#232 – Integrity Idea 055: Nurture Nutrition

Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization.  We believe some are critical (and necessary) steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process.  Others are just ideas to be considered if they feel like a good fit based on what leaders prayerfully discern is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.

“Nurture Nutrition” is about employee benefits, and we believe employee benefits usually fall into the “if its a good fit” category.

Integrity Ideas are specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity®–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  You can find more Integrity Ideas at Integrous | Integrity Ideas (integriosity.com)

INTEGRITY IDEA: Nurture Nutrition

“Nurture Nutrition” is about adopting practices and benefits that are specifically designed to encourage and support the nutritional health of employees.

It recognizes that an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing should care about the physical health of its employees, because physical health is a key component of human flourishing.

Nutrition and Flourishing. From a scientific standpoint, “Physical and Mental Health” is one of the six key domains identified and measured by the Harvard Program on Human Flourishing in their human flourishing index.

From a Biblical perspective, we know that the body is a temple of God and even eating should be done in a way that glorifies God.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Daniel famously substituted what has become known (and marketed) as a “Daniel Diet” in lieu of the rich palace food.  And Proverbs 23:20-21 warns against gluttony:

Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

The link between nutrition and health is the focus of numerous famous and clever quotes, such as:

To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art. (Francois de La Rochefoucauld)

The produce manager is more important to my children’s health than the pediatrician. (Meryl Streep)

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are. (Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin)

Health complications that can arise from poor nutrition can impact all aspects of a person’s life, including their quality-of-life outside work, the nutritional health of their family members, their need for medical treatment and their work productivity.

Nurturing Nutrition.  We live in a broken world–the U.S. Center for Disease Control estimates that 42% of Americans live with obesity (up from 30.5% in 2000)–58% of them have high blood pressure and 23% have diabetes.

We also live in a world in which some of the least nutritious feed can be the least expensive food, and where “ultraprocessed foods” (UPFs) are becoming increasingly popular.  A recent New York Times article reports that UPF’s represent 67% of the calories consumed by children and teenagers in the United States.  The article also notes:

[S]cientists have found associations between UPFs and a range of health conditions, including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, gastrointestinal diseases and depression, as well as earlier death. 

We think it is safe to assume that every organization with more than a few employees has employees impacted either personally or through family members with the nutritional crisis in the United States.  That means most faithful leaders have the opportunity to care for employees and their families and reinforce the organization’s commitment to living out the commandment to love your neighbor by implementing “Nurture Nutrition” practices and benefits.

We believe “Nurture Nutrition” is not only caring stewardship–it is also wise stewardship.  A wellness white paper by Storehouse Wellness says that studies of corporate wellness programs “consistently show positive ROI ranging from $1.50 to $3.00, driven by reduced medical costs, absenteeism rates, and improved productivity.”

“Nurture Nutrition” is one way to lead faithfully by curating and reinforcing a caring and compassionate organizational culture that aligns with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities, prioritizing the flourishing of people as an “end” and putting profit in its proper place as a necessary means to that end.

CONTINUUM: Practices

The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums.  There is nothing magic about these categories, but we believe they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture.  The Continuums are Prayer, Proclamation, Policies, Practices, Products, People.

Each Continuum represents an area in which leaders can begin to think about, plan and institute Re-Alignment changes to the heart of the organization.

“Nurture Nutrition” is on the Practices Continuum.  It involves practices the organization can adopt to affirm its commitment to Biblical flourishing and the Biblical principles of Imago Dei and love your neighbor, to reflect and reinforce its purpose and values, to care for its employees, and to be wise stewards of the organization.

COVERT-OVERT RATING: Highly Covert

The Integriosity model breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations–from Highly Covert to Highly Overt–that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.

Most Integrity Ideas will have one place on the scale.  Some can vary depending on how they are implemented.  “Nurture Nutrition” is Highly Covert (an action that would be taken by a secular company).  Even secular businesses should care about the health of their employees, if only from the Profit as Purpose “bottom-line” perspective of lower healthcare costs, less sick-time and higher productivity as detailed in the wellness white paper by Storehouse Wellness.

“Nurture Nutrition” can also be Overt (An overtly faith-based action known generally within the organization) if the leaders of the organization choose to explain its importance in terms of the Biblical significance of treating people with dignity as creations in the image of God, loving your neighbor, and caring for your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees

When we categorize faith-based actions, we also consider the stakeholders principally impacted by the action: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community and Kingdom.

“Nurture Nutrition” principally serves Employees by caring for their well-being and the well-being of their family.  It also benefits Owners through wise stewardship and the Community through healthier families.

