"At a prior hospital that I worked for, a newly appointed director questioned every patient during their stay to hear our patients' biggest complaints and/or concerns. The recurring theme was 'bad food.' Once we received this feedback, the idea for an alternate menu for laboring/postpartum women was introduced. I couldn’t help but support this brilliant idea, and helped implement the importance of this change in menu with our mothers," nurse Holly explained that even though the food is bad, some staff members are willing to implement changes after hearing out the complaints.

I was interested to get Holly's take on why some hospitals cut corners with their food when instead it should be something filling and nutritious to help them recover quicker. According to Holly, the importance of meals while at the hospital cannot be understated.

"Food is a large part of people’s lives in every culture. It brings people together and in most instances, it is associated with happiness. For the patient, meals become the highlight of their day, especially if their time with us is extensive. In my experience, diet is one of the areas where the budget is kept to a minimum. Nutrition seems to always be met, but not always in a very creative or appetizing way," she said.

In Holly's view, the biggest problem with hospital food is the lackluster presentation. "When you are hospitalized, the last thing you want to be presented with is an unappetizing or highly aromatic meal in front of you. Food styles and/or cuisines should be updated. One alternative would be to offer a modernized menu for patients to select from, including choices like a bento box, flatbreads, and/or rice bowls," she suggested.

"Hospitals could incorporate a system that allowed the patient to select an alternative menu or one that includes 'fun' foods like the menu we implemented for our laboring/postpartum mothers. This would astronomically improve these patient satisfaction scores, thereby making staff members more appreciated.

Unfortunately, these alternate menus are not a standard of practice in most hospitals, and sadly it is one of the first to be taken away when the budget is cut," nurse Holly told Bored Panda that even though there are alternatives to the current low standards, sadly, they're all reliant on financial decisions from up above.

Financially speaking, feeding people well is expensive. And the thinking tends to be, why bother giving someone nutritious, healthy, costly meals when you can get away with a piece of bread and a sad chunk of cheese? After all, a hospital is all about helping you get better, not feeding you.

However, that line of thinking simply doesn't work when you consider the huge importance that food has on our health. In fact, have a think about how you feel when you've been eating fresh food for a while versus how lethargic you feel when you've been consuming plenty of sugar and fast food. The difference is night and day.

According to ‘Wise Geek,' hospital food is a subset of institutional food which focuses on cutting costs and appealing to the widest number of customers as possible. Though, to be fair, it's tough to imagine how the bland/disgusting food that's served is meant to appeal to anyone.

Is it enough for you to survive in a tight spot? Probably. Is it something that's going to rouse your spirits and give your body the necessary nutrients to get stronger quickly? Doubtful. The secret ingredient might be love, but there's not much of that around!

For the majority of us, hospital food will only ever be a quirky anecdote to tell our friends. But we forget about the people who stay in hospitals for weeks, months, and even years at a time. Imagine having to eat that swill every day. Food and cooking are important parts of being a human being and a member of your local community and society at large.

I'd actually argue that by feeding people bland, ghastly, and shocking food, you're depriving them of one of the biggest joys of being human. And that can't be good for your health. Physical, emotional, or spiritual.