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| Contact: Christine Hill: 612-873-5719 |
07/09/09 |
A garden may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Hennepin County Medical Center, but the busy downtown Level One Trauma Center is now home for a rooftop organic garden where fresh, locally and organically grown herb and peppers are grown to use in recipes for patients, visitors and staff.
In 2009 the medical center received funds from the City of Minneapolis Climate Change Grant to create its rooftop organic garden.
According to Lisa Nadeau, Food Service Operations Manager, “The main purpose was to provide the freshest ingredients possible for our recipes. We also hope to set an example and encourage HCMC staff and even visitors to consider planting similar gardens at home.”
In March, HCMC signed the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge, showing the commitment to sustainable food purchasing and practices.
“Our garden reduces a small amount of rainwater runoff, but we hope to install a rain barrel water system next year to further support our sustainability initiatives,” says Nadeau.
Hennepin is growing a variety of culinary herbs including cilantro, Thai and Genovese basil, thyme, oregano, chives, curly and flat leaf parsley and others. An exciting addition to the garden is traditional Hmong herbs used in the traditional Hmong post partum meal.
“In traditional Hmong belief, in the month following giving birth, a mother is supposed to eat steamed white rice and chicken soup with special herbs added to help the body regain its strength and produce ample supply of breast milk for the newborn baby,” explains Lor Lee, Diversity Consultant at Hennepin. “Many medical facilities across the Twin Cities try to accommodate this need by providing white rice, chicken breast, and chicken broth. Though it is seen as a nice gesture by many Hmong people, it is far from the actual post partum meal that is consumed by many Hmong women,” Lee continues. “At Hennepin we hope to be able to provide this type of meal to Hmong women to meet their cultural needs.”
The traditional Hmong herbs were purchased from Mhonpaj’s Garden, a local Hmong Community supported agriculture center, and were planted as part of the herb garden onsite. The Hmong herbs that are part of the herb garden include, “Suv Ntsim,” a thin, long green herb, “Kaws taw os liab,” an herb with leaves that resemble duck feet, “Nkaj Lia,” an herb red in color, “Ntiv,” an herb with sharp corner leaves, basil, lemon Thai basil, red cinnamon basil, and mint.
“It’s important to us to be sensitive to the cultural practices of our patients, and to provide them with as much comfort as possible during their hospital stay,” says Nadeau. “And we’re excited about being able to use these fresh ingredients for our recipes. The health of our patients, staff and visitors is why we’re here, and being able to serve the healthiest choices possible fits right in with our mission.”
Celebrating its 20th year of being Minnesota’s first Level 1 Trauma Center, Hennepin County Medical Center is a comprehensive academic medical center and public teaching hospital with the largest emergency department in the state. In addition to the 469-bed acute care hospital and primary care and specialty clinics located in downtown Minneapolis, Hennepin offers four primary care clinics in Minneapolis and suburban Hennepin County. Hennepin County Medical Center is repeatedly recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Hospitals.”
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