Worksite foodscapes: an opportunity for better and healthier eating experiences

Worksite foodscapes: an opportunity for better and healthier eating experiences

Article Type: Guest editorial From: International Journal of Workplace Health Management, Volume 3, Issue 3

About the Guest Editors

Bent Egberg MikkelsenProfessor of Nutrition and Public Food Systems at the Research group for Food, People & Design at Aalborg University. He holds an MSc in Food Science from the Royal Agricultural University and PhD in Organisational Sociology from Roskilde University. He is the author of a large number of publications on public health nutrition and sustainable public food systems and the principal investigator on several research projects. His work includes several assignments on nutrition at schools and hospitals for the Council of Europe, Food & Nutrition at work for the Nordic Council of Ministers, healthy eating at school for the European WHO Regional Office and the EU Platform for Health, Diet and Physical Activity.

Mia BrandhøjBSc Nutrition & Health, and has specialized in nutrition and physical activity. As a Research Project Assistant in the Food, People & Design Research group at Aalborg University and during her study Brandhøj has worked with different aspects related to health promotion at the workplace. Mia Brandhøj did her BSc thesis in the field of workplace health promotion in Danish worksites. From a cross-disciplinary approach of health science, sociology and psychology, the thesis was founded on a critical perspective of the work life balance, and how to balance on the border between the private and the workplace/public sphere. As a Research Project Assistant, Mia Brandhøj has been co-author and co-editor of several scientific articles, reports, posters, etc. as well as coordinator of several international conferences related to food, work and health promotion.

Michael Søgaard JørgensenMSc in Chemical Engineering and has a PhD in Technology Assessment. He is an Associate Professor in User Participation in Technology Assessment and Technology Development, at Department of Management Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark. His publications focus on environmental management in companies and product chains, sustainable transition, technology assessment and technology foresight, developmental work, food at worksites, food and climate and other issues of governance in the food sector, like obesity. Michael Søgaard Jørgensen is the Chairman of the Society of Green Technology within the Danish Society of Engineers.

Mie Bendtsen MSc in Human Nutrition, a BSc in Food Science from the former Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (now University of Copenhagen), and a Minor in Exercise and Sports Science from the former Danmarks Højskole for Legemsøvelser (now University of Copenhagen). Mie Bendtsen is currently working as a Project Manager at Øresund Food, where she administrates and coordinates the EU project “Healthy Growth” on development of health promoting foods. The EU project includes among others the scientific area Food at Work, and Mie Bendtsen has experience with administrative, coordinative and communicative tasks regarding networks and national/international conferences and workshops, for example the workshop “Food at Work 24 h: Work – Time – Meal” in Copenhagen 2008 and the conference “Better Food at Work – Nordic & Baltic Experience” in Tallinn 2009. Her previous experience covers scientific work within human nutrition (as a Research Assistant), and teaching within nutrition, health and exercise at bachelor level.

The settings-based approach to a healthier lifestyle has grown in popularity in recent years, and is highlighted in authoritative policy papers from institutions such as WHO, EU and Nordic Council of Ministers. One of the most important settings is the workplace where a considerable part of the adult population takes one or more of their daily meals. Organisations increasingly recognize that it is important to maintain not only a safe work environment to avoid accidents, but also to prevent negative health outcomes as a result of unhealthy eating and physical inactivity. And many organisations have already experience that there can be a good return of investment in this field. Organisations increasingly consider this health promotion to be an integral part of their corporate social responsibility.

The Nordic and Baltic countries have already come a long way in this area, and against this background the Research group for Food, People & Design at Aalborg University carried out a project focusing on how food at work can play a more active role in contributing to development and maintenance of good health among employees. The project was supported by the NordBalt programme under the Nordic Council of Ministers. The project included as a final step a conference on Better Food at Work for researchers, practitioners and policy makers which was held September 23-25, 2009 in Tallinn, Estonia. The purpose of the conference, that was co-organised with Oresund Food Network and the National Institute for Health Promotion in Estonia, was to share experiences and to develop a better understanding of the future perspectives and challenges related to health at worksites, with special emphasis on food and nutrition, wellbeing and performance. The conference attracted 65 participants from Europe and the USA. This special issue includes selected papers from the conference and illustrates the different research challenges related to better food at work.

The conference speakers and participants agreed that the process of turning research in this field into policies and implementing health promotion at worksites in practice is dependent on a determined management and passionate practitioners. This is especially important in order to sustain the results in the long run. The conference showed that better food at work is not only about nutrition, but that food at work must be seen in a much more everyday life-oriented perspective. Food at work interferes very much with the work life balance and this should be understood by both companies, health promoters and practitioners. The conference participants and speakers highlighted the advantage related to taking a user-driven innovation approach to better food at work. The conference also showed that there is a great need to focus on the important role that intermediaries such as canteen managers and worksite nurses at the worksite play as gatekeepers and stakeholders and that research and education is an important instrument.

Bent Egberg MikkelsenGuest Editor