Be in Balance Program

Introduction

As obesity, diabetes and heart disease continue to rise in our country, workplaces are stepping up to the challenge by creating healthier environments. One of the changes that has occurred at the University of Rochester is the new focus on promoting healthy eating at work and at home. The Food and Nutrition department and the Saunders Research building have joined forces to provide healthier eating establishments through a revamped nutrition program called Be In Balance. This nutrition program will be available at the Cafe´ 601 at Strong, and the West Winds Café located in the Saunders Research building.

Goal

In order to change eating behaviors, we need to change the nutrition environment to support healthy eating and create a culture where healthy eating is valued and accepted as the norm. The goal of the Be In Balance program is to increase access to healthy foods in the main cafeteria and the West Winds Café in the Saunders Research building and to make it easy for customers to select healthy foods through a recognizable healthy symbol.

Nutrition Standards

The healthy criterion that the symbol represents was developed by a registered dietitian and based on the new 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines. This criteria represents healthy foods and beverages. Employees and visitors no longer have to try to figure out if a food or beverage is healthy. Now they can look for the symbol and be confident they are selecting a healthy food. Review the Nutrition Standards used to determine healthy foods.

Nutrition Information

Another feature of this program is to provide nutrition information for all of the menu items. The nutrition information will be available for healthy menu items at first and then for all menu items at the two dining establishments. At West Winds Cafe, the basic calorie information will be on the menu boards and more detailed nutrition information will be available on the Be In Balance website. At Cafe 601 at Strong, nutrition, ingredient and allergen information of menu items will be available at Nutrition Kiosks (conveniently located in the Dining Area), the Cafe 601 Nutrition site, and on the UR Mobile app.