The entry of COVID-19 into our world earlier this year has changed almost every aspect of our daily lives, including shopping and eating. According to the International Food Information Council’s 2020 Food & Health Survey, 85 percent of Americans have made at least one change in the food they eat or how they prepare it because of the pandemic. 

In turn, those changes have affected budgets and spending. While inflation overall is low, prices have been climbing in the food sector. Among the items that have seen the biggest price hikes in grocery stores in summer 2020 are:

• Beef and veal, up 25.1 percent
• Potatoes, up 13.3 percent      
• Eggs, up 12.1 percent
• Pork, up 11.8 percent
• Poultry, up 8.7 percent
• Tomatoes, up 8.4 percent

The increase in food costs adds to other financial or emotional stresses your employees may be experiencing during the pandemic (e.g., partner job losses, increased medical costs, emotional distress, kids at home).

What can you do at work to support healthy food choices among your employees?       

• Provide information for employees. Some examples to pass on:
  • Stretch food dollars with Fare For All through The Food Group. Fare For All is a cooperative purchasing program open to all that offers affordable groceries and packages of produce and meat for up to 40 percent off retail prices.
  • Send out a list of U-pick markets. Prices are best when produce is at peak season. The U-pick website has some info on prices so you know what to expect. 
  • The Hennepin County Community Resources web page has a “Food Shelves and Meals” tab to help those in need during the pandemic (information available in Spanish, Hmong, Oromo, and Somali).
  • Enter a location on Hunger Solutions’ “Find Help” tool to get directed to a food shelf or meal program. Hunger Solutions also has a map that shows places that offer free or discounted meals for children, including schools and restaurants.

• Make healthy food choices available at work. For those employees who have returned or will be returning to your worksite, ensure healthy options are available in your organization’s vending machines, cafeterias, and snack carts. If you can adjust pricing to make the healthy choice a lower price, all the better! When catering foods or providing snacks for meetings, be thoughtful about foods ordered. The University of Minnesota has a guide to help.
• Create and promote online support groups based on employee need. Whether it be weight management, recipes, or employees seeking peer support during the challenges of COVID-19, use Microsoft Teams, Slack, WhatsApp, or other online platforms to create group channels where workers can communicate with each other.

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Click here to read this month's E-tips for your employees: "Shop smart and save."

To share these E-tips with employees, you can:  

• Email the E-tips document to your staff as an attachment. 1) Click the link to download and save the E-tips to your computer. 2) Add your organization's logo in the bottom left corner. 3) Then send it as an email attachment to staff. 
• Print the document once you've added your organization's logo and post it in a common area in your workplace.
• Copy and paste the text into your organization's newsletter.

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