Anthony Cover, executive chef at Mercy Medical Center, inspected the crisp romaine lettuce and deep green kale as the dozen or so boxes were unloaded from a truck early Tuesday.
The greens, grown at One Straw Farm in White Hall, will make their way from the Baltimore County farm into stews and roasts served to hospital workers and patients as Mercy joins a trend for hospitals to buy local.
“We?ll design our menu on this produce,” Cover said.
The image of hospital food as pre-packaged dinners and Jell-O cups is fading as more hospitals turn to local farms and dairies for seasonal food.
Mercy and three other Baltimore-area hospitals have joined the Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment initiative, run by the University of Maryland School of Nursing, which calls for using local food.
The local food is fresher and is free of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics, said Louise Mitchell, project coordinator for the nursing school.
Under the initiative, hospitals can choose from a list of ways to be more environmentally friendly, such as composting and reducing disposable food packaging.
Thirty other area hospitals are participating in some way, Mitchell said, but Mercy, Sinai Hospital, Carroll Hospital and Anne Arundel Medical Center have pledged to include local food.
Mercy also is taking other steps, such as serving fair-trade coffee, eliminating Styrofoam, and recycling.
“It just makes sense,” said Steve Lentz, district manager for Cura Hospitality, which provides food services for Mercy.
For the local food push, Mercy officials have started by purchasing produce from One Straw Farm, and each week ? or more often, if needed ? farm owner Joan Norman drops off boxes of fruits and vegetables.
“A lot of this is an initial phase of the plan,” he said, adding the program will expand in the future.
Local, organic products can cost 10 percent to 20 percent more, but it?s worth it to know where the food comes from and to support local farmers, Lentz said.
“It takes a little bit more commitment and a little more effort,” said Kimmi Campagna, senior general manager for Cura Hospitality.
