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The next time you set up a meeting at work and plan on serving food and/or beverages, why not dish up some healthy and nutritious options for fellow coworkers to make it easier to eat healthy? Nutritious foods can keep people energetic and make your meetings more effective, whereas other non-healthy foods can cause people’s attention to drift.
Printable version of these guidelines 
Here are some “Guidelines for Healthier Eating at Work” (from the Centers for Disease Control)
- Offer a variety of grains (including whole grains) and fruits and vegetables
- Provide fat-free, low-fat, or calorie-free foods and beverages
- Offer foods and beverages low in added sugars (including either pitchers or bottles of water)
- Serve foods that are low in salt and sodium
- Include smaller portions
- Consider offering only beverages at mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks
Here are some ideas for what to dish up:
For a morning meeting, why not forgo the Danish, croissants and donuts and try these ideas:
- 100% fruit or vegetable juice (in 4-6 oz portions)
- Coffee or tea (be sure to offer decaf) served with nonfat or 1% milk
- Water (either bottled or served in pitchers)
- Fresh fruit
- Dried fruits, such as raisins
- Granola bars (with 5 grams or less per bar)
- Low-fat breakfast burrito
- Low-fat cheese
- Low-fat granola or cheerios (with 1/% or skim milk)
- Low-fat, low calorie yogurt
- Small bran, oatmeal, or multi-grain muffins (~ 2 ½ “or smaller). Cut larger muffins into smaller portion sizes
- Whole grain toast or English muffins (served with low-fat spread)
- Whole wheat or multi-grain mini bagels with low-fat cream cheese and/or jams (which are generally lower in fat and calories than cream cheese). If mini bagels are not available, cut regular bagels in ½ or ¼
For lunch/dinner meetings, why not forgo the fried foods, potato chips, and French fries and try these ideas:
- 100% fruit or vegetable juice (in 4-6 oz portions)
- Coffee or tea (be sure to offer decaf) served with nonfat or 1% milk
- Water (either bottled or served in pitchers)
- Baked potatoes (don’t forget about sweet potatoes) with low fat toppings (low-fat sour cream, low-fat plain yogurt, or salsa)
- Desserts, offer in small portions (healthier option: small square of angel food cake with fresh fruit topping, low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt)
- Fresh fruit or fruit salad makes a good dessert
- Lean meats, poultry, fish, tofu (3 grams fat/oz) in 2-3 ounce serving
- Pasta salad with low-fat dressing
- Pasta dishes (aim for tomato based rather than cream sauces)
- Miniature meatballs made with lean meat
- Pretzels (no salt) or baked chips (7 g fat or less/oz)
- Raw vegetables with low-fat dip (good alternative to chips or French fries)
- Salad (preferably dark green lettuces) – serve with low-fat or fat-free dressing on the side
- Sandwiches made with whole grain breads or wraps made with lean meats and low-fat cheese. Serve low-fat mayonnaise on side. (cut sandwiches in ½ for smaller portions)
- Soups - vegetarian broth based or skim milk based (not cream)
- Steamed vegetables – avoid butter or cream sauces (aim for 2 veggies per meal)
- Vegetable sushi rolls
- Whole grain rolls
For meetings held during breaks (am/pm), consider whether it is even necessary to provide food.
If so, try these ideas:
- Fresh fruit
- Dried fruit or trail mix
- Granola bars - low fat (5 grams of fat or less/bar)
- Raw vegetables (with low-fat dip)
- Popcorn (lightly salted)
- Pretzels or hot pretzels cut in pieces
- 100% fruit or vegetable juice, avoid soft drinks
- Low fat cheese (cut into small cubes), string cheese
- Whole grain crackers, reduced or low-fat
- Roasted nuts
- Water – bottled, plain, sparkling, or flavored sparkling with no added sugar
- Coffee, tea (offer decaf)- served with nonfat or 1% milk
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