Doing talks at corporates this year has been eye-opening
The office kitchens that have emerged around Sydney are nothing short of remarkable. When I was working in Sydney in the early 2000s we had Arnott’s cream assorted biscuits, tea and coffee. But with the rise of Google and Amazon and the ‘chillaxed’ Silicon Valley style office environment there has been a rush of offices trying to outdo each other. Alcoholic drinks, non-alcohol drinks, cheese, crackers, ham, breads, nuts, crisps, lollies, chocolate… you name it! It reminds me of the Sydney Olympics when I was working as a driver for NBC media. The canteen at the Olympic site was nothing short of remarkable. We all talked about it. It was, for want of a better description, America! This was 2000 when Sydney-siders had never seen anything like it. Now, in 2023, it seems to be the norm.
Office workers do not move enough:
For office-workers who are desk-based most of the time these kitchen supplies are a road to health disaster. Not only are most of the foods classified as NOVA level 4 – the “ultra-processed food” category, which has been linked to multiple diseases since the definition was established around 5 years ago, but the foods are too easy to access. The office worker doesn’t even have to go up or down steps to get the food. At least in years past, office-workers had to go out the office to find a shop to buy something. They had to move at least a bit. Today office-workers barely move thanks to modern technologies like mobiles, chats and Zoom.
This is a health disaster
The lack of movement in the everyday of office-workers is a real problem. Have you heard the expression “sitting is the new smoking”? It’s true. The self-experiments I have done show this. I eat very well, exercise often and am fit and healthy. However, on the days where I sit at my desk my response to food (to the extent I can track it) worsens by at least 200%. I almost become a pre-diabetic after just one day. These responses are, quite frankly, horrifying. The only reason I know is because I can and do track it, but for most people the health impacts happen slowly and silently without visible symptoms. It only becomes a ‘problem’ when a serious health-event happens.
Speak to your boss: take action
If you have one of these amazing office kitchens, please can I encourage you to speak to your boss. Question the purpose of food in office kitchens. Why are we doing it? Humans like doing nice things. Plenty of studies show that we like being nice. Think about the feeling you get when you give a kid a cookie? Giving employees nice foods makes us feel good. But maybe we could be nice in other ways? Providing nice herbal teas? Quality dark chocolate? Doing a coffee run each morning? Providing a jar of gold coins so employee can walk downstairs and buy a chocolate bar for themself?
It is all about the food environment
The food environment is everything. Employers should be helping to provide a safe food environment where junk food is not an easy and brainless choice, but a conscious decision. Would Sydney CBD office-workers really stop their day to go outside and buy a chocolate bar for themselves? Probably not.
Get a Health Check Report for your office kitchen?
If you think your workplace would benefit from a ‘Office Kitchen Healthcheck’ on the state of its kitchen get in touch. I will arrange a one-off-visit or you can take photos. I will then have a short chat with you to understand how you shop (e.g. online, Coles, budget, preferences), what your kitchen needs, what level of health your business wants (extreme v sensible v better choices). You’ll then receive a traffic light report 10 days later with healthier swap ideas.
We humans are remarkably unclever when it comes to thinking about the long term. (I couldn’t write stupid). Office kitchens really need a rethink.
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