Bite: Snacking is good for you

Every year, the All Day Long campaign rewards a company that pays special attention to the overall health of its staff. Particular attention is paid to snