So the Provincial election has been called and they thought I had gone away and forgotten about the Provincial 21 Day Menu. I’m back! For the past two years, having made a commitment to the seniors of northeast Alberta, I have tried many times and many tactics to get this issue resolved.
For any of you who may have forgotten, the Provincial 21 Day Menu was rolled out across the province in early 2010 to all publicly owned hospitals and nursing homes of 125 beds or less (rural Alberta). Under this program, prepared, often frozen, food arrives at these facilities where through a process of re-thermalization (steaming/reheating) the food is then plated and served to the residents in long term care facilities as well as patients in hospitals.
My major concern has been with the residents in long term care because these poor folks will be eating this until they depart this earth. Most of this food comes from large food processing plants in eastern Canada and the eastern coast of the USA. Our provincial government condones this although they continue to say how important Alberta’s agriculture sector is to our economy!
This whole problem began when the government in its infinite wisdom centralized health care services. The new Alberta Health Services (AHS) board was in over their heads. They were faced with trying to solve the health care crisis in Alberta.
The problems were endless – from some people not being able to access a family physician, to lengthy wait times for appointments with specialists and, thus, treatments or surgeries, to long wait times in emergency rooms, to lack of much needed long term care beds, etc., etc. So not knowing where to start, they began by “fixing” the one thing that was not broken – the food!
There is now no on-site preparation of food in our hospitals and nursing homes. Hence, there is no longer that pleasant home-like feel of smelling the meal being prepared over several hours. There is nothing like the aroma of home cooking to give a person an appetite in anticipation of the wonderful meal to come. To deprive the frail and the elderly of a decent meal is reprehensible. Is this the type of society that we want to live in? I think not.
I think back to the time when my father-in-law was a resident at the J. P. DeCosse Auxiliary care centre. Common sense still prevailed and his meals were all prepared on site. I never once heard him complain about the food. In fact, there was always a rush to get to the dining room well in advance of the meal. Meals were a bright spot in the day for most residents who had very little to look forward to. The tasty meals helped make living in long term care more tolerable. Days were long for him and it was wonderful that three times a day there would be a nice, home cooked meal awaiting him. Surely after all the hard times in his life he was entitled to this pleasure.
Is Walter’s story any different than the residents in long term care today? Not really. All of the residents have known the good times and the hard times and each in turn has contributed to our society. What is different, however, is that the residents no longer look forward to the meals. How can we as a society justify taking away the enjoyment of a good meal? Have we taken leave of our senses to expect people to eat reheated processed food? Is this the thanks we give to people who have worked hard and contributed to the growth of this province? It is important to note that our provincial jails do not serve this food to the inmates.
After two years of repeatedly bringing this issue to the attention of government officials and seeing no meaningful changes made to the Provincial 21 Day Menu, I can no longer support this government. I will be voting on April 23rd to hire a new representative and, thus, a new party to replace the old guard. We, the electorate, have the power to bring long overdue change to this province. The first order of business must be the dismantling of the AHS board and a return to local control. No local board member in his/her right mind would condone the food that is currently being served in our local hospital and auxiliary care centre.
Edith Read
President of Region 2 Alberta Council on Aging
