We all heard the phrase “eat your veggies” while growing up—and for valid reasons. Fruits and vegetables are there for us in sickness and in health. A balanced diet that includes them may reduce the risk of some types of cancer and chronic conditions and support weight management.¹ Because fruits and vegetables house vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other elements our body needs, they can help us achieve good nutrition and optimal overall health, including mental health. One study conducted by scientists at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) even indicates that eating your vegetables can make you happy.²  Happiness can help root and support productivity, making it critical for employees to have good nutrition.³ While good nutrition can yield many benefits, making it a reality for employees isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

Why employers should help quiet food noise and amplify good nutrition

So often, employee health discussions revolve around improving nutrition. Just as often, these discussions fall short of offering employers of different sizes with varying resource levels tangible ways to make this happen.

Making healthy eating a reality isn’t easy. So many people are battling food noise, a phenomenon where they have persistent and often intrusive mental chatter about food that can interfere with their focus, productivity, and emotional well-being. On top of food noise, processed foods are all around and many people rely on them for easy meals and snacks because they can save time and be less expensive than fresh fruits, vegetables, and other options part of a healthy diet, including lean protein, low-fat dairy, and whole grains.

Ellen Sabota, registered dietitian and lead lifestyle health coach at UPMC Health Plan explains how critical it is for employers to believe in and back the good nutrition mission by weaving encouragement and excitement into the example they set for employees to widely accept and adopt healthy eating habits. “You need to get behind the push for nutrition at every level, from the top down, or employee productivity can suffer because our bodies need vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutritional components to make the energy we require to function properly and productively. While processed foods contain calories that can support function to some degree, they are often void of the nutrients our bodies need to function at 100 percent.”

How employers can make good nutrition a reality for employees

Merely saying “eat healthy” is not enough. Living this message and supporting it through these and other methods is necessary for a good-nutrition initiative to succeed:

• Help overcome fruit and veggie hesitancy. Familiarity is comfortable, but it often leaves people in a rut and unwilling to try different fruits and vegetables. Options like apples and oranges have their selling points. They are healthy and often accessible and budget-friendly, but like anything else, having the same thing repeatedly can be boring. Creativity in the workplace can help people explore new options like papaya, starfruit, or other foods they haven’t tried. Offering a healthy food service subscription or a gift certificate for a health food store as a wellness incentive or reward can help people expand their horizons.
• Make healthy treats tempting. Cakes, donuts, and other sweets quickly get attention in the workplace. Creating excitement around healthy options can cause a shift in thinking and acting. Stephanie Nardiello, registered dietitian and fellow health coach at UPMC Health Plan, says, “Pizza and ice cream are easy and often expected reward options, but they aren’t the best choices to encourage good nutrition. Offering a big, beautiful, and dramatic fruit bowl or presenting fruit in a stacked cake format can help create willingness and even excitement around healthy options,” she said. The same goes for vegetables. Rather than the usual roundup, consider offering mini veggie wraps, trail mix, and whole-grain crackers with hummus to add balance.
• Be adamant about breaks. Schedules can be busy, and employees might not want to stop to eat, which can be detrimental to health and productivity, according to Ms. Sabota. “People who don’t take a lunch or a break to have a healthy snack throughout the day miss out on opportunities to nourish themselves. They might not realize that not taking breaks can contribute to the fatigue and productivity slumps they feel in the afternoon,” she said. It isn’t enough for managers to ask, “Did you take your lunch?” and stop there. They can set an example by taking breaks to underscore the importance of stepping away throughout the day. Creating inviting break spaces with comfortable seating, healthy snacks, and natural light can also help encourage employees to take regular breaks. Ms. Sabota adds that flexibility is essential to this effort. “Everybody has individualized eating habits. Some people are snackers and grazers, while others like having more structured mealtimes. Recognizing that people eat in different ways and allowing those experiences can take the worry out of making time for a snack break,” she said.

Supporting individual health needs, goals, and values is essential to employee health and productivity. Health coaching is a mechanism that can be personalized to help motivate employees to make and maintain healthy lifestyle changes. “As health coaches, we talk to people one-on-one to find out what's important to them and how we can help them get to their goals or even help them figure out what those goals are,” said Ms. Nardiello.

Personal support is just as important from an organizational standpoint. Whether in an office, a manufacturing plant floor, or anywhere in between, employee health performance and scaling it are important. Health coaches work with employees in different industries, areas, environments, and situations.

UPMC Health Plan offerings to help employees achieve good nutrition

UPMC Health Plan has long been an advocate of holistic health, offering support to help our members achieve good nutrition and corresponding overall health. Our members have access to these resources through their benefits:

• A health coaching program that gives employees access to nutrition counseling from registered dieticians, licensed dietitian nutritionists, and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coaches
• The Workpartners®’ employee assistance program to help employees achieve goals around healthy eating and overall wellness
• The Take a Healthy Step well-being platform to guide members through a journey to optimize their health, included at no cost for all Commercial plans, regardless of business size
• Condition management programs for diabetes and other chronic conditions 

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthy habits: Fruits and vegetables to manage weight. Dec. 19, 2023. Accessed May 15, 2025. cdc.gov/healthy-weight-growth/healthy-eating/fruits-vegetables.html

²U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Service. Don't pass on those veggies! Eating the right amount can improve mental health and happiness. Modified Oct. 1, 2024. Accessed May 15, 2025. ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2023/dont-pass-on-those-veggies-eating-the-right-amount-can-improve-mental-health-and-happiness/

³U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. U.S. Surgeon General’s framework for workplace mental Health and well-being. 2022. Accessed May16, 2025. hhs.gov/sites/default/files/workplace-mental-health-well-being.pdf