Nutrition and Food Service goes "All-Out" to present beautiful (and nutritious) meals on special occasions

Holidays like Easter are special because of family gatherings and celebrations. Here at Dole VA, Nutrition and Food Service (NFS) make it even more special for Veterans who are spending their holiday on the inpatient floors. A little TLC with a delicious meal brings smiles to their faces and helps with healing. This year’s theme, “Food Connects Us,” fits perfectly with their efforts in food presentation.

NFS promotes “Food Is Medicine” by providing nutritious meals and teaching about health benefits through Clinical nutrition education. Clinical Dietitians continue to collaborate with other teams to promote the “Food Is Medicine” model through Medical Nutrition Therapy in PACT Teams, CBOC, Home-based Primary Care, MOVE! groups, Healthy Teaching Kitchen groups, diabetes classes, and Inpatient areas.

Food Services use the “Computrition” program for nutrient analysis, helping us serve patients better. Healthy options include fresh fruit, wholesome meats, in-house baked bread and desserts, and frozen vegetables. The cooks always go the extra step to perfect plate presentation and garnish.

This Easter weekend, the Food Service staff amazed patients with the meal below: sirloin steak with shrimp, hollandaise sauce, roasted asparagus, duchess potatoes, dinner roll, iced tea, house salad, and whipped cherry Jello parfait with a marshmallow.

Some comments from patients were: “Wow,” “Is this for me?” “Did you make this here?” and “I’ve never eaten this kind of food anywhere.”