The High Cost of Free Office Snacks

Ezekiel Emanuel (Rahm’s brother) is in high dudgeon (in the New York Times, where he writes a column) about companies providing the wrong kind of snacks for their employees. Ezbo cites research that found that “an additional serving of potato chips every day led to a 1.69-pound weight increase over four years.” (One can't make this up!) Four years worth of chips each day and one gains less than two pounds? And this is something to complain about? For me it gives a whole new meaning to “getting Lay’d.”

Ezbo writes, "The problem is that free food, if it's the wrong kind, is not really free. It can kill you . . . Companies that care about their employees should get rid of unhealthy packaged snack food. Get me the yogurt, nuts and fruit." It seems to me that companies that care about employees should treat them with enough respect to let them decide whether to have nuts or Pearson Nut Rolls.

One wonders what Ezbo thinks about foie gras. Dare we ask?

Heck the company I worked for 20 years ago provided free booze!!! They are no longer in business (family run, death of the boss) but it was the culture of the construction industry at that time. Our office fridge always had beer plus we always had wine and scotch. No problem if you imbibed at work just so you got your work done and correctly. If we had to work extra hours in one day, boss always bought beer and pizza while we were working.

The firm at which I'm currently consulting doesn't even provide free coffee, and for a large company they don't even subsidize the vending machines or cafeteria -- pretty stingy, as agreed by the employees.

I don't know if it's still the case, but quite some time ago my sis-in-law used to work for Miller, and employee benefits included a monthly (small) supply of beer and cigs (owned at the time by Phillip Morris), and cigarettes were present in every conference room. The cigs are I'm sure gone, based in part on no longer being part of a smokes company, and increasing laws against smoking in workplaces (hear hear!). No idea about the barley pops.

Since I worked for government, no food or snacks or even drinks were provided. There were vending machines and of course Starbucks across the street and Intelligensia was basically next door. I think if free food is provided, many would eat it owing to that it was free. It only takes a few extra calories a day to add up to pounds per year. Companies providing free food also consider perishability. Its easier to provide potato chips or other fattening empty calorie foods because they keep a long time as opposed to fresh fruit which spoils after a while. Nuts and dried fruits are also expensive. In the end I think companies should assess the kind of free snacks they provide to make sure they are not contributing toward the obesity epidemic.

He would be horrified at my company. Sometimes we do have work lunches that feature things like foie gras. The last one was at Au Cheval. We also have a freezer full of grass-fed beef and serve good fresh coffee with full-fat real cream. None of us are obese and we are quite diverse in terms of age and activity level. There are a couple of tech companies I know of that attract foodie engineers this way.

Wow I would love to work at a place that has meetings at Au Cheval. No revise that. I would have loved to work at a place that has meetings at Au Cheval. But I would be sinking my teeth into their outstanding burger and not fois gras.

toria wrote:Wow I would love to work at a place that has meetings at Au Cheval. No revise that. I would have loved to work at a place that has meetings at Au Cheval. But I would be sinking my teeth into their outstanding burger and not fois gras.

I am hiring people who have Cisco or VMware experience

mgmcewen wrote:He would be horrified at my company. Sometimes we do have work lunches that feature things like foie gras. The last one was at Au Cheval. We also have a freezer full of grass-fed beef and serve good fresh coffee with full-fat real cream. None of us are obese and we are quite diverse in terms of age and activity level. There are a couple of tech companies I know of that attract foodie engineers this way.

The problem is not the occasional high-fat lunch, or a bit of cream in the coffee-- the problem is junk food snacks freely available all day. My former company used to do this and it was awful. I have plenty of willpower, but the "gating event" occurs at the store, where I don't buy stuff that I will eat. If someone gives me junk food like that, I have to throw it out. Luckily the diet-sabotaging (and very overweight) culprit at this company ("Oh, the guys like to have cookies around to snack on") moved to another job and the company moved to another location so I had a longer bike commute.

Cheers, Jen

Pie-love wrote:

mgmcewen wrote:He would be horrified at my company. Sometimes we do have work lunches that feature things like foie gras. The last one was at Au Cheval. We also have a freezer full of grass-fed beef and serve good fresh coffee with full-fat real cream. None of us are obese and we are quite diverse in terms of age and activity level. There are a couple of tech companies I know of that attract foodie engineers this way.

The problem is not the occasional high-fat lunch, or a bit of cream in the coffee-- the problem is junk food snacks freely available all day. My former company used to do this and it was awful. I have plenty of willpower, but the "gating event" occurs at the store, where I don't buy stuff that I will eat. If someone gives me junk food like that, I have to throw it out. Luckily the diet-sabotaging (and very overweight) culprit at this company ("Oh, the guys like to have cookies around to snack on") moved to another job and the company moved to another location so I had a longer bike commute.

