Working on Wellness Environments
Working on Wellness Environments (WOW-E) is a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension multidisciplinary community development program

Want to improve your workplace food environment?  Try a healthy food policy! 

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By: Dr. Jenna Anding

Depending on your job, the workplace may be an oasis of unhealthy foods.  Whether it is the vending machine, potluck lunches, a celebration, or the random candy bowl sitting on someone’s desk, the workplace food environment can sometimes be a barrier for those who are trying to eat a little healthier.    

As the Working on Wellness Environment (WOW-E) program works to help communities improve access to healthy foods (and opportunities for physical activity), I’m going to challenge you in this blog to focus on one part of the community, the workplace, since many of us spend one-third of our day (or more) there and probably eat at least one meal (and maybe a snack or two) each day of the workweek. 

We recognize that not everyone is concerned about their food and beverage choices during the workday and that is okay.  However, a number of the chronic diseases that we face today are linked to our food choices.  For those employees who are trying to eat a little healthier, have you thought about implementing one or more food policies to ensure that healthy foods are available?  Don’t worry – we aren’t suggesting that you take away all of the unhealthy foods; instead, we are suggesting using policy to ensure that the food environment in your workplace has some healthy options available so individuals can meet their personal nutrition goals. 

Here are some examples of a healthy food policy for workplaces: 

  • For catered meals, adopt a policy that requires at least one healthy beverage option.  The easiest way to implement this is to offer water or unsweetened tea.  You can always offer sugar and non-nutritive sweeteners on the side and let employees choose. 
  • Consider adopting a policy that requires at least one or more healthy options in your vending machines.  Suggestions can include unsalted nuts, popcorn, and baked chips.  If you have an office refrigerator and provide complimentary snacks, think about low-fat yogurt or cheese sticks, or fresh fruit.  Apples and clementine oranges have a long shelf-life so you can minimize food waste.   
  • For office celebrations that involve food, whether it is catered to or potluck, create a food policy that guarantees that there will be at least one healthy option available.  This can be as easy as a fresh fruit salad, a healthy vegetable side dish, or even a tossed salad with dressing on the side.  Having some desserts?  No problem, just cut them in smaller portions. 

Offering options for healthy foods in the workplace shows that you support your coworkers and employees who are trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle.  If you aren’t convinced that a healthy food policy is worth trying, let me leave you with this to chew on:  a healthier workforce can lead to lower healthcare costs and increased productivity.  That is definitely something we can all support! 

Staff Highlight – Victorino Cantu

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Victorino Cantu is a Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Associate working with the CDC-funded Working on Wellness Environments (WOW-E) program in Starr County. A local asset to the program, Victorino primarily works on the ground, helping local groups create healthy changes in communities along the Texas-Mexico border.

Over the past two years, Victorino has been involved in several projects. He coordinates a Farm to School grant at RT Barrera Elementary in Roma, TX, and assisted the school in securing an NRCS GREEN grant to purchase a pollinator garden and a high tunnel to expand farm production. Victorino is supporting local groups in expanding school garden and orchard efforts to other schools by facilitating the creation of operations manuals and meeting with other schools already excelling in Farm to School efforts.

Victorino has also helped facilitate a downtown walkability and connectivity project. His engagement with the local community has included communication, coordination, and showing a “behind the scenes” look at the infrared sensors being used to collect walking movement in downtown Rio Grande City.

Victorino’s passion for creating healthy lifestyles and access to healthy places exudes through his work. Victorino is looking forward to continuing Policy, System, and Environmental change work and continuing with rural communities and healthy changes.

Welcome to the Funny Farm!

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In Roma, TX, the Funny Farm is the pride of R.T. Barrera Elementary. Spearheaded by physical education teacher Mr. Rolando Munoz, the Funny Farm has expanded from a small garden to a 105 by 150 sq ft “farm”. The Eagle’s Orchard is the newest addition to R.T. Barrera’s Funny Farm.

The orchard was established in January 2020 as part of a Starr County Farm to School initiative with the Working on Wellness Environments program and the Farm to School program. Partners such as Roma ISD, the students and staff at R.T. Barrera Elementary, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, and the local community have helped sustain and move the orchard forward. The orchard includes 43 trees with 8 varieties of grapes, peaches, pineapple oranges, mandarins, limes, figs, grapefruits, and guava trees. Everyone at the school has a role, from food service staff to principals, and down to the students.

