By Mercedes Quintanilla.

The WELL Building Standard is a metric for buildings and organizations to provide environments that enhance the health and well-being of users. The standard includes 10 concepts, this time I am going to review the Food concept.

Goal

Examine the availability of fruits and vegetables and nutritional transparency, and encourage the creation of environments in which the healthier choice is the easier option.

Background.

– Healthy diets improve health and prevent cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes.

– Poor diet is one of the main global burdens of disease, more than one in five deaths worldwide, in fact, poor diet is more dangerous to health than drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

– The world population today faces a double burden of disease, with many people hungry and deficient in micronutrients, as well as a growing incidence of overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases.

– Diets around the world are often low in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and are characterized by increasing consumption of highly processed foods, such as refined sugars and oils, as well as increasing consumption of meat

– The global shift towards unhealthy and unsustainable food production is endangering global food systems.

– Given the close link between food production, food availability and food consumption, achieving healthy diets around the world from sustainable food systems requires a global food revolution.

– The design and operation of our food environments, as well as the availability of and access to food and beverages in these contexts, have the potential to promote healthy diets and improve human health while taking into account the health of the planet .

Requirements.

– It is necessary to promote the consumption of fruit and vegetables.

– Add accurate nutritional information, label calories for typical menu items, sugar content for all drinks and meals that are distributed daily.

– It is required to minimize the amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates in all foods and beverages.

– Promote healthy food messages.

– Label, eliminate or prohibit the use of artificial substances.

– Reduced-size food options are required when selling or providing self-service food.

– Nutritional education should be provided.

– It is necessary to allocate an area for eating equipped with tables and seats, as well as the provision of daily breaks for meals.

– Provide food alternatives, as well as labeling of food allergens.

– The installation of a food preparation station, storage and other amenities is required to facilitate the reassembly or reheating of meals on site.

– The acquisition and labeling of certified organic and certified sustainable foods is necessary.

– Provide spaces, infrastructure and tools for the production of food in the place.

– Projects should examine the local food ecosystem during site selection or programming.

– It is important to provide plant-based dietary options, minimize the size of red meat ratios, and reduce the prominence of red and processed meats.