Food & Health Guide

Making wise choices about food and health can reduce your company’s carbon footprint and increase the health and productivity of your staff. Consider health benefits when offering food choices at work and create a community of healthy individuals in your workplace. Avoid disposable packaging and other environmentally poor options to ensure your operation is both gentle on resources and inspiring to work in.

	Serve Vegetarian Meals Help your employees reduce their consumption of meat by providing vegetarian options at the workplace cafeteria and with catered meals. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has reported that livestock production and transportation is responsible for more climate change gasses than global motor vehicle use.
	Buy Local, Organic, Fair Trade Food Adopt a corporate policy to choose local and fair trade food products when purchasing food items. Buy from local and/or organic sources whenever possible. Introduce fair trade certified and organic coffee and tea into your workplace.
	Avoid Disposable Dishes and Bottled Water Invest in reusable plates, cups and utensils for your staff lunchrooms and cafeteria and eliminate bottled water in the office. Your long-term savings from not buying disposable utensils and cutlery will pay off your investment within a couple months...
	Trim Out “Bad” Fat We need to eat fat every day in order to absorb essential nutrients and stay healthy. But not all fat is created equal. Saturated fats and trans fats are closely linked to heart disease and other serious health concerns.
	Encourage Employees to Enjoy Slow Food Fast food has become commonplace in the workday; not only take-out from fast food restaurants but also the sandwich gulped down at a desk while finishing a report and the fruit salad taken in furtive bites between helping customers on the sales floor.
	Promote Self-Care in the Workplace Self-care is an ongoing, lifelong practice that is essential for maintaining optimum mental and physical health and fostering a sense of wellbeing. Self-care practices help people to balance work with other aspects of their lives, to reduce stress, and to consciously create goals and learn how to realise them.

Last Modified: Aug 13, 2009