"Hospital Food"

Good nutrition is the number one requirement for good health. Many people who are sick do not get good nutrition at home, many people are uneducated about nutrition. People who are sick often lack appetite. Our society consists of a lot of cultures, and Anglo-Saxon is almost a minority these days.

So why is hospital food so over processed, rarely fresh, rarely culturally appropriate, and rarely tasty? When people come to a hospital here is a chance to introduce them to good fresh food and maybe educate them to what can be fresh and tasty and simple. Instead, we give food that is bland and plain, processed and in my case full of sugar, I am on a nourishing diet, which is interpreted as sugar, which is the last thing I need as I am also diabetic. Even a roast potato doesn't taste like a potato, often meat and everything tastes like it is reconstituted, or frozen.

Many things are dairy free (like margarine), or gluten-free (like their muesli), and the fruits are the smallest possible ones that Woollies gives to kids for free. 

My suggestion is to expand the $1.23 or whatever it is per day food allowance to a little more. Perhaps have some multicultural option, even adding green-tea to the mix would be a start to recognise we are not all Anglo-Saxon. Offering chilli sauce or curries that don't taste like they are made from sugar.

And my other suggestion is why not introduce a $10 VIP option for those that wish to eat fresh or organic food, an option that gives us better meals, incorporating seasonal food instead of frozen food, Asian cuisine or Indian meals... Whatever it costs, because as it is we ask friends and family to bring food, we go out to the cafe and order real coffees, we spend $10 a day in any case. In my opinion, compared to the ridiculous parking costs and TV rental costs and out of pocket medical expenses we pay, we have no option for better food. It is literally making me sick. My partner has to spend hundreds on being with me, the additional optional food charge would be awesome if we could get decent food. As it currently is worse than aeroplane food.

Another thing that is hard is to match insulin doses with such bad food and lack of exercise, hence sugar levels are all over the show.