Health and Wellness Blogs

Should You Ditch the Vending Machine?

Written by Wellsource | Jul 11, 2014 4:39:00 PM

Your employees are likely at your office more than they are at home. Add in the time that they spend doing extracurricular activities and spending time with family, and they are left with very little time to focus on nutrition, let alone pack nutritious lunches or snacks to bring to work. This causes many employees to succumb to the vending machine when mid-day hunger hits. Because most vending machines offer less than healthy options to eat, employees everywhere are gaining weight and putting their health at risk. There is one way that employers can help: eliminate the vending machine. 

 

How It Works 

If you eliminate the vending machine, you might worry that your employees are going to go hungry. With that comes a lack of focus and decreased motivation. Instead of relying on unhealthy vending machine foods, however, you can designate one employee, or a group of employees, to create a healthy snack area in your break room. Even on a small budget, here’s an example of what that could look like: 

·         Bins of fresh fruit, such as apples, bananas, and grapes

 

·         Individual bags of pre-portioned raw nuts, such as almonds or walnuts

 

·         Individual snack bags of healthy trail mix

 

·         Bottles of water

 

·         Small portions of dark chocolate for those times that a sweet tooth needs to be satisfied

 

·         Popcorn -- if your break room has a microwave, provide popcorn kernels and brown paper bags, and your employees can pop their own healthy popcorn for a snack

 

If one employee or a group of employees are dedicated to keeping the supply of snacks up in the break room, it can be easy to give your employees much healthier alternatives to snack on throughout the day, rather than processed, sugary foods that harm their health, weight, energy, and focus.