1. Prepare and distribute a list of healthy dining options within a 2-mile radius of your office.
You can also take it a step further and list healthy food options at each restaurant.
2. Make healthy foods affordable.
Reduce prices of healthy foods at work. At times, this may mean discounting the prices of healthy foods in order to make them a more attractive option compared to less healthy food options.
3. Review catering menus, and make recommendations for healthy meals.
Encourage the catering of healthier foods. Or if less healthy foods must be ordered, add some healthy food options.
4. Coordinate CSAs and/or find nearby farmers markets.
Organize a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for interested employees. Find nearby farmer’s markets, and provide maps, directions, and reminders. Provide recipes for fruits and vegetables that are in season. If there is no CSA in your area, start one. Look into arranging a bulk discount deal with a farmer’s market.
5. Provide healthy snacks, fresh fruits, and veggies in the break room.
If this is too costly, provide healthy foods occasionally rather than constantly. Another idea is to start a healthy food fund where employees chip in money every month to subsidize the cost of healthy snacks, fruits, and vegetables in the break room.
6. Facilitate a healthy recipe exchange and potluck lunch.
Encourage the sharing of healthy recipes. Host a potluck lunch with employees bringing in their healthy prepared dishes. Bonus points for recipes and potluck dishes made with local produce.
To make the potluck even more fun, have employees submit recipes, and then employees can choose from the submissions. Have a “Favorite Healthy Dish Contest” at the potluck. Recipes for the winning dishes with the most votes can be gathered together into a favorite recipes cookbook, easily accessible by e-mail or employer website.
7. Coordinate a “healthy snack of the month” club.
Many employees snack during the workday. Try adding more variety to healthy eating choices to sustain interest in nutritious foods. Coordinate a “healthy snack of the month” club where, for a few dollars every month, a new variety of healthy snacks is delivered to your workplace for participants. Perhaps this delivery can occur on Fridays, and snacks change monthly.
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Michelle Cheuk has her B.A. in Sociology from Wellesley College and M.A. in Sociology/Demography from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. At UBF, she is focused on marketing, business development, and project management. In her spare time, she enjoys parenting, going to the gym, and volunteering.
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