On Monday, July 29, 2013 8:49:25 PM UTC-7, Julie Bove wrote:
> As I was fixing the tacos for our dinner tonight, I got to thinking about
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> this. I might go into an old folk's home. And if I do? Will the type of
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> food fixed for them change? I ask this because... I asked my dad if they
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> ever got Mexican food where he was at and he said that he did not. I have
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> seen some of what they get and I can say that I would not want to eat it!
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> The mashed potatoes are instant. Okay, I guess I could deal with that
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> but... One night they served them with chicken in bottled BBQ sauce. And
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> what did they put over the mashed potatoes? Not gravy! You guessed it!
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> Additional BBQ sauce! I just can't imagine having to try to eat that!
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> I don't know who is in charge of ordering the food. But I do think part of
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> the problem at least at his facility is that they have people working there
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> who do not know how to cook. One woman who is no longer there had to look
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> up a recipe for cupcakes on her smart phone and then was astounded that they
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> came out right. When we got there the other day, something smelled good.
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> One of the new employees was trying to make Snickerdoodles. But they did
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> not work. Not sure what didn't work about them. But my dad was sad because
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> they've always been his favorite cookie and there wasn't going to be any.
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> Most of the time the food they get isn't even what I would call cooked.
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> Rice A Roni, frozen chicken nuggets, soup from a can, bologna sandwiches,
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> egg salad sandwiches, and often strange combinations. I think another part
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> of it is that they hire a lot of foreigners who perhaps don't know what
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> kinds of foods we would normally eat here. The other night, I questioned
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> the strange, purplish brown lump on my dad's plate. It was accompanied by
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> the instant mashed potatoes and a little dab of the Costco mixed frozen
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> vegetables that they seem to have night after night after endless night. I
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> was told that it was beef. And as we left, I muttered to my mom, "Beef from
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> what kind of animal?"
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> When my friend's mom was in a nursing home, she hated the food so badly that
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> she begged my friend to bring her a loaf of bread an a jar of peanut butter
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> every week or so.
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> So this just got me to thinking. I supposed part of what they are fed is
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> based on medical or other needs. For instance, a person with dentures or
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> dental problems might need soft foods. I understand the chicken nuggets
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> because I have read that often it is hard for seniors to use forks and
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> spoons and that finger food is easier for them. And most of the people
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> where my dad is are pretty deep into dementia so probably wouldn't even know
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> or remember if they were being served the same food day after day. Like the
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> frozen vegetables.
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> But another thing! I'd be willing to bet that a lot of the people who are
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> in such places now were accustomed to eating different things when they were
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> growing up than we do now. Unless they were born in another country, they
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> probably didn't have Thai or Mexican or Chinese, except perhaps for whatever
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> faux version of a recipe was in their mom's cookbook at the time. I have
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> some of my parent's old cookbooks and there are recipes for Chinese things
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> or Italian things that bear no resemblance to the real thing.
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> So... When I go into such a place (assuming that I will), I sure hope that
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> I don't have to eat those meals like my dad is eating now! Mostly they seem
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> to give them very tiny portions of things that look either pretty flavorless
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> or the wrong flavor. Like BBQ sauce on instant mashed potatoes. I also
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> love my raw veggies and they don't seem to get a lot of that. They do serve
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> salad from time to time but it seems like mostly just some iceberg lettuce.
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> I never see anything exciting like olives or some onion on there to liven it
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> up.
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> Do you think by the time I get into one of those places (age 54 now) there
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> will be a demand for better food? Tastier food? More variety? Right now,
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> my dad thinks he doesn't like Mexican food, perhaps because he doesn't
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> remember it. But when I was growing up, we had Mexican food at least once a
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> week. Often more. We did bring him Chinese food and he wolfed it right
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> down like he was starved. And he loved it! My brother also brings him
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> Italian although it is from Olive Garden. He does like Olive Garden though.
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> Yeah, I'm rambling. But also thinking ahead to my future. And I hope it
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> doesn't include BBQ sauce!

Maybe you will have a stroke or a heart attack. Maybe you'll hit your head when you trip over your broom and mop, or a pan will just jump out at you and slit your jugular. Regardless, I think you should focus on the real live world.