its more than fair prices, and above all—and I cannot state this strongly enough—the perfection of its Robie Farm-sourced pot roast.
Katie Bradford, RD, LD, the Director of Food and Nutrition at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (photo, above) in Lebanon, NH, agrees with me, describing the cafeteria as “one of the most convenient, fresh, and affordable restaurants in the area for our staff and visitors.” Bradford started at Dartmouth Health 10 years ago as a Dietary Aide “taking patient orders and delivering meal trays,” and went on to become a Registered Dietician. She has been in her current position for almost two years. She kindly answered my questions:
Q. Who’s in the kitchen?
Food and Nutrition employs over 100 staff to serve approximately 3,000 meals each day. We have a team of hardworking cooks, cold production, dishwashers, pot room staff, cafeteria staff, store room staff, dietary aides, hosts, and a fantastic supervisory and management team that all work tirelessly to continue to provide the best product and experience that we can within our limitations. . .
. . . We have a four-week cycle menu that provides some variety, however, it is also important that you provide consistency and some level of predictability. If you were to ask staff what we serve on Mondays, I bet that they could tell you that the special is salmon. [Note from Susan: That pot roast? Tuesdays. You’re welcome.]
Q. From where—local farms and other vendors—do you source the food?
We have a lot of different vendors that provide our food, but a few of the local partners . . . are Steve Connolly Seafood from Boston, MA, providing almost all of our fresh fish; Robie Farms in Piermont, NH, who provides us with some of our meat products; Edgewater Farm in Plainfield, NH, who provides us with seasonal fruits and vegetables; and McNamara Dairy in Plainfield, who now provides us with all of our milk for both patient and retail services.
Asked what changes have occurred over the last few years other than the pandemic restrictions and the closing of the salad bar (prevents cross-contamination, but no fear—individual salads are still available), Katie spoke about the push from consumers for more vegan and vegetarian options. As but one example, she reports that when tofu first appeared as an option in the cafeteria in 2016, the cafeteria used approximately 400 pounds that year. By 2019, that number had climbed to over 5,000 pounds annually.
When it comes to workday meals, Katie is not a brown-bagger. She eats in the cafeteria almost every day, and sometimes twice, for both breakfast and lunch. Breakfast is often a build-your-own omelet. Her choice for lunch?
“A few of my favorite lunch meals are the salmon, turkey and stuffing (it’s like Thanksgiving every Thursday), and the maple bacon chicken salad at the deli bar.”
And finally, while I am not a fan, I could not help but notice that Jell-O, which I always picture as a hospital culinary staple, was absent on my recent cafeteria visit. I had to ask, and in the process, learned much about supply shortages.
Q. Is Jell-O forever off the menu?
I was not expecting this question! No, Jell-O is not off the menu forever. . . COVID-19 has disrupted a lot of things, and the food supply chain is no exception. On a daily basis, we deal with a large number of shortages from our food vendors, and the shortage list changes each day. Jell-O has been one of those items that started being on shortage early on during the pandemic and just kept going.
It’s not necessarily the food itself that is on shortage; often times we are informed that it’s the packaging that is unable to be produced because of an upstream shortage. For example, right now we are having issues acquiring 4 oz. juices because the foil that tops the containers is not readily available. It’s an ongoing challenge across the board food-wise that I don’t see resolving any time soon.
(This is another post in a collaborative project between Artful and Daybreak in which Rob Gurwitt and I take turns interviewing Upper Valley restaurant owners, chefs, and others about what they’d order from their own menus. Photos courtesy of Dartmouth Health.)
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.