Morrison Healthcare is proud to announce that Northside Hospital Cherokee, Regional Executive Chef George Sigeti and sustainability partner The Common Market have received the 2026 CleanMed Sustainability in Action Video Award.
Chef George accepted the award at CleanMed’s annual Conference for Sustainability in Healthcare, held in St. Louis in May.
Heather Farkas, Director of Sustainability at Morrison Healthcare, said partnerships like this demonstrate how healthcare organizations can support both patient well-being and environmental stewardship.
“Working with The Common Market is an excellent example of how Morrison supports local communities through thoughtful sourcing practices that help create vibrant, sustainable food systems,” said Heather. “We are incredibly proud of the work Chef George is doing alongside this team. The relationships he has built with growers are impactful and essential to strengthening our commitment to the environment as well as the guests, caregivers and patients we serve.”
Produced by The Common Market and Xerophile Studios–a women-owned production studio rooted in Atlanta, the award-winning video highlights the importance of sourcing food from local, small-scale farms. Through Forward Commitments, chefs can plan menus weeks or even months in advance, while growers gain greater confidence in planning and harvesting crops, knowing there is committed demand for their products.
“By making commitments several months in advance, I can provide our patients and guests with nutritious food while planning menus more effectively,” said Chef George. “The small farmers we work with have limited acreage, so by committing, for example, to purchase 10 cases of zucchini and squash for several weeks, small family farmers know what crops they can grow and know that they will get paid.”
Watch the video here: The Power of Forward Commitments
Chef George serves as Executive Chef at Northside Hospital Cherokee in suburban Atlanta and has worked closely with The Common Market Southeast for nearly a decade. The nonprofit regional food distributor connects chefs across the Southeast with small to mid-scale, family-owned farms. The distributor also serves farms and partners across Morrison Healthcare throughout its other three regions: Mid-Atlantic, Texas, and the Great Lakes.
The video, titled Power of Forward Commitments, features Chef George explaining how the program works in practice. According to The Common Market, Forward Commitments are advance purchasing agreements between institutions, such as hospitals and universities, and growers over an extended period of time. These commitments allow chefs to leverage their purchasing power to strengthen regional food systems and support agricultural communities, benefiting farmers, healthcare organizations, and the broader community.
“We hope these organizations will use their purchasing power to make commitments to buy the highest-quality food and help family farmers thrive,” says Caitlin Honan, The Common Market’s communications and marketing director. “Chef George has been an excellent spokesman and representative for our program. We are proud to feature him as the centerpiece of the Forward Commitment program.”
Today, Chef George works regularly with approximately two dozen Georgia farmers. Over the past decade, Northside Cherokee Hospital has purchased products from 62 local growers through The Common Market network. Ingredients sourced locally include lettuce from Cornucopia Farms’ greenhouse operations in Avera, Georgia, as well as peaches, zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes, pecans, and Vidalia onions from farms across the state. Chef George has also visited many of these farms personally to learn more about their growing practices and inspect produce firsthand.
Among those partnerships is Ellijay Mushrooms, a sustainable family-owned farm in the Appalachian foothills specializing in gourmet mushrooms. The farm has even visited Northside Cherokee to engage with guests and prepare fresh mushroom dishes onsite.
Northside Cherokee’s commitment to local sourcing continues to resonate with patients and guests, contributing to strong patient satisfaction scores. Through signage and other communications, the hospital also helps guests understand where their food comes from and the impact local sourcing has on the community.
“The Forward Commitment program has been incredibly successful for us as chefs,” said Chef George. “We’re proud to serve high-quality, nutritious food to our patients and guests while supporting the family farms that provide sustainable produce. It’s a partnership that truly benefits everyone involved.”