Cheers, Jen

I do agree with you there. Moderation is key. And even though I bristle at the idea of certain nanny state interventions, the truth is that many processed foods are explicitly designed to manipulate our brains to eat more than we need. And some even homemade foods like good cookies hit the same salty/sweet "give me more" buttons. David A. Kessler's The End of Overeating is a fantastic primer on this. I'm not going to overeat Au Cheval because it's compartmentalized at a restaurant and rather $$$$ for the company, not staring at me all day out of a clear jar like cookies or Reeses cups that some companies seem to have.

My last job not only had all sorts of snacks but also freezers full of lean cuisines and other frozen meals. Although the snacks were unhealthy and could be quite dangerous if no self-control was exhibited, I really like the lean cuisines. It was a nice (and cheap) lunch everyday that was actually healthy (besides the preservatives, salt, etc).

Would Montgomery Burns provide snacks for his employees? Never!

At our workplace, we provide lunch for the office employees every day (usually reasonable, occasionally indulgent) but we really don't keep any snacks in the office. In fact, we have a full kitchen that our employees can use to cook their lunches but unless someone brings something to cook, it's mostly filled with condiments and pantry items. Very infrequently does someone bring snacks for the office. We don't discourage it but we don't encourage it, and we certainly don't have folks pining for food in the afternoons, either. I think having snack food around encourages people to eat when they're not truly hungry.

We also have a full bar but it barely gets touched.

=R=

Oh Ronnie, I'm coming across the street now, for sure!
AT my workplace, they do provide drinks and coffee at NC.
So we have juice, vitamin water, and regular and diet pop, as well as tea, coffee, and hot choc.

Snacks are in a ridiculous, little tiny (cheap) vending machine,
but for lunch you have to go out or bring it in.
When we have company meetings it is only one thing ever.
Cheap pizza, no salad, just pizza.

If the management has a meeting, they get sandwich trays or other types of catering,
but the company-wide meetings-thin crust pizza and nuthin-but!

In addition to the standing free coffee policy, my company has recently launched a fairly progressive initiative.
The pop machine is on its way out. Pop is blowout priced at a nickel apiece and will not be replace when finished.
On Mondays, my boss stops at the grocery and picks up a bunch of (nominally) healthy foods: yogurt, apples, oranges, bananas, a jug of OJ, granola and cereal bars, avocados, strawberries, a bag of nuts. I don't know if it will help the foodbags* get any healthier but I certainly appreciate it.

*You know they type: They'll eat anything and then argue with you about how good it is. I'm talking Hot Pockets, frozen burritos, gas station hot dogs and nachos, HotNReady Little Ceasars. I fear that they simply tuck into yogurt and avocados in addition to the Mobil and White Hen cuisine. "Mmm...healthy!" they delude, wiping pulp-free, orangey sugar water from their jowls.

This has really been fascinating. When I made the OP I assumed that everyone would stomp all over Ezbo, but it seems that he has quite a bit of cautious support. Myself, I'm going on the potato chip diet. I'll see you in four years, 1.69 pounds heavier.

I can see I've been working for the wrong companies. We've always had free coffee, but that's it.

GAF wrote:This has really been fascinating. When I made the OP I assumed that everyone would stomp all over Ezbo, but it seems that he has quite a bit of cautious support. Myself, I'm going on the potato chip diet. I'll see you in four years, 1.69 pounds heavier.

I'll stomp on him for the tone he uses. Saying snacks "result in a 1.69 lb. weight gain" and "it can kill you" just makes his point seem like a huge over-reaction to something that people should think about just based on consideration for others.

I can't fault him on his general cause as far as readily available snacks go. I worked for a large advertising company where free booze, ice cream, and loads of candy were always available for free. We even had a bar cart that went around on Friday afternoons making drinks for people. It sounds great (and is in many ways), but I had a number of people who reported to me who were dealing with things like weight issues, high cholesterol, diabetes, and alcoholism who asked me if they could move desks or work from home on some days to help them avoid the temptations. I also became very cynical about free "perks" after being involved in meetings where it was decided to install an espresso machine for the express purpose of keeping people from leaving the office to go to Starbucks.

The whole "pizza for lunch at a meeting" thing has been a pet peeve of mine for years - in fact any lunch meeting where people aren't asked their preferences via email before the meeting is pretty inconsiderate to me. I don't care if someone else chooses the place we're ordering from, but if you're eating lunch in the office you should at least have some choices in what you eat (i.e. at least a salad vs. pizza). Even if I'm dying for pizza I just get pissed off that someone else is making my food choices for me

Now that I work from home, I have no one to blame but myself for any unhealthy snacks. I try to leave cut-up fruit on the kitchen counter and I definitely don't have bags of snacks around. I really need to throw out the remainder of that Halloween candy-- too much temptation! I do offer myself free coffee and tea.


