Good hospital food? How MacroBites is trying to change dining at Monmouth Medical Center

ASBURY PARK - The three local owners of MacroBites are doing their best to make hospital cafeteria food something people look forward to eating.

MacroBites is now providing ready-to-eat meals to staff, patients and visitors at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, promising great taste and healthy meals.

"We brought five different flavors of meals; the lemon chicken piccata, the chicken parm, the New Orleans shrimp, the Southwest shrimp and lemon zest tofu. So there is a little bit of everything," said David Lewis Jr., president of MacroBites. "It is good stuff and it is healthy, it's balanced macronutrient ratio. All that good stuff we are known for."

The New Orleans shrimp has been the best seller so far, followed by the lemon zest tofu because that is their vegan option.

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"They do their best in the cafeteria, but it's cafeteria hospital food. I don't want to dog it, but it is what it is and the staff that are there want something good and that is quick that they can grab on the go but that is still good food," Lewis said.

In 2019, Lewis, along with Jarrette Atkins and Fritz Georges, having each served time in prison, turned their lives around and created MacroBites, a health-focused meal-delivery service that has grown from serving just Monmouth County to shipping nationwide. The trio take pride in being able to offer healthy food to the community.

In January 2022, MacroBites took over Kula Cafe in Asbury Park. Originally opened in 2013, Kula was a community cafe and hospitality training center run by the nonprofit organization Interfaith Neighbors for young people in and around the city. It closed when the pandemic hit in March 2020, and did not reopen. Interfaith Neighbors heard about the work the trio were doing around the community began working with MacroBites to run the cafe.

Now MacroBites, which was created as an extension of Lewis' work as a personal trainer, has a contract with Monmouth Medical Center.

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"We did a pop-up there during Black History Month in February and everybody loved the food, and the CEO of the hospital actually came, he liked the food too and I pitched him on the ready-to-eat meals. We set up a meeting," Lewis said.

The trio brought samples of their ready-to-eat meals and samples from the restaurant.

"And they really enjoyed it, and they started using us to cater some of their events," Lewis said.

MacroBites did another pop-up for the nightshift.

"They sent out a survey to the staff of the hospital and it got a lot of good results," Lewis said. "And then they ordered their first cases a couple weeks ago. They've been selling out we've had to kind of ramp up to keep them in stock."

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Eric Carney, president and chief executive officer of Monmouth Medical Center, as well as Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, said "Monmouth Medical Center is committed to supporting local minority-owned businesses, and we are proud to partner with MacroBites.

"As a part of our celebration of African Heritage & Health Week in February, we introduced our staff to their ‘Cuisine for the Culture,’ and I had the privilege of assisting the MacroBites’ owners in serving samples of their healthy ready-to-eat meals and join in the discussion of healthy eating habits. Our employees are so excited to now have these meals available to them on an ongoing basis in our cafeteria," Carney said.

Other hospitals in the RWJBarnabas Health network are interested in carrying MacroBites.

"MacroBites’ mission is to prepare meals that ensure that what you consume is nourishing and helps you be your best, which fits perfectly with our goal to promote a healthy work environment and a commitment to self-care for our employees," Carney said.

If you go

MacroBites at Kula Cafe is at 120 Springwood Ave. in the Springwood Center building, Asbury Park; call 732-455-0514 or visit macrobites.com.

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: MacroBites offers healthy, tasty meals at Monmouth Medical Center