Changes will be coming, later this year, in the way senior citizens receive their hot lunches, but they likely won’t notice a difference in the quality of the food. Rather than receive hot meals prepared fresh that day in the Munger Cottage kitchen, seniors will soon be feeding on cook-chill meals which will be prepared ahead of time in a central kitchen, and then reheated locally.
“Cook-chill is a method to prepare large quantities of meals while maintaining nutrient density through freezing,” said Ann Marie Maglione, director of the Orange County Office for the Aging. “The food will be cooked in large batches with new equipment then quickly chilled to frozen so that it retains freshness upon defrosting, and the nutrients normally destroyed in the freezing process remain. Office for the Aging (OFA) staff currently serves a hot meal which, if it is not served to the client within two hours, must be discarded in accordance with Health Department regulations.”
A centralized kitchen in the old Arden Hill Hospital will serve as a hub for meal preparation. OFA staff will cook and package meals for the entire county. The flexibility of a frozen meal will allow them to meet increased demand.
“The change is occurring in order to serve more seniors,” Maglione said. “For instance, the new kitchen has the capacity to prepare 2,000 meals a day. OFA only serves 900 at its current location, and demand is expected to continue to rise. Currently there is a wait list of approximately 100 people that we are unable to serve due to the kitchens being maxed out. The new central kitchen will also be able to utilize the local farmers and expand the menu to include some farm to table items.”
Seniors can continue to receive meals in Munger Cottage, but they’ll see a reduction in staff. Only two of the seven employees will remain to heat and serve meals. The others will be needed to prepare the meals in the central kitchen. Maglione said she understands some seniors are not happy about the change and will try to rotate the staff so the seniors get to see everyone.
Cook-chill meals will also be delivered through the Meals-on-Wheels program.
“We called all our home delivery clients and asked them if they had the ability to either heat the meal up in the oven or the microwave,” Maglione said. “I think maybe a dozen weren’t able to do that. Those people will still get a hot meal. We want to make sure we still serve everybody.”
The change is expected to take place toward the end of the year, but Nov. 1 is the target date for the switch.
