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There are no COVID restrictions in most ALs anymore, so why not go see for yourself just how horrible, awful and inedible the food really IS at your sister's place?
Also, look up the EMPLOYEE reviews of the facility on Indeed.com. I did that yesterday and lo & behold. 90% of the reviews were from employees who were thankful for the FREE MEALS they were given while at work in the ALF! Now, if the meals were THAT bad, who'd be grateful for them? Nobody.
The other trick I have up my sleeve is I offer to bring my mother either a home cooked meal or a restaurant meal every Sunday. 90% of the time she says No Thank You. Now, if the food was so god-awful, wouldn't you think she'd jump at the chance for a home cooked meal to be brought to her on Sundays? I also have snacks sent to her from Amazon so there's never a valid reason for why she can't possibly eat.
Good luck!
I think the only way of checking is to eat there yourself. Or to check the food safety ratings, if the municipality has them.
Think about the school lunches you ate as a kid. Were they primo food? No. Were they edible and nutritious? Probably.
Bring treats. Bring your parent's favorite food and have a picnic.
Good thing it was horrible, imagine how much more weight she would have gained!
Also too funny when they're resorting to boxed crap and microwave dinners at home, that suddenly they become connoisseurs (food, cleaning, laundry - no one can do it like they can!!!)
One thing that I found about the meals at my mother's nursing home was that despite appearing varied and tasty at first glance they were repetitive, so the little things that you might overlook the first few times can really start to become annoying when they are repeated over and over again. Its kind of like if you took all your meals at the local restaurant and there was never an option to have something off the menu, it can get tiring no matter how well prepared.
My mom and I had chicken tacos w/ pico de Gallo. Dad had tomato soup and salad. The hubs had a mushroom omelet. Everything was made from scratch. The chicken was very tender. Everything was very fresh but not fancy. Everything was low sodium. No salt shakers on the table. This was a major upgrade from canned soups and packaged meals they were eating at home. They have all the fresh fruit they want, usually apples and oranges. My mom told me she had roast beef and mashed potatoes for Mother's Day and that it was pretty good. ALF is open but we cannot eat with them yet. What they have struggled with is low sodium or salt free meals. There blood pressure has improved.
Oh yeah... don't get in the way or you'll get run over by a dozen walkers!
Also, keep in mind that as people age, they lose their ability to taste much. The last flavor to go is sweetness, so that's one reason why seniors tend to like desserts a lot more than salads and savory foods.
You might check with the nutritionist at your sister's facility and ask if your sister is on a restricted diet, and ask her what could be done to brighten up the flavors a bit.
Secondly, as we age our sense of taste diminishes. So the greatest chef on the planet couldn't fix that.