SHIP stories
Comprehensive workplace wellness addresses healthier eating, physical activity
and tobacco-free worksites and access to cessation materials.
• In the first four years of SHIP, 958 worksites have engaged in the worksite
wellness strategy, with the potential to engage over 158,000 employees
Making healthy choices easy
JBS USA, a meat processing plant in
Worthington that employs 2100 people,
was excited about helping their
employees get and stay healthy. One
opportunty to do this was to encourage
healthy eating.
The problem was, most employees utilize
the work place cafeteria, but the healthy
choices there were limited.
Complicating matters was the diversity
of the workforce with several
languages being spoken. JBS’s staff is
24 percent Asian, 20 percent African
American and 39 percent Hispanic/
Latino.
The solution? In the spring of 2014 JBS
started the “Color Matters” traffic light
food labeling system.
They labeled items in the café with
green, yellow or red to indicate a
choice that should be made often,
occasionally, or in moderation. The Color
Matters system was introduced to the
staff at a food sampling event, where
they were provided healthy snacks
The Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) invests
in local solutions for better health. With the support of SHIP,
communities across Minnesota are making healthy eating, active
living and avoiding commercial tobacco use and exposure easier
for more people. Find out more at www.health.state.mn.us/ship
and shared information about the
traffic light labeling. Posters in English
and Spanish explaining the system
were hung in the cafeteria.
That’s not all. JBS installed a new
vending machine with only healthy
choices. And they already had their
own Farmers Market on-site, with
vendors coming as often as they want-some are there everyday--making for
convenient access to fresh foods for
employees.
Color Matters and all the other
changes toward good health are just a
start. Next, with the continued support
of Cottonwood, Jackson, Nobles County
SHIP, JBS is considering several events
to promote physical activity and active
transportation.
All of which means 2100 people in
Worthington now have more access to
good health.
***
8/2014