Sustainable Foods
Inova provides our patients, team members and visitors with healthy food choices while supporting the production efforts of local farmers. We are proud to be a leading system in this focus area! The main focus of our sustainable food program is to promote local, seasonal and sustainably-produced foods.
What we've been up to lately:
- Inova CSA - Our CSA is available to both team members AND community members! Inova partners with local farmers to deliver fresh produce/fruit/meat/dairy directly to your door or to one of 5 Inova locations. Visit inova.4Pfoods.com, and get $15 off your first order with the code INOVATEAM. $1 of every order is donated to local food initiatives. Last year, we distributed over 5,000 CSA bags.
- Farmer's Market Tables - On payday Fridays in our hospital cafeterias, team members and patients/visitors can access local, seasonal items, as well as education about sustainable food consumption. These tables run through the growing season from roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day.
- Antibiotic Free Chicken/No More Styrofoam - We work with our food service partners to implement sustainable food purchasing options. Recently, we transitioned most chicken purchasing to antibiotic free. We also stopped using Styrofoam and plastic straws in our cafeterias.
- Food Composting - Inova Fair Oaks' cafeteria has maintained a successful back-of-house food composting program since 2019. We diverted 22 tons of food waste last year and hope to expand this offering to our other locations soon!
Additional Resources
Eating fresh foods is important to healthy living. The following is a list of resources to help you find a farmer's market in your community:
- Local Harvest
- Buy Local Virginia
- Map of Farmer's Markets Relative to Inova Hospitals
- Virginia Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services: Includes information about what's in season, where to buy it and the best ways to prepare it
- See the geographic zone your local food should be coming from on our 150 Mile Radius Map