Do you hold meetings? If you do, do you provide a snack? When people walk into your meeting, do they find chocolates or candy on the tables? What do you think about offering food or something for meetings?
I am curious about this idea. I know I have, it seems, always had candy on the tables and offered snacks. During my career, I never used a line budget for my building expenses. I thought doing this was my choice, and I usually paid for it myself. Sometimes I had vendors who would send stuff, but mostly me or sometimes my Assistant Principal would get things.
Eating together promotes teamwork and family
While in an online meeting, one of the ladies talked about what she was trying to do. Her goal is to work on creating recipes for families to get them back to the table together and not forget to leave a space for Jesus. I thought she had a fantastic idea. How many families are sitting down to eat meals together? So many wasted opportunities to share stories, strengthen bonds, and create memories.
When serving food at meetings, we are trying to create this environment. Staff will come up with better ideas, get to know each other better, and share fantastic food helps everyone feel better. In education, I know we miss plenty of well-balanced meals.
The staff appreciates all of the efforts to bring everyone closer together and strengthen the bonds. We are creating environments and cultures of trust, and collaboration, along with health and wellness supplies staff with what they need to continue to grow. However, we have to caution ourselves about what kinds of foods we serve. This is where it gets tricky for me.
Choices? I will always choose…..
I am no fan of eating healthy. I will choose ice cream first! My second choice will be candies and last donuts. I will not check the box next to vegetables. In my previous district my hand was always the first to go up to volunteer to delivery the trays of cookies to the buildings for appreciation days. This is my kind of treat! When we needed to take veggie trays, not my kind of thing.
I do realize the large portion of sugar which is present in most of the snacks I select initially supplies the brain with energy and achieves awareness. Then, it leads to a very rapid rise in blood glucose levels, and you will find yourself crashing just as fast with a decline in the power of concentration.
We need to sustain an energy supply level. Eating the wrong things makes us slower and concentrate less. However, I still believe ice cream is my superfood. It makes me happy, and I can accomplish a great deal when I have some.
When selecting meeting snacks:
It is essential to consider the length of your meeting, the time of day, and who you have attend. This will determine the quantity of food you need and the presentation of the food. If you are having a meeting over lunch, it is a meal, not a snack—the same for dinner meetings. However, lunch foods are to be light as people still need to return to work. Dinner meetings people will be leaving to go home.
You want the foods you serve to fulfill the purpose of your meeting and to not fight against you. The foods should not just fill the stomach but fuel the brain. We do not need a short burst of energy but long-term concentration. Meetings are held to maximize time to accomplish the tasks, make important decisions, and achieve.
Meeting snacks should:
- Supply the brain with fuel and energy
- Be free from possible allergic reactions, separated and labeled clearly
- Be easy to serve and eat
- Variety of foods for all tastes (I think you can have a few of my sugar choices, or people like me will be upset.)
- Provide comfort, fuels our human side