Take the

              Buy Local Challenge

                 July 20-28, 2013

Two Ways to Participate:

1. Hospitals and other health care facilities can pledge to serve at least one local food* each day during
Buy Local Week from July 20-28, 2013

2. Health care employees, patients and community members can pledge to eat at least one local food* each day during
Buy Local Week from July 20-28, 2013.  Hospitals can encourage individuals to sign-on

     Sign up today!

Join the Challenge and Be Counted!

1)   Join the Hospital and Health Care Provider Buy Local Challenge. You can take the pledge as a health care facility to serve local food*, or pledge as an individual employee, patient or community member of a hospital or other health care facility to eat local food* during Buy Local Week from July 20 – July 28, 2013

2)  Track Your Purchases.   Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (MD H2E) will aggregate the dollar amount of all health care facility local food purchases for local food served during Buy Local Week in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia to report a total dollar amount for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Please track the total dollar amount and percentage of locally grown or raised foods that your health care facility purchases and serves during Buy Local Week from July 20 – 28, 2013.

MD H2E will contact your facility after you register so you can submit these totals immediately following the challenge.

3)  Get Recognition.  Hospitals in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia leading in local food purchases during Buy Local Week will  be recognized!

How to get Recognized? 

  1. Serve local certified organic foods
  2. Have the highest employee, patient and community member pledges
  3. Demonstrate Green Team engagement
  4. Serve other local sustainable foods including dairy, seafood, etc.
  5. Engagethe entire executive leadership to take the pledge to eat at least 1 local food each day during Buy Local Week.
  6. SEND US YOUR PICTURES & STORIES of your hospital’s Buy Local activities to gnavarro@compmed.umm.edu so your hospital can be included in the MD H2E Food Newsletter – 2013 Buy Local Challenge Edition.

 

Use the Marketing Tools and Resources to Promote and Successfully Track

Marketing Tools

Food service  professionals and green team members can download these marketing tools to  promote local foods and to engage employees, patients and community members in  the 2012 Buy Local Challenge.  You’ll  find marketing templates that are ready to print and that give you the space to  customize them by adding your hospital name and logo.

    “Ready To Print”  

 Customize with Your Hospital Name, Logo &     Name of Local Food

For additional resources and more information, register and visit:  Promotional Materials

 

Definition of Local Food + Maryland Law - What’s Included and What’s Not 

Local food is defined by Health Care Without Harm as food that is grown or raised, processed, and packaged within a 250-mile radius of your facility. This includes but is not limited to vegetables, fruit, dairy products, seafood, meat, poultry, grains, legumes, etc.  Processed foods, especially those with multiple ingredients including breads and other bakery items, jams, etc., can be defined as local if the majority of ingredients (>50% by weight) are grown or raised, processed and packaged within a 250-mile radius.

While supporting local food businesses (i.e. local bakeries and coffee roasters) is important, the intent of this campaign is to increase purchases from local farms.

Maryland Law requires all businesses that advertise raw meat, eggs, fish, fruits, vegetables, shellfish and processed dairy products as local or being locally grown, regionally grown or produced, or otherwise represented as having originated close by, must have point-of-sale signage indicating the state of its origin.  See the “Frequently Asked Questions” page by the Maryland Department of Agriculture:  http://www.mda.state.md.us/pdf/buylocalfaq.pdf for more information.

 

Resources for Employees and Community Members:

There are several places you can find local foods to fulfill your pledge:  your hospital cafeteria; a local farmers’ markets; a nearby farm; a restaurant that uses local foods; a grocery store that sells local foods.

Maryland Farmers’ Markets
Maryland Farms (search by zip code)
Eat Well Guide (for restaurants and grocery stores with local foods
Local Harvest
Sustainable Table
Food Trader (to find or list the local foods you need or have)
Pick Your Own Farms
Seasonal Recipes (from Fresh Farm Markets)

More information contact:

Louise Mitchell
Sustainable Foods Program Manager,  Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment
Regional Organizer, Healthy Food in Health Care Program,  Health Care Without Harm
University of Maryland School of Medicine – Center for Integrated Medicine
410-706-1924    office
443-257-3209   cell
lmitchell@compmed.umm.edu
www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org
www.mdh2e.org

 

For Information on the Buy Local Challenge, visit: www.buy-local-challenge.com.