The Hidden Menu: Culture, Environment and Whole-Person Health
Shauna McQueen, MS RD, Director of Nutrition and Well-being
Discover how workplace culture and environment shape employee nutrition, connection and whole-person health.
In part one of this blog, we explored the broader concept of the hidden menu — the variety of ways the workplace influences both food choices and employee well-being more broadly. From stress and a lack of time to social norms and accessibility, these invisible forces often shape how, when and what people eat at work.
Building A Nutrition-Rich Workplace
To create a workplace that meaningfully supports whole-person health, leaders have to go beyond nutrition labels or wellness posters. The two most powerful drivers of change are a workplace’s culture and the overall environment. These two factors can either reinforce habits that lead to burnout and an increased risk of chronic disease, or they can purposefully (and subtly) nudge people to make choices that improve nourishment, connection and health outcomes.
Below are a few ways you can activate culture and environment in partnership with your food service provider, facilities team and leadership.
Culture
Workplace culture tells people what’s normal, what’s celebrated and what is acceptable, including how, when and even what people eat. How can organizations cultivate a culture that celebrates nourishing ourselves?
Normalize breaks and meals away from screens. Rather than a constant schedule of working lunches, encourage leadership to model taking a step away. Celebrate lunch as a midday break that helps us reconnect with ourselves, allowing us to come back later more focused, rested and creative.
Foster inclusive food conversations and language and avoid using any moralizing language in reference to food (e.g., this is “healthy” or “not good for you”). Instead, celebrate a variety of dietary needs and lifestyles.
Bring whole-person health to life. Regularly provide opportunities for employees to be curious about food and its connection to well-being via things like development opportunities, health fairs, tastings, chef demonstrations, dietitian classes and more.
Environment
The layout of your space, the visibility of options, how food is displayed and the nutrition parameters followed by kitchen staff all shape workplace behavior. How does the workplace environment encourage nutrition-focused choices?
Align food placement with behavioral science learnings. Work with your food service team to make sure that the most nourishing options are the easiest to grab, are presented first on menus and have creative names and signage focused on flavor. Instead of a straightforward description like “salmon, veggies and rice” opt for something like “brain-boosting salmon tahini bowl” to attract and engage people.
Do some back-of-house heavy lifting. While we want employees to have options, the nutrition parameters used by the kitchen staff can help create a health-supportive food environment that doesn’t rely on employees using their willpower to make a nutrition-rich choice. When menus are already designed to be whole food forward and low in highly processed options, nutrition becomes effortless.
Design spaces that invite mindful eating. Calming colors, music and softer surfaces tend to encourage people to take their time when eating, which supports digestion and can help prevent overeating. These spaces also tend to become spaces where trust and relationships are built among team members, strengthening employee well-being and improving business outcomes in the process.
An Ongoing Influence
Culture and environment always influence food behavior. For organizations, the opportunity lies in bringing awareness to these forces so they can be designed intentionally to be supportive of the health and well-being of employees.
Want to learn more about this topic? Join us this year at CoreNet!
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