U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jack Sanders Airman 1st Class Jacqueline Jones and Airman 1st Class Joseph Hammersten, 99th Force Support Squadron food services specialists, prepare lunch July 23, 2012, at the Crosswinds Dining Facility on Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Dining facility Airmen ensure a balanced menu is in place for patrons according to the Air Force World Wide Menu.
In a world where healthy and convenient does not always go hand in hand the Nellis dining facility is working to help those struggling to decide on food options to “Go for Green.”
Go for Green, is a nutritional recognition labeling system providing Airmen with a quick assessment of the nutritional value of menu offerings and food products in the Crosswinds Inn Dining Facility.
The program is a replacement for the Air Force Healthy Heart program, where nutritional value information was posted daily. With the Healthy Heart program, Airmen who wanted to know the nutritional value of their foods, were required to stop and read the foods entire nutritional listing.
Go for Green breaks food served at the facility into categories labeled green – eat often –, yellow – eat occasionally –, and red – eat rarely – depending on how the food will affect the Airmen’s health and performance. The food color code allows for dining facility patrons to quickly determine healthy food choices. The program makes a goal for Airmen to make faster lines at the dining facility and smarter food choices, but the choice still falls to the Airmen.
“We’ve added color coded serving utensils – so patrons know they’re being served the correct performance food,” said Master Sgt. Airrion Wright, 99th Force Support Squadron dining facility manager. “It’s another thing we’re doing to help simplify the program, but it’s still the individual’s responsibility to make healthy choices.”
Food is placed into their respective categories determined by the Air Force Personnel Center, but since not all foods have the same nutritional value at every location, dining facility Airmen work with the Health and Wellness Center to ensure food is labeled correctly.
“We want to make sure that if you choose a green category food, that’s what you get,” Wright said. “We want our patrons to get quality food and excellent customer service.”
The dining facility follows the mandated Air Force World Wide Menu closely. On days when green items are scarce on the AFWWM, additional high performance, or green, items are added. The AFWWM is currently under revision to include more high performance options in the near future.
“With the Air Force getting more stringent on physical training and being ‘Fit to Fight,’ the Go for Green program will assist Airmen in selecting the appropriate foods to maintain a healthy life style,” Wright said. “Overall the program will benefit everyone who dines in the Dining Facility; it allows patrons the opportunity to view the menu options and select foods based on how it affects performance.”
For more information on the Go for Green program or the Crosswinds Inn Dining Facility call 652-2711.
