Cuisine at "senior living" residences

[Alex]

"Grandma's Meat Loaf? Hardly"

 

 

In a nation where food has become a cultural currency and the baby-boom generation is turning 65 at a rate of 8,000 people a day, it was only a matter of time before expensive ingredients, elevated cooking techniques and old-fashioned food snobbery hit the nursing home.

 

At many senior living communities and nursing homes, chefs with degrees from Johnson & Wales or the Culinary Institute of America have taken over kitchens.

 

I used to think about this issue a lot, before I decided I was never, ever going to live in a "retirement community," much less a nursing home. (I'd make an exception for a rehab facility, so long as it was for a limited time and I could return home afterwards.) All other issues aside, what about the food? I certainly couldn't count on someone like CaliPoutine cooking for me. How would I deal with the usual crap dining room fare? (Answer: I wouldn't. I'd probably become like this guy.)

 

So, now we have CIA chefs at nursing homes. Well, good. The drawback?

 

 

...the Mather, a senior community of $1 million condominiums near Lake Michigan.

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Mark Ozer, 82, is a retired doctor who in February moved into the [$5000/month] Ingleside at Rock Creek senior center in Washington, D.C.

 

Could Ms. Alex and I afford that $5000/month after we're both retired? Possibly (although a $1 mil condo would be way, way out of our reach). Would we want to? Doubtful.

 

So, discuss...

[Shelby]

I'm the last of my family's blood line--apart from very very distant cousins.  I have no children.  So, I think about what I'm going to do when I get older and I can't live on my own.  For that amount of money, I think I'd rather find someone to come in to my home and cook etc. for me.  But that is easier said than done, I'm sure.  Hard to find someone good at their job that is also trustworthy.  

[GlorifiedRice]

Does that $5000 include everything...?

[ChefPip]

I know Nursing Homes epitomize morbidity to most young people.  The smell of urine and noises that come from those places

are nerve wrecking to say the least.  On my first visit to one I came out of the room I was visiting with my family and asked the

young Nurses how they could stand it.  It was explained to me that it is tough at first and as repulsive as I experienced it to be,

that these people would tell me that they are better off in the home than being on their own in a house where they would wonder

if anyone even knew they were there or alive.  Sometimes, hard as it would be to believe it, the Nursing Home is where a person is better off.

 

As for the cuisine there,   I've read stories about seniors not wanting to eat it.  Were they depressed or resentful ? No, they were

"geriatric" and just didn't have the stomach acids to digest it.  Some pineapple & cottage cheese or some Fig bars could have helped make the difference for the Bromelain or Ficin enzymes in those foods that would promote their digestion.  Otherwise there could be painful indigestion resulting from the food. 

 

But I have to agree that institutional foods can leave a lot to be desired.  Still there should be some thought given to it as
we will all be there sooner or later.

 

Myself, I have several older women who live in a high rise for the elderly whom I taught BBQ and Smoking of meat.  They are wanting to do things that they never tried before and pool their money, set up groups, and buy equipment at the end of the season to get their best deals.   It is a real blast to talk to them and hear how they tried recipes and processes I helped them to learn about.  Some of them work at the Dollar Stores part time yet and live out of the High Rise, so they are able to be mobile and digest the foods that they prepare.  But I made sure that they knew about the enzymes in Papaya, (for marinades), Pineapple, and Figs.so they wouldn't have to walk the floors all night after dinner.  LOL

[minas6907]

Wow, that sounds exactly like where I work. I work in the kitchen of an assisted living facility, and it follows exactly the manner laid out in the article. We have a dietitian come ever four months or so to check up and make sure everything's up to par. It was funny the article mentioned cooking demos, about once a month I do chocolate and candy demos for the residents as an activity (hard candies, peppermint patties, molded bonbons, etc, as well as chocolates for special events hosted by the facility).

