Tampa General Hospital in Florida has taken a pioneering step by becoming the first in the U.S. to sign the ‘Make Hospital Food Healthier’ pledge. This pledge aims at delivering nutritious and minimally processed meals to patients.
John Couris, CEO of Tampa General Hospital, signed the pledge during a news conference where Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Brooke Rollins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, and celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian were in attendance.
The hospital, which can accommodate 1,000 patients, began a partnership with Zakarian last year to revamp its menu under the ‘food is medicine’ philosophy. This change means offering meals high in nutrition that help prevent, manage, and treat illnesses, as stated in a 2025 news release from the hospital.
If you go to your friend’s house and you say, ‘This tastes like hospital food,’ that’s not a compliment.
The ‘Make Hospital Food Healthier’ pledge mandates hospitals to reduce processed foods and added sugars in their meals. Kennedy emphasized that hospitals should focus on health, not providing items that worsen chronic illnesses.
Couris acknowledged working with Zakarian initially increased food purchasing expenses by around 5% to 7%, which the hospital absorbed. Despite this, hospital officials reported a notable 53% rise in perceived food quality and higher patient meal consumption.
During the event, Kennedy and Rollins sampled a menu of soup, mezze salad, and steak prepared by the hospital’s culinary team. The HHS and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had launched this pledge earlier to promote healthier meals in hospitals, cutting down on processed ingredients and added sugars.
As part of this wider initiative, Kennedy noted that patients recovering from significant health conditions deserve more than ultra-processed and fried foods. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a directive in March requiring hospitals to adhere to the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans to maintain Medicaid and Medicare funding.
Tampa General Hospital is being regarded as a model for other hospitals in incorporating healthier food options for its patients. The facility procures about 25% of its food from local farmers, which Kennedy highlighted as a standard that other hospitals could emulate.
We have a template here at Tampa General. We can say if they did it, you can do it.
Teresa Mull, a Lifestyle team freelance writer with Fox News Digital, provides this report.