Health Promotion Strategies

Often people  shy away from low fat foods because they think these foods don’t taste good. to help inform staff members, buy a variety of low fat foods and put them out in a conference room for an hour or so for a drop-in tasting session.

Or, arrange for low-fat potlucks encouraging workers to bring and share their favorite low fat or healthful dishes.

Considerations –

• Be certain the selections actually taste good.

• Give a “fact sheet” with the names and price of the various products to assist participants if they want to buy these products from the supermarket.

• Provide other written information on good nutrition for any interested participants to take. Make use of websites and other resources listed in the Resource Section after this guide.

• Give small tasting spoons or wooden ice cream tasters.

• It doesn’t take much of each item to give participants a taste of the food or dish. It isn’t necessary to purchase enough, or bring enough, food to provide a meal.

• Make certain to set up the tasting room after lunch so participants can go in on their own and sample.

• Watch for overly sugary items…sometimes low fat means high sugar – so make certain to check the label.

• Typical buys for a worksite sampling could include –  two boxes of low fat crackers, a package of low fat cheese, a box of low fat cookies, two or three low fat spreads like hummus, low fat cream cheese, a package of honey nut or other flavored rice crackers, and one or two other low fat items.

• Put signs on the table politely reminding participants that the idea is to sample, not have a meal.

• Offer a beverage like a new type of fruit juice or herbal tea.