RFK Jr. lauds Tampa General Hospital for going healthy with patient meals
WUSF |
By
Steve Newborn
Published July 17, 2026 at 4:50 AM EDT
Steve Newborn
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WUSF
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he hopes other hospitals will replicate Tampa General’s move to ditch high-carb, highly processed foods
The food you get while recuperating at Tampa General Hospital might be tasting better these days. At least, it’s likely to be better for you
It’s the first hospital to sign a healthy food pledge that may be adopted by other medical centers
Tampa General officials signed the pledge next to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The hospital hired an executive chef, Geoffrey Zakarian, to totally revamp their menus. Kennedy says hospitals will be asked to serve healthier meals, instead of ultra-processed foods
“We have a template here at Tampa General,” Kennedy said during an appearance Thursday. “We can point to Tampa General, one of the biggest hospital systems in the country, 1,000 beds, soon to be 1,200, eight different hospital systems. And we can say if they did it, you can do it.”
Kennedy says hospitals are a good place to start redoing their menus because four in 10 children in the nation have some kind of food-induced chronic disease
“These are places where people come to get healthy. And we were giving them stuff that is going to actually aggravate and amplify their chronic illnesses,” he said
TGH president John Couris signed the pledge next to Kennedy
“The fact that we stand here as the first hospital to sign the Make Hospital Food Healthier pledge, it is a real honor not only to serve our community,” Couris said, “but to be a role model for the rest of the country.”
Zakarian says the food he has chosen at the hospital is the same food he serves at his restaurants
“But really what was the most important here was changing the culture,” Zakarian said, “because there’s a lot of rules embedded into the system we have now that really don’t work.”
Zakarian said he promotes locally grown foods that have a minimum of processed ingredients
Steve Newborn
/
WUSF Public Media
