The two-day 2021 Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G) that wrapped up today, 8 December 2021, was a significant moment for workforce nutrition and for the Workforce Nutrition Alliance.
During this important global event, which brought together thousands of leaders from government, the United Nations, the private sector, civil society and more, workforce nutrition was recognized for its value as a win-win-win — bring benefits to employees, companies and economies.
At the high-level event, Google’s VP of Global Programs, Real Estate & Workplace Services (REWS), Michiel Bakker, presented the company’s four N4G commitments on nutrition. The company’s top commitment was announced as its partnership with the Workforce Nutrition Alliance as a Signatory of the alliance, and having used the self-assessment Scorecard, which Google is now using as a baseline from which to enhance its workforce nutrition programme.
Bakker noted the value of food to the Google culture and its important role in generating “productivity, performance and overall health and wellbeing” — and in recognizing the importance of providing employees with healthy and sustainable food, he said “the time is now” to act and that other companies should begin their own “workforce nutrition journey”.
Google was joined by other companies and organizations to recognize the Workforce Nutrition Alliance and workforce nutrition, either during the main two-day session or in official side events and special Japan Government ministerial events, including: Olam, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, The Consumer Goods Forum, the World Benchmarking Alliance, the Access to Nutrition Initiative, and many more.
Said Christina Nyhus Dhillon of GAIN, on the importance of workforce nutrition at the N4G Side Event Advancing equitable access to nutrition for all food systems workers, “Good nutrition matters at an individual level, for all people of all ages, gender, and geographies for their overall health and well-being. But as a worker, or member of productive society, good nutrition improves productivity at the individual, household, business and national levels. Reaching workers with adequate and healthy nutrition is a win-win-win for individuals, society and economies.”
GAIN’s Lawrence Haddad says of workforce nutrition, “GAIN’s Workforce Nutrition Alliance plays a pivotal role in integrating healthy diets into the labour force worldwide. Many companies in different settings still lack the necessary information to gain access to nutritious safe food in their work environment. With support from private sector partners like Google, together we can strive to change that.”
Sessions that included the topic of workforce nutrition or highlighted the Workforce Nutrition Alliance include:
- N4G Commitment Statement by Google
- N4G Statement Ajinomoto CEO
- N4G Side Event on Workforce Nutrition in the Supply Chain — including workforce nutrition data by the Access to Nutrition Initiative
- N4G Side Event on Workforce Nutrition — including statement by Olam International CEO and workforce nutrition data by the World Benchmarking Alliance
- N4G Side Event on Advancing equitable access to nutrition for all food systems workers
- N4G Special Event Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry — including strong workforce nutrition evidence from Johnson & Johnson, and statement by GAIN Executive Director Lawrence Haddad.