Like many, my opinion is 100% reliant on whether the food is nutritious or not.
If its truly nutrient deprived garbage, then I'm disgusted with both the AUPE and the Government for allowing that to happen and significant changes are required both by who runs these facilities, and who is allowed to staff them. There's a ton of money invested annually in long term care, and if they can't get that right, then there's a serious cash allocation issue that needs to be addressed. In my experiences, I do not believe this to be the case.
I believe this truly is a case of the food simply not being "tasty enough," which I don't consider much of an issue. Their job is nutritionally sound sustenence and proper medical care on a budget. So long as that is accomplished, I don't see an issue.
My girlfriend's grandfather is in one of these facilities, and yeah, the food isn't that good, but, its not that bad either. Its cafeteria/hospital level food, no worse.
Ironically, the only time they complained is when the lunch selection was too spicy and ambitious for elderly patients (I think it was a turkey gumbo or chilli). To accent his experiences, they bring him in special lunches and dinners sometimes, and bring him out on holidays.
Families are strongly expected to get involved to make these operations work, especially to augment the minimum standards. If more families were active with their declining relatives, maybe the minimum standard could be higher, particularly for those without families, as less resources would be needed for each person.
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