Dole Gets California Fit Business Award

Free fruit and veggies, free on-site exercise classes, state-of-the-art fitness center, subsidized health-conscious cafeteria – sounds like a workplace wellness wonderland. Employees at Dole Food Company’s Westlake Village headquarters certainly think so – and apparently the powers that be agree!

Dole was the winner of the California Fit Business Award in the 1,000+ employee category, bestowed by the California Task Force of Youth and Workplace Wellness at a public ceremony in Sacramento CA The honor cited those initiatives pioneered by the Dole Nutrition Institute – from a.m. fruit and p.m. vegetables snacks, to Pilates, boot camp and yoga classes, to signs encouraging employees to take the stairs or make healthy choices in the saturated-fat-free “model cafeteria.”

Dole is now reaching out to other businesses to share what it’s learned and help them institute similar policies within their own organizations. With obesity and inactivity projected to cost California $28 billion in lost productivity, workers’ compensation and medical costs by the end of 2005, it’s essential for companies to become “part of the solution,” by creating healthy food and fitness environments for their employees.