When the Sunflower Café opened its doors on March 2, hungry customers discovered that the selections on the menu are healthier, thanks in part to new equipment. In addition to replacing its 20-year-old grill, the café has “added some state-of-the-art equipment so we can provide a healthier product line and make things more efficient,” says Christina Dibble, Director of Nutrition and Food Services.
The star of the show is a new combination oven — similar to a home air fryer, but much larger — which uses air in combination with heat to bake chicken tenders, french fries, onion rings and other items that are usually deep-fried. Air-frying keeps food crispy on the outside but moist and tender on the inside. Because it uses much less fat than deep-fat frying, it produces food that’s lower in fat and calories: the four-ounce serving of air-fried chicken tenders served in the café contains 27% fewer calories and 52% less fat than the deep-fried version.
“Air-fried foods have replaced all deep-fried foods, both in the café and on the inpatient menu,” says Dibble. “There is no deep-fat fryer in our walls anymore.” Her team has evaluated different products, taste-testing air-fried chicken tenders and other items.
There are plans to add healthier condiments at the grill as well — maybe salsa, olive-oil aioli or a fat-free mayo — as alternatives to mayonnaise.
Dibble says the Sunflower Café encourages customers to make healthy choices by providing the nutrition facts for many items. “Being able to offer nutritional information is very important. We work very closely with our clinical dietitians.”
“Reducing the fat and calorie content of some of our items is part of our wellness initiative, to help people achieve or maintain a healthy body weight,” notes Senior Clinical Dietitian Linda Leising, BS, RD, CDN. Overweight — or “body fatness,” a term used by the American Institute for Cancer Research — “is a strong risk factor for 12 different types of cancer as well as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
The Pledge: Healthy Food in Health Care
Serving healthier foods is just one part of the plan for improving the health of our patients, our community and the environment. That commitment will be formalized when Roswell Park signs the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge in the coming months. Among many other points, the pledge emphasizes:
- Serving more locally produced food, free of synthetic pesticides, hormones or antibiotics
- Offering more fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods
- Reducing unhealthy fats and foods with added sweeteners
- Minimizing food waste and reusing it as compost
- Using environmentally friendly packaging
- Releasing an annual report showing how the pledge was fulfilled in the previous year
What’s next? Dibble says the Nutrition and Food Services Department will try to start composting, with the end product going back to local farms.
“We want to be a leader in our community.”