TAMC program to encourage
healthy food and beverage selection
PRESQUE ISLE — “You’re Sweet Enough” — that’s the message employees at The Aroostook Medical Center (TAMC) will hear through September with a series of events and activities geared toward both encouraging and empowering staff members to make healthy food and beverage choices, as well as to increase physical activity.
“As the most comprehensive provider of health care services in northern Maine, we take very seriously our mission to promote wellness and healthy living in our community. As the largest employer in The County, we can certainly make a significant impact on the overall wellbeing of our region by working within our own TAMC family,” said TAMC President and CEO Sylvia Getman. “We intend for our efforts to have a ripple effect in our greater community.”
You’re Sweet Enough September will kick off with a unique taste testing the day after Labor Day, on Tuesday, Sept. 4. TAMC employees are invited to take part in the special free event designed just for them and co-sponsored by the TAMC Total Health Team and PepsiCo Foodservice. Several healthy beverage and snack options — many newly or recently made available for sale by the company — will be offered.
“We really hope this will be an opportunity for TAMC employees to try something different that they might not otherwise purchase because they already have a favorite snack or beverage and the risk of purchasing something they might not like prevents them from making a change,” said Dawn Poitras, a member of the TAMC Total Health Team. “We also want to provide a fun event that will bring our employees together in a meaningful way.”
PepsiCo Foodservice not only carries the family of Pepsi beverages, but also offers products marketed under the Lay’s, Tropicana, Quaker and Gatorade brands. Several beverage options will be available for tasting at TAMC including Pepsi Next, Propel Zero, IZZE Fortified, 100 % Natural Lipton Iced Tea, Starbucks Refreshers and low-calorie Lifewaters. Snack samples will include Smartfood Popped Chip flavors and a few healthy granola bar and breakfast bar options.
“This is the direction the industry is headed and we are pleased to be working collaboratively with organizations like TAMC to bring about positive change and provide more healthy options for our consumers,” said Leslie Trott Pelkey, of PepsiCo Foodservice. “We have worked successfully with schools in the region to implement the new federal guidelines and are pleased TAMC is taking a leadership role as an employer in this regard.”
In addition to seeing new beverage options following the taste-testing event, another change TAMC employees and visitors will see in September is a reduction in the container size of sugary and sweetened beverages offered in the cafeterias and in vending machines at all TAMC facilities.
“Recent studies show a direct correlation between the increase in obesity and diabetes rates and the increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. A great deal of that can be traced back to the increase in beverage portion sizes,” said Gene Curtis, TAMC’s director of support services and a member of the TAMC Total Health Team. “We are working collaboratively with Pepsi to take this proactive measure to help create a healthier community.”
TAMC employees will also be encouraged to put their sweet tooth funds aside for the month and support a great cause. A Penny War is planned for the week of Sept. 17-21.
Canisters will be placed in each TAMC department or facility with the goal of collecting the most pennies, earning one point per penny. The catch is that competing departments can sabotage another unit’s jar by placing larger coin denominations or paper bills in that canister with that amount being counted as negative points.
A similar fundraiser at TAMC two years ago raised more than $3,600. Proceeds from this September’s Penny War will go toward the purchase of two guest sleeper chairs that will be used by family members of patients who want to remain by their loved one’s side during an overnight stay at TAMC’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital.
“This is a fun and engaging event for staff. We hope that the extra change our employees will have from not buying that afternoon sweet or noontime dessert will be used to put pennies in their department’s jar or larger coins and bills in their top competitor’s container,” said Bobbie-Jo Caron of TAMC Healthcare Charties.
Aside from the activities to encourage healthier eating, TAMC employees will have the opportunity to engage in two wellness programs being offered in the same time period. Sept. 2 is the kickoff date for a 12-week Move and Improve Fall Challenge presented by Eastern Maine Healthcare (EMHS) to encourage increased physical activity.
TAMC employees have extra motivation to participate in the program as the EMHS member organization that ultimately wins the Fall Challenge will receive a $2,500 contribution to their Total Health Team budget to support future initiatives.
In addition to the Fall Challenge, TAMC employees are also engaged in a 100 Day Challenge — to tie in with the organization’s 100th Birthday Celebration. The program asks participants to choose one new healthy eating goal each week while maintaining the goals set in each of the previous weeks. It also asks employees to engage in physical activity for at least 12 of the 14 weeks the program is running and to track their success with both.
At the end of the program individual prizes will be awarded to some of the successful participants. Group activities for TAMC employees to encourage physical activity are planned for five days of each week through Nov. 10 when the challenge ends after 100 days.
