When you and your senior loved one decide to move to an assisted living, memory care, or independent living community, you want to know that they will get the best care available. You also want to be sure the food there is not only tasty but also nutritious and served by caring staff members. The dining facilities at Edgewood communities offer this and so much more.
Dining Options
Nothing says home quite like your favorite meals. When your loved ones move to an assisted living community, you must help them feel at home. Eating their favorite foods can be a massive part of that! When Edgewood communities decide their menus, they look for resident feedback. We spoke with Melanie Metz, R.D., the Corporate Director of Dining Services at Edgewood, to learn how the five-week menus are planned.
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Metz mentioned that Edgewood uses Grove Menus, menu management software that provides dietitian-approved menu programs complete with recipes and ingredient lists. This helps make managing dining services a breeze for the community Dining Services departments.
“At each Edgewood location, residents have unique dietary preferences.”
Edgewood residents have their own unique food preferences, and the software program allows the dining staff to make adjustments as necessary to fit resident preferences while maintaining a menu that is nutritionally balanced and sound.
What will your loved one eat during their stay at Edgewood? Twice each year, Edgewood Dining teams help plan a new five-week cycle menu, one in the spring/summer and another in the fall/winter. Popular items include beef roasts, fried or breaded chicken, fish tacos, hotdish, macaroni options, and egg bakes. There are many varieties of salads, like egg and pasta, as well as sandwiches, too. Each community also plans its unique “special events” calendar, and it is expected to see prime rib, steak, or walleye dinners in conjunction with these special events. Families are often invited to visit their loved one at Thanksgiving or Christmas for a taste of a delicious turkey, roast beef, or ham dinner.
Dietary Assistance and Restrictions
Individuals in memory care programs or those with physical conditions that limit their mobility may receive help cutting food into bite-sized pieces. The dining staff also ensures these residents have unique options, such as boneless chicken breast instead of bone-in chicken, because boneless versions are more accessible. And of course, there are many different kinds of desserts, from delicious fruit and cream pies to brownies, varieties of cookies and ice cream, and fresh or canned fruit—it’s essential to satisfy the residents’ sweet tooths!
Edgewood communities offer individualization and the least restrictive diets possible for their residents. Metz shared that Edgewood often works with physicians to prescribe a regular diet to residents because the menus are nutritionally balanced. Prescribing restrictive diets can lead to unpalatable or unacceptable foods and may alter food and fluid intake.
“Our residents can make healthy diet decisions off our regular menu,” she noted. From grilled chicken salads with low-fat dressing to fruit options, Metz stated it’s easy to select healthy and tasty items from the regular Edgewood menu.
The dining options at Edgewood include plenty of healthy choices and tasty desserts.
Chef Specialist Program
Tyler Zent, the Corporate Chef Specialist at Edgewood, explained the new Chef Specialist program. This new exciting program adds another layer of Dining Services resources for all Edgewood communities. The Corporate Chef position oversees 3 “area chef specialists” throughout the company. Along with Zent, these specialists are available to provide educational resources such as proper weights and measurements, knife skills, handling meats, and center-of-the-plate foods. They also offer assistance with garnishing, video training, safe food handling courses, and on-site, hands-on training to enhance skills necessary to be an “Edgewood trained” Dining Services employee. Chef Specialists will also work with the Dining Services Director and Dining Service specialists to follow up on any action plans provided during annual mandatory dining audits to ensure residents receive the best quality food and service possible.
The Future
Most of our residents are part of the Greatest Generation and enjoy meat and potatoes, Zent and Metz shared. While some of this nostalgic eating has trickled into the younger generations, a significant shift will occur when baby boomers and Millennials enter assisted living communities. To adapt, Zent and Metz noted major changes in Edgewood dining in future years. From offering more flavorful options like ethnic and authentic foods to creating stations where residents can pick their meals, the dining experience will likely be much different. Communities will also likely offer more options like farm-to-table dining, organic produce, vegan and vegetarian options. Metz noted it’s a fascinating time to be in the business of providing dining services for our seniors – there are endless possibilities.
Metz has enjoyed being part of the development of the Chef Specialist program. With 30 years of varying work as a dietitian, it is exciting to combine nutrition knowledge with Edgewood chefs’ experience. They add an element of creativity to the dining experience that will help Edgewood communities stay on the cutting edge. Metz mentioned Zent stresses the importance of ensuring the menu items are presentable. He’ll note to add some parsley, cut the dish differently, or add a lemon wedge, which significantly improves the look, making residents more likely to try each dish. Look no further if you’re looking for an assisted living community that offers healthy, delicious food that your senior loved one will enjoy.