Cheers, Jen

Our place is pretty ridiculous for the number of employees we have. We have the cat litter coffee, plus free tea and Swiss Miss. There used to be Cup-o-Soup but I don't know if that's still around. In the lunchroom, there are no less than five vending machines—two rival sodas (Coke & Pepsi?), one with soda/water/juice, one candy/chips/cookies/bags of nuts, and one that Mr. Pie calls the Wheel of Fortune (the interior shelving unit spins with the press of a button and you choose sandwiches, Lunchables, bagels, etc. by sliding open a window). We also used to have an ice cream bar machine but I think that's gone. Twice daily, someone makes popcorn in an old-timey popcorn machine.

GAF wrote:This has really been fascinating. When I made the OP I assumed that everyone would stomp all over Ezbo, but it seems that he has quite a bit of cautious support. Myself, I'm going on the potato chip diet. I'll see you in four years, 1.69 pounds heavier.

I'm with you, GAF. Let people decide what they want. No one requires them to eat potato chips. Plus, if you start talking about only supplying things that are healthful, those nuts and yogurt might kill someone -- between nut allergies and dairy intolerance. Potato chips are actually much safer.

I've never worked anywhere with free food, and I still managed to put on weight -- and more than 1.69 pounds over four years. Maybe I need to eat more potato chips.

But one does grow weary of attempts to lift the burden of responsibility from the individual. It's not the government's job. It's not the company's job.

That said, I do think it would be nice for those companies that do offer free food to make sure some celery sticks made it into the fridge once in a while, so those avoiding chips have something free. But I can assure Ezbo that, when one is under stress and on deadline, only something like potato chips really work. A nice cup of yogurt is never going to take the edge off.

I could never figure out why our Wheel of Fortune has only the kinds of microwavable sandwich fare that you see in gas stations. The healthiest thing in there is Dannon or cups of mandarin oranges; if the case is refrigerated, how about some fruit or veggies with a healthy dip, etc.?

A lot of companies that have ditched free, unhealthy snacks are doing so in the name of promoting a "culture of health".

In other words, they're trying to change unhealthy behaviors so the increase in their medical benefits costs slow down. Free healthy snacks, healthy food in vending machines, incentives to join gyms or get annual physicals...it's all with an eye to the bottom line.

always thought/knew the "free" snacks at work were about productivity. Keeping folks in the office or at their desk vs out grabbing lunch or a drink is typically better for the bottom line. Pretty sure no one is forced to partake in them.

Current place I work has pretzles as snacks regularly and that is it. They do come in handy when lunch doesn't come til 3:00 p.m. on busy(crazy) days. Especially since lunch is the first food I eat each day, and I start my day @ 5:00 a.m.. (gotta get up early to build chicago's housing projects, hospitals, and schools)

I'd suggest that if your company provides free snacks and they aren't to your liking, let them know what types of things they might consider ordering. Though don't be surprised if they stop doing it when people don't take/buy them, which more often than not they don't.

I remember from my days working for a public accounting firm--during busy season, there was an almost unlimited supply of stuff--the apples and veggies often went untouched while the Oreos, ice cream, chips, pizza, etc. was constantly having to be replenished. Of course, that was a long time ago and people talk a good game about wellness and healthful eating--but the snackers seems to want the salty/sweet stuff--the healthful eaters seem to BYO...

GAF wrote: It seems to me that companies that care about employees should treat them with enough respect to let them decide whether to have nuts or Pearson Nut Rolls.

My company isn't in the business of feeding me, and they don't set up a buffet and let me decide if I want nuts, Pearson Nut Rolls, or anything else. GAF's employer doesn't set up such a buffet either. Is this a lack of respect? Our employers restrict our choices in plenty of other ways: my pension contributions can only be invested in one of three companies, and only within about five funds per company. My employer limits me to choose from one of three health insurance plans. I can't perform my job duties at any hour of the day that I want. So when my employer provides free snacks, whether they are healthy or not, I don't interpret the lack of unrestricted choice as anything unusual nor a lack of respect.

Also, the conversion of a few chips per day into 1.69 pounds per year is silly for a number of reasons. But more importantly the estimate is almost certainly wrong. The conversion of calories consumed to pounds gained is based on a very limited research.

GAF wrote:This has really been fascinating. When I made the OP I assumed that everyone would stomp all over Ezbo, but it seems that he has quite a bit of cautious support. Myself, I'm going on the potato chip diet. I'll see you in four years, 1.69 pounds heavier.

Yours is exactly the reaction I had. Learning that eating potato chips every day will make me only 1.69 pounds heavier in the year 2017 gives me this year's New Year resolution. Why the frack have I been denying myself?

riddlemay wrote:

GAF wrote:This has really been fascinating. When I made the OP I assumed that everyone would stomp all over Ezbo, but it seems that he has quite a bit of cautious support. Myself, I'm going on the potato chip diet. I'll see you in four years, 1.69 pounds heavier.

Yours is exactly the reaction I had. Learning that eating potato chips every day will make me only 1.69 pounds heavier in the year 2017 gives me this year's New Year resolution. Why the frack have I been denying myself?

I think the issue here is that nobody can eat just one (bag).

=R=