Sacramento's farm-to-fork movement has come in earnest to UC Davis Health, thanks to the vision of the hospital’s executive chef (and farm-to-fork stalwart) Santana Diaz.

Diaz, who joined us in 2018, is the former executive chef for Super Bowl 50 and the Golden 1 Center, former sous chef for the Sacramento Kings — and a judge and past chef in Sacramento's farm-to-fork Tower Bridge dinner.

Diaz and colleagues are now upending the traditions of an industrial-sized food service at UC Davis Medical Center, home to Sacramento's largest production kitchen and creator of 6,500 meals a day.

Rather than relying on highly processed foods or pre-mixed heat-and-serve meals, his Food and Nutrition Services team is shifting toward whole-food and plant-based ingredients.

Visitors and employees can now enjoy locally sourced menu options, and we've also begun creating farm-to-fork dishes for patients — earning national sustainability awards along the way. 

Our ultimate goal: source most of our food program from within 250 miles of UC Davis Health's Sacramento campus.

In the news and on the web:

• Check out our new blog, Good Food Is Good Medicine
• James Beard Foundation recognizes hospital’s sustainable food sourcing - Sacramento Bee   
• Friday Food interview - KFBK and iHeartRadio
• These 16 chefs are fighting for a better food system - James Beard Foundation
• UC Davis Medical Center kitchen going farm-to-fork - Fox40
• Hospital food gets a farm-to-fork makeover - Sacramento Bee
• Meet UC Davis Med Center’s new chef - Sacramento Bee
• 2017 Tower Bridge Dinner bio - Farmtofork.com
• Guess who’s cooking at the Tower Bridge dinner - Sacramento Bee
• More about America's Farm to Fork Capital