Worksites can play an important role in promoting healthy eating and making sure healthy food options are available to employees.
Recommended Strategies
Education and Awareness
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Provide information about food resources in your community.
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Offer healthy food options at events.
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Provide incentives for participating in nutrition activities.
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Include employees’ family members in campaigns that promote healthy nutrition.
On-Site Support
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Start an employee vegetable garden or become a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) drop-off site.
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Host an on-site nutrition education opportunity such as a free My Healthy VT Workshop.
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Provide refrigerators, microwaves and break areas.
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Provide access to free water available throughout the day.
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Support local food initiatives on-site by:
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Offering an on-site Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program (discounting the cost of a CSA program can make this strategy more effective).
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Organizing a worksite garden - consider accessibility issues to make sure the garden can be accessed by individuals with disabilities.
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Providing local food in the cafeteria.
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Exploring opportunities with local farms for a mobile or on-site farmers’ market.
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Policy Change
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Create healthy food guidelines for cafes and vending machines.
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Support break time policies by encouraging a culture where staff regularly take their lunch break.
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Support healthy choices from vending machines and cafeterias by:
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Using competitive pricing to make healthier choices more economical in vending machines or cafeterias.
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Implementing healthy vending machine and cafeteria standards to increase the percentage of healthy options that are available.
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Using signs or symbols to make healthy choices stand out, and make nutrition information available for foods and beverages.
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Breastfeeding Friendly Employer
Related Resources
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Vermont Community Garden Network - Resources on Worksite Gardens
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Implementing Vermont's Healthy Food Standards (Word Version)
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National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity - Healthy Meeting Toolkit
For more information, download the healthy food choices section of the Worksite Wellness Toolkit!