Three billboards with the URL EatMoreChickpeas.com have gone up around Augusta in protest of a Chick-fil-A coming to Children’s Hospital of Georgia, part of Augusta University Health.
The billboards show a young girl in a hospital bed along with the question, “Can a greasy fast food meal help her heal?”
They were paid for by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which wants hospitals to get rid of fast food in favor of plant-based meal options. The billboards will remain on display until Aug. 6.
Chick-fil-A is taking the spot at that hospital that was previously occupied by a McDonald’s, which the committee also campaigned against and celebrated when it closed.
Registered dietician Stephanie McBurnett, who serves as the nutrition educator for the committee, said this was a missed opportunity by the hospital to bring in a restaurant that offered healthier options.
“I understand when parents and guests are at hospitals, they’re stressed,” she said. “But healthier food can be comforting, too.”
AU Health spokeswoman Lisa Kaylor said the hospital is excited that Chick-fil-A is coming to the hospital to offer “choice and convenience” to the families visiting their kids.
The committee has taken a firm stance against fast food in hospitals because it says that high-fat food can contribute to the rising rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. It publishes a list of hospitals that host fast food at www.MakeHospitalsHealthy.org.
The original Chick-fil-A sandwich has 420 calories and 18 grams of fat, while the restaurant’s medium fries have 420 calories and 24 grams of fat.
The committee also filed a complaint with the director of Georgia’s East Central Health District, Lee Merchen, and wrote to the CEO of Augusta University Medical Associates, Charles Howell.
There are about 24 hospitals in the U.S. that have Chick-fil-As in them, according to data compiled by the committee at www.MakeHospitalsHealthy.org.
This isn’t the first time the committee has launched a billboard campaign in a city to promote nutritious choices, McBurnett said.
“It gets the public’s attention,” she said. “Whether or not a hospital makes a change is 50-50, but at least we’re bringing awareness to a situation.”
The dietician said she knows firsthand the stress parents are under when their child is in the hospital.
When McBurnett was eight months pregnant, her daughter had open heart surgery at a hospital in the South, she said. The Chick-fil-A in the hospital she was at had a streamlined menu without salads so her family ended up traveling 45 minutes to bring her healthy meals, she said.
“I’m passionate about this,” she said. “[Children’s Hospital] had an opportunity to put in something not only healthy but comforting for guests, patients and staff.”
