Chances are, if you work, you eat food at work. If you work full time, at least one in four meals is likely consumed at the office or during work hours. If you’re a young engineer in Silicon Valley, you might even eat all your meals at work. Compared with the 1970s, Americans work 200 additional hours per year. Unfortunately, foods eaten away from home tend to be less healthy than foods prepared at home. And each year, Americans are cooking less and eating more premade meals. This, in part, is contributing to the nation’s unsustainable obesity epidemic. Given cultural shifts in eating habits — and despite many challenges — the workplace offers a fruitful opportunity to promote health, while also earning a vibrant return on investment. The question is: How?
