Healthy Workplace: Cooperative Food Buying and Preparation

What are the reasons people give for not eating healthy? Usually you will hear things like "I don't have the time to cook," "I don't have the time to shop," or " I can't eat fresh vegetables before they go bad." Sound familiar?

We here at the Nigro Firm understand very well the impact that working long hours, eating fast food and stress can have on our health. Sometimes when we are busy with project after project and we can't seem to think of anything besides construction drawings, we feel the ill effects in our bodies. So we have tried to find ways to eat healthier while at the same time decreasing the burden of purchasing and preparing food.

There are several ways that we have learned to decrease the time involved in shopping and preparation, so we can spend more time working or simply enjoying our life. We have tried many things, but here are a few that have worked for us, that may work for your company as well: cooperative organic food buying, shared bulk shopping and cooperative preparation.

Cooperative Organic Food Buying: In the area we live in Utah there is a community supported organic farm called Borski Farms, they offer fresh, organic produce on a pre-purchase basis for 15 weeks of the growing season. However, in the past when we were busy at the office it was difficult finding the time to pick up our produce. So we have begun to purchase our shares as a group and share the burden of driving. So instead of having to pick up once a week, we take turns and each party only has to pick up once a month. So we can enjoy organic, local produce with a quarter of the driving!

Shared Bulk Shopping: We all know that visits to Costco or Sam's Club are rarely quick visits and even more rarely convenient. The parking lots are huge, the stores are enormous and the size of product is often unusable! Can one family really eat their big bag of green beans or broccoli before they go bad? So sometimes we combine our efforts and group buy. For example, we will split the bag of green beans and we have discovered that we can enjoy more variety this way and can generally eat the food before it goes bad or we get tired of it. Other times we will just call one another and say, "Hey, I am making a trip to Costco, need anything?" This saves the gas and energy of everyone involved and it just makes sense.

Cooperative Preparation: As mentioned in previous posts, we have a fully functional kitchen at the Nigro Firm office. So from time to time, a group of us will get together and do a huge batch of cooking. For example, we might cook several rice cookers of rice, some beans or a variety of sauces for freezing. So later we can put together quick healthy meals with half of the work already done ahead of time. Or this last summer we acquired lots of apples and spent a few days canning and drying them for tasty winter treats.

Cooking at work may sound a bit unusual, but not if you knew the owners of the Nigro Firm. Natalie and Shirley Nigro are avid healthy eating enthusiasts and have co-authored the Companion Guide to Healthy Cooking: A Practical Introduction to Natural Ingredients, which you still may find on Amazon. Through the years they have learned a lot about whole food cooking, vegan and vegetarian cooking, and food preservation. They love to share their knowledge and skills. So for us, using healthy eating to lower corporate stress just seems natural.

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

Check out this video for preparing tasty asparagus: