The alarm goes off and you wake groggy from another restless sleep. You sleepwalk to the shower, brush your teeth, and barely savor two sips of coffee before you realize you’re late. You skipped breakfast again, so, you scarf down something from the vending machine while catching up on emails. By lunchtime you’re headed to the nearest drive-through and then right back to the office to eat alone at your desk.
You’ve crossed paths with the vending machine three times today, far more than the number of times you’ve encountered colleagues, who also take lunches at their desks. What were their names again?
As we consider opportunities to optimize workplace design for productivity, efficiency, and employee wellness, it’s important to consider the vital role mindful eating plays in the workplace.
Why mindful eating matters
Eating is a joy that brings people together, often informally, not only to nourish our bodies but also to provide a necessary break for our minds to relax and refuel. That’s particularly important in today’s demanding work culture.
By designating space for communal eating in the workplace, we can accomplish both personal and corporate benefits. This communal setting facilitates a democratic space, where silos and ranks comingle to share stories, ideas, and build relationships through inclusiveness. Additionally, evidence shows that workplace socialization ultimately increases productivity.
What better place to facilitate this than through accommodating the simple and necessary pleasure of eating together?
Defining space for mindful eating
Mindful eating requires a space that traditional, pragmatic galley kitchens cannot facilitate.
For mindful eating to flourish, spaces need to be open, welcoming, accessible, centrally located, and be able to facilitate both work and leisure activities. Third-party, health-focused rating systems have identified the need for such spaces to be programmed into facilities, awarding projects for incorporating these health and wellness spaces.
Among these standards, Fitwel awards points for having a “multi-purpose” space, as well as “healthy eating” aspects such as free access to drinking water, “healthy” vending, hand washing signage, and even on-site fruit and vegetable gardens/farmer’s markets. WELL does the same, requiring fruit and vegetable options to be sold on-site and even notes portion control through dishware sizing and appliance standards. One of WELL’s main features, Mindful Eating, awards credit for providing an eating space to accommodate a minimum of 25% full-time equivalency (FTE) occupants, which, if programmed in, substantially enables the ability of a space to promote healthy eating practices and socialization.