To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art. (Francois de La Rochefoucauld)

IMPLEMENTATION

“Nurture Nutrition” isn’t difficult to justify in concept, particularly for organizations in industries where employees are living paycheck-to-paycheck and may choose food that is less nutritional for budgetary reasons.  Every faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing should want to help those employees God has given them to steward to be healthier by eating healthier.  But how?

We believe options for implementing “Nurture Nutrition” can be broken down into three basic categories–education about nutrition, healthcare for nutrition, and food provision.  What is the right fit for an organization will depend on many factors, such as the number of employees, the nature of the work, and the realistic budget for “Nurture Nutrition”.

Like with all Integrity Ideas, implementation should only be done after prayerful discernment by faithful leaders.  Here are a few examples and ideas for faithful leaders considering implementing “Nurture Nutrition”.

Education.

Educating employees about good nutrition could come in many forms.  For example:

• Materials about nutrition and the health impacts of poor nutrition.  This could be materials such as written materials (e.g., books, brochures, recipes, eating plans), intranet resources, or a periodic newsletter

• A lunch seminar on nutrition by a health professional at which healthy food is served.

• Information tables hosted periodically by educational vendors or a dedicated health fair.

• In-person or virtual cooking classes with a nutritionist.

• Links to videos about nutrition.

• A healthy eating challenge with teams competing (e.g., the challenge created in the book Game On Diet)

For an organization seeking to address wellness holistically, one option to explore is Storehouse Wellness.  They have developed a Christ-Centered comprehensive wellness solution for organizations that encompasses nourishment, physical fitness, mental awareness, and financial health.

Healthcare for Nutrition

Healthcare for nutrition is going beyond group education and providing individualized help for employees who wish to participate.  (We do not recommend implementing a version of Japan’s Metabo Law, which requires employers to take annual measurements of employee waistlines and requires workers who fail to get diet counseling!)

This could take the form of:

• Providing (or subsidizing the cost of) individualized nutrition coaching or counseling.

• Paying for (or subsidizing the cost of) participation in weight management programs.

• Arranging for a nutritionist to be available on a periodic basis for personal consultations.

• Helping employees suffering from severe obesity with the cost of surgical options.

These types of resources could also be made available to family members of employees.

Food Provision

The most direct way to “Nurture Nutrition” is to provide employees with nutritional food.  Here are a few examples of how this might be implemented:

• Remove vending machines with sugar-filled drinks and unhealthy snacks and replace them with vending machines offering healthy drinks and snacks.

• Provide healthy menus or options for in-house meetings, employee gatherings and organizational events.

• Provide an onsite, subsidized cafeteria with healthy food choices.

• Follow the example of Hobby Lobby and operate on on-premises food bank offering nutritious food items at discounted prices.

We believe faithful leaders implementing some form of “Nurture Nutrition”–whether education, healthcare or food provision–should give prayerful, careful and serious consideration to taking the next step and explaining the Biblical motivation for these benefits, both from the perspective of the organization and the perspective of the employees.

For the organization, it is part of pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.  It is recognizing Imago Dei, living out the commandment to love your neighbor, reinforcing an organizational culture that prioritizes the flourishing of its people, and wise stewardship of the organization and its people.

From an employee perspective, it is about recognizing that each person is a creation in the image of a loving God with a body that is a gift to be stewarded and a temple to be honored.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  This post was inspired by a blog called the The Weekend Reader written by a friend, Max Anderson.  Each week, Max picks a topic relevant to the times and curates and summarizes articles that present various sides of that topic.  His tagline is “Read widely.  Read wisely.”  This week’s edition was called Hot Dog Country: Living in the land of obesity and processed foods.”

ESSENCE:  Integrity Ideas are specific practical actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.

INTEGRITY IDEA: Nurture Nutrition

COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  Practices

COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees

“Nurture Nutrition” is about adopting practices and benefits that are specifically designed to encourage and support the nutritional health of employees. It recognizes that an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing should care about the physical health of its employees, because physical health is a key component of human flourishing.  Health complications that can arise from poor nutrition can impact all aspects of a person’s life, including their quality-of-life outside work, the nutritional health of their family members, their need for medical treatment and their work productivity.  We think it is safe to assume that every organization with more than a few employees has employees impacted either personally or through family members with the nutritional crisis in the United States.  Whether through education, healthcare for nutrition or food provision, “Nurture Nutrition” is wise stewardship and one way to lead faithfully by curating and reinforcing a caring and compassionate organizational culture that aligns with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities, prioritizing the flourishing of people as an “end” and putting profit in its proper place as a necessary means to that end.

Copyright © 2024 Integrous LLC.  Integriosity is a registered Service Mark of Integrous LLC.

Photo credit: Original image by Elena Leya on Unsplash
(photo cropped)

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