Labels show healthier options at commissary

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Scott Jackson
  • 17th Training Wing Public Affairs
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The 17th Medical Group Health Promotion program will start placing "Smart Choice" labels near price tags of unprocessed, nutrient-dense food items in the commissary Jan. 12.

The program aims to help shoppers have an easier time buying healthier food.

"Our program will not include foods that are considered okay to eat occasionally or rarely, because we noticed that for many people rare means once or twice per week," said Lisa Roof, 17th MDG health promotion coordinator. "The labels express the following rule as much as possible, items in their natural, unprocessed state. You will not see items like pasta, ready-to-eat cereals or other prepackaged foods with our logo."

Other guidelines include no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, fat replacers, flavor enhancers, stabilizers, genetically modified organism, antibiotics or growth hormones like recombinant bovine and recombinant bovine somatotropin.

The purpose is to include foods that are healthy to eat at "every meal, every day" with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables.

Diet is important for all Airmen, affecting their physical wellbeing. Nutrition is one of the elements of the physical fitness pillar in the Comprehensive Airmen Fitness program. Staying in top physical shape is a priority for all Airmen, and the Smart Choice program aims to make that easier.

"For some people, this is a huge shift in diet, so to help with this, we will be offering recipes and demos that center on fruits and vegetables," said Roof. "From the Healthy Airmen Report, we saw that only 14.9 percent of Goodfellow permanent party Airmen eat the recommended minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables per day."

The commissary will provide the fruit, vegetable and smoothie recipes on a stand set up in the produce section.

"The biggest problem with healthy foods is that people just don't know enough about them," said Donald Rouse, Defense Commissary agency Goodfellow. "I feel if we just raise a bit of awareness and sell just a bit more healthy food items, we will have made an impact."

For more information on the program, contact Roof at 325-477-5686