Im not surprised one bit about culinary grads heading those kitchens. Typically they are very corporate, monday through friday, 9-5 jobs, benefits included. Ive seen many chefs who've been burned out on the restaurant or hotel end of the business, and they get a job in a facility.

With regards to food quality, where im at, it can vary widely depending on whos cooking. Some cooks can read the menu, but not nessesary the description of the item or recipe, so it ends up being kind of a crap shoot. With the cooks who know what they are doing, the food is much better, and the residents can tell. About the service not being fast enough, that depends on where your at. Some facilities have servers who take care of meal service, the places the servers are also caregivers. Anywho, it was a good article, hopefully some of that high quality food comes our way, all this sysco stuff drives me crazy.

[Norm Matthews]

Both my mom and aunt lived in apartments for the elderly while they were able to live on their own (assisted living)  They had facilities to cook for themselves, get meals delivered or go to the dining room. Mom's dining room had better than average food.  My aunt lived in a larger and nicer place and the food was very good.  The dining room even had a scenic view.  Mom moved in with my sister when she got too old to live alone but I have vistied a couple nursing homes for invalides.  One was nice one was awful. I don't know what kind of food was in the awful one but the other one had food a little better than I remember  from my high school cafeteria. 

Edited September 10, 2014 by Norm Matthews (log)

[gfweb]

I'm on the board of a big Retirement/Assisted Living/ Nursing Home. We have a first class chef who worked at the best local restaurants...had had it with the life...and now works at the NH.  Everyday food is great (within the taste limitations of the age group) and the food he serves in the "restaurant" dining room is better than anything available for many miles in real restaurants.

[Kerry Beal]

I recall thinking about this before - http://forums.egullet.org/topic/97626-will-you-still-need-me-will-you-still-feed-me/

[Alex]

Does that $5000 include everything...?

 

Yes. If you click here, you can see what's covered. You also can scroll down that page and click on "Monthly Cost Comparison Calculator" to get an actual cost.

[Alex]

I recall thinking about this before - http://forums.egullet.org/topic/97626-will-you-still-need-me-will-you-still-feed-me/

 

Ah, yes -- the eGullet Retirement Community and Assisted Living Facility.

[Katie Meadow]

We looked at several Continuing Care Retirement Communities for my mother a few years ago. CCRC's are residences that have tiered housing and care, including independent living units, assisted living and skilled nursing. Most of them are pricey. They all have dining plans. They are a far cry from your basic nursing homes and looking to attract a different type of resident. Some are now using the food in the dining room as part of the marketing package, and my guess is this is really the focus of that NYT article. We can probably agree that many baby boomers on the cusp of retirement are now searching for options and some who have money may, in tune with the culture and the food in the big cities, put a priority on good food. It would make a difference to me, that's for sure.

 

We checked out two places in Oakland and one in Portland. One place in Oakland had good food, and the place in Portland, which was the newer and more modern facility with a spectacular dead on view of Mt Hood had pretty bad food; better than most nursing homes or rehab facilities but not anything I would want to eat every day. That kind of surprised me, because the Portland place seemed to have a very progressive outlook and you might think the local prospects (and their offspring who are making decisions) would have pretty high expectations when it comes to food. The whole thing is very interesting, and I expect there will be more choices in the near future. Let's hope so, anyway. Given the cost of some of these places and the access to good chefs you would hope the trend would be upwards. 

[chopperdaddy]

I am a working chef who transitioned from ala carte fine dining in Las Vegas to healthcare 5 years ago. Currently I am the executive chef for a small drug and alcohol rehab center and I now have the most liberal food cost in my entire career. There are a lot of seasoned and gifted chefs making this move. Better hours little or no pay cut and more creative freedom. I have worked at two of the poshest retirement communities in the Las Vegas area and I can tell you that the food rivals that of any sit down establishment you care to name. There are therapeutic diet restrictions but every effort is made to deliver a cruise ship type delivery. The days of rest home "hospital food" are falling by the wayside.