Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - January/February 2024 - 28

CREATING
SEASONAL
variety
EVERY SEASON brings an abundance
of fresh fruits and vegetables, flavors,
and traditions. Each season sparks
memories in all of us of times spent
together with family and friends, and
triggers memories of when we were
growing up. Food is an essential part
of life, and shapes us from the very
beginning. We use food to celebrate
new arrivals and various milestones
in our lives, and when someone
leaves us at the end of their life. We
have specific foods during holidays
that bring us together, and different
cultures use unique dishes and flavors
to mark celebrations.
Food has always been an important
part of our lives and culture, with the
seasons being a very large part of this.
As the seasons change, it is a great
opportunity to change up our menus
and celebrate the seasons with our
patients, residents, students, visitors,
and staff. You can make many simple
additions to your menu each season
to help spark memories, recognize
milestones, honor cultural diversity,
and bring people together. Specifically
in the healthcare foodservice world,
celebrating the seasons using food can
help improve morale, enhance moods
in patients, and could possibly affect
IN
YOUR
MENU
BY TIMOTHY SCHOONMAKER, MBA, CEC, WCEC,
CCA, CDM, CFPP, CHESP, FMP, MCFE
outcomes and assist with healing.
INCORPORATING SEASONAL
FOODS IN YOUR MENU
The first step of incorporating seasonal
foods into your menus is to identify
what is specific to your region and
available to you. In the Southeast, the
seasons do not change as much as they
do in the Northeast, so the seasonal
variety of produce may be different.
We can work with our distributors
to understand what is available to
us and create our menus around
those varieties. We also can partner
with our supplier specialists to help
develop menus, and work with our
onsite or regional registered dietitians
to ensure we are calculating and
balancing our menus.
We can create seasonal variety
not only through using different
products, but also through spices
and seasonings. Adding a touch of
cinnamon to a dish can give it a fall
flavor, while using a smokey or BBQ
seasoning can bring us more towards a
summertime menu.
Here are some ideas to add seasonal
selections to your menu:
Winter
Foods: Pumpkin, poultry, beef, breads,
potatoes, hearty vegetables, stews,
soups
Spices: Cloves, allspice, peppermint
extract
Spring
Foods: Game, summer squash,
strawberries, blueberries, citrus
Spices: Mint, rosemary, peppercorn,
dried chili rub
Summer
Foods: Beef, cucumbers, peppers,
artichokes, arugula, asparagus, green
beans, watermelon, mangos, coconut
Spices: Basil, cilantro, rosemary, mint
Fall
Foods: Acorn squash, pumpkin, fresh
sweet corn, sweet potatoes, apples,
peaches, game & poultry, nuts
Spices: Pumpkin pie spice, gingerbread
spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla,
garlic
When you incorporate seasonal foods
into your menu, it creates a healthy
variety and allows you to save on your
28 NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2024
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - January/February 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - January/February 2024
