Restaurateurs from Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan beaches met last Thursday to hear a seminar from famous food spy and author of Mindless Eating, Brian Wansink, who spoke on “how to be a heroically healthier restaurant without changing a thing.”
The presentation marked the launch of a restaurant initiative signed in March and orchestrated by private health company Healthways in conjunction with the Beach Cities Health District as part of the larger three-year Vitality City project.
Wansink, who gave two other seminars that day, spoke to a total of 18 restaraunts about the profitable benefits of making healthful changes to local restaurants. His suggestions included decreasing standard portion sizes as well as offering half portions to patrons. By reducing plate sizes from the standard of 11 3/4” to 10”, restaurants could serve 22 percent smaller portions and still keep customers satisfied, Wansink said. Likewise, he said, studies he has conducted show that half-portions could be offered at 70 percent of the full-portion price without complaint from customers.
“The best approach is a free market approach,” Wansink said of his incentive-based approach to health policy. “Forcing people to do anything hasn’t worked in the history of this country, whether it be outlawing alcohol, or forcing them to do anything they don’t want [to do], it’s basically a bad policy. It’s a lot easier to set up something so people are motivated to make a change rather than forced to make a change.”
Recently appointed president of the Society for Nutrition Education, Wansink is also director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, and a former director of the USDA Center of Nutrition Policy and Promotion.
He instructed attendees of the seminar to “optimize” their menus by bringing emphasis to healthy food items, using descriptions such as “light and fresh” in lieu of “healthy”. Descriptive menu labeling, he said, brings a 28 percent greater chance of purchase.
“We don’t want to direct them to the bacon foie gras burger, we want to direct them to the shrimp salad,” he said.
The initiative hopes to motivate restaurant owners to take a pledge to adopt subtle changes which will encourage healthy eating at no greater cost to them. The goal is to have 50 Vitality City certified restaurants by the end of September.
“I want to know that the restaurants in my community have been Vitality City certified so that they’ve adopted the principles in the pledge [and] there are healthy options for everyone that walks through the door,” said Francey Marzicola, the lead Healthways representative for the initiative.
Healthways and the BCHD entered into a contract for the Vitality City program last November. A Gallup poll commissioned by the health company and released around that time shows that while Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan beaches rank very well on access to health care, food and housing, they rank alongside the worst cities in the country on stress, anger and anxiety, and have a collective obesity rate of 60 percent, only 6 percent better than the national average.
BCHD has committed $1.8 million over the three-year life of the project, an amount that will be matched by $3.5 million from Healthways.
After the 45 minute presentation, Wansink took questions from the audience, which included representatives from Good Stuff in Hermosa, Lido di Manhattan in Manhattan and the South Bay Galleria food court.
“We’re just trying to find out some information so we can convey it to some of the restaurants and get them on board as much as possible,” said Cassie Ciresi, a marketing coordinator for the Galleria. She said they have already met with restaurant proprietors, including corporate representatives for the chains. “I know you think food courts: the opposite of healthy. But a lot of them were interested.”
Lisa Hemmat, who is owner of Lido Di Manhattan and sits on the Vitality City committee, said it was good to see the background research and expertise that has gone into shaping the initiative. She said she will be taking the Vitality City pledge.
“I really like the concept, I like the whole thing that they’re trying to accomplish overall in making the city healthy, and I’m excited to be part of one of the first restaurants to do it. I think being one of the first is a competitive edge.”
To learn more about the initiative, go to www.vitalitycity.com
