TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. visited Tampa General Hospital on Thursday to speak about his healthy food initiative and celebrate the hospital’s signing of the Trump administration’s new Dietary Guidelines for Americans.<\/p>\n
The Health Secretary addressed his pledge to Make Hospital Food Healthy Again, which challenges hospitals to put nutrition at the center of care. The pledge seeks to align food service practices with the set dietary guidelines for Americans in order to improve patient outcomes, reduce complications, and promote healthier communities moving forward.<\/p>\n
TGH became the first hospital to sign the pledge, committing to serving healthier and more nutritious foods to patients.<\/p>\n
“We’re serving our patients food that any one of you would eat in any fine restaurant in the city of Tampa,” said TGH President and CEO John Couris.<\/p>\n
Couris said 25% of the food patients eat at the hospital comes from local farmers. He said he wanted to change the food they serve, so they collaborated with Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, who said food can be transformative.<\/p>\n
“I get to cook food for people. They actually put it in their mouth, ingested and I help them with their day and they feel good when they eat well. So imagine doing that for a hospital patient,” said Zakarian.<\/p>\n
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said changing the dietary culture is part of the goal. He said it impacts more than just hospitals.<\/p>\n
“We’re going to change in the schools. We’re going to change in the prisons. We’re going to change it on the military reservations. But one of the biggest, craziest things was the hospitals, because these are places where people come to get healthy and we’re giving them stuff that is going to actually aggravate and amplify their chronic illnesses,” said Kennedy.<\/p>\n
When asked about the cost of bringing better quality food to hospitals, leaders explained how they have higher quality items, but offer less of it on the menu.<\/p>\n
“We doubled down on the quality of the food. And we’ve seen somewhere roughly of a 5% to 7% increase in our expenses overall for food, for acquisition, for food purchasing. That’s something that we can absorb,” said Couris.<\/p>\n
Kennedy said what’s being implemented at TGH will be a starting point for every hospital in the country.<\/p>\n
“Eat real food. And that’s what’s going to make American Healthy again,” said Kennedy.<\/p>\n
The HHS and the United States Department of Agriculture released the dietary guidelines for Americans in January, featuring the most drastic adjustments to federal nutrition policy in decades.<\/p>\n
To learn more about the pledge, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n