B.C. prison, hospital meals should be local: report

Hospitals and prisons and other public institutions in B.C. should start serving more locally produced food in order to support farmers in the province, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Only half the food eaten in B.C. comes from inside the province, and efforts should be made to bring that up to 80 per cent, according to the new report on B.C.'s food security released by the think-tank this week.

Co-author Herb Barbolet says one big step the government could take would be to have public institutions like hospitals and prisons serve more local food.

"That would give the producers a chance to plan and to grow their product," he said. "It would also give the institutions a chance to test it out and find out that it's working for them."

Barbolet argues the institution's kitchens should begin increasing their use of local food gradually, starting right now.

"The patients can start to benefit immediately," said Barbolet. "It's healthier, more nutritious. It's fresher, local, close to home."

Some hospitals already going local

It's something hospitals in Canada and the U.S. are already trying with some success, according to Dr. Preston Maring, an obstetrician who started the push for local food at Kaiser Permanente's Oakland Medical Centre in California.

One way his facility is finding the money to deal with any extra expenses is by cutting back on meat and serving more vegetarian meals.

"Some of that cost savings can go into the added expense of locally grown food," he said.

No B.C. Health authorities have specific targets to increase the local food served, but most say they serve products like fresh blueberries or B.C. salmon in season.

In the Lower Mainland, officials estimate 15 per cent of hospital food is already from local sources, but Barbolet wants to see that gradually increase to more than 60 per cent.