The Funny Farm began 9 years ago as a small school garden with just a few plants. The same practice of involving staff, parents, and students has been held to this day. The school attributes this, and constant support from administration as a way the garden has been sustained throughout the years.

Students are especially involved in the farm. They make sure the animals are well taken care of, feed them using measuring cups to make sure they get the right amount of food, harvest produce like lettuce and cucumbers, and make sure that produce goes back to the cafeteria. Additionally, students are allowed to take some of the produce home, where they can prepare a meal and bring it back for show and tell.

Through the farm, students learn agricultural and nutritional practices and introduces them to new fruits and vegetables. Trees in the orchard are watered through a drip irrigation system, and the amount of water depends on the season. The school allows visitors to visit the Funny Farm, where they can learn sustainability practices.

Volunteer involvement has been immense from planting trees to digging holes to pulling weeds. Surplus fruit will be sold at festivals, farmer’s markets, and ag clubs in order to ensure longevity. The farm is looking to adapt an adopt-a-tree program to help sustain the the orchard for many years to come.

With COVID-19- the “farm” has seen its challenges. With students not physically in school, garden maintenance has been done through school administrators themselves. The next phase for the farm is to add pollinator garden beds, and a high tunnel which have all been approved. The farm has also recently been awarded an NRCS grant to help cover costs. The main goal of this project is for Roma ISD to expand to other schools in the district. For more information, check out the video below!

 

What is Farm to School?

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The Eagle’s orchard at R.T. Barrera has been partially funded by donations and most recently, as part of a Starr County Farm to School grant. The National Farm to School effort sprouted in 1996-1997 from the desire to support community-based food systems, strengthen family farms, and improve student health by reducing childhood obesity. In 2004, the National Farm to School Program was officially authorized, and included 400 programs in 22 states. The Farm to School Network was founded in 2007. The National Farm to School network’s first 

decade of efforts focused on developing a strong network of partnerships across sectors, building awareness about farm to school and increasing activities at the state and regional levels through training, capacity building, and policy advocacy.

Farm to school enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and early care and education sites. Like at R.T Barrera, students gain access to healthy, local foods, as well as education opportunities such as school gardens, cooking lessons and farm field trips. Farm to school empowers children and their families to make informed food choices while strengthening the local economy and contributing to vibrant communities

Farm to school implementation differs by location but always includes one or more of the following:
– Procurement: local foods are purchased, promoted and served in the cafeteria or as a snack or taste-test.
– School Gardens: students engage in hands-on learning through gardening; and
– Education: students participate in education activities to agriculture, food, health or nutrition

Today, there are 42,587 schools involved, 42% of US schools, 23.6 million students engaged, $789m spent on local food, 46 states with supportive policies, and 20,000+ nfsn members. To learn more, you can go here.

Meeting Digitally

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us to work differently. Whether it’s taking on a new or additional job or household responsibilities, quarantining at home or wearing facial masks and protective gear, we’ve all had to adapt to these unprecedented times. This also includes adapting our outreach for WOW-E and working with many groups to meet online.

After some initial time to adjust to COVID-19, some local coalition groups and the WOW-E team have been able to engage in planning meetings and coalition meetings online. Victorino Cantu, in Starr County, and the counting experts from TTI (Texas Transportation Institute) were able to “visit”, plan, and troubleshoot pre-use counts using Zoom, Google Earth, mapped cell phone images, email, and good old fashion phone calls.

Of course, these new changes come with challenges. Most of our coalition members are involved in frontline COVID-19 response efforts. Additionally, internet access and access to computers prohibited some from being a part of the efforts as mentioned by one of our groups in Webb county. Finally, some members may have no experience with zoom. While some have found asking their children and grandchildren for help has been helpful, and are on their way to becoming zoom professionals, others do no see this as the solution for themselves!

Please be reassured that we continue to work with our local agents and team members are listening to you all as we work together in responding to and adapting our outreach to continue to support local coalitions in the efforts to continue to push for healthier infrastructure and systems in your local communities. Know that you can reach out to me with questions, ideas, or concerns through my email valeria.jauregui@ag.tamu.edu or my direct phone line (956) 821-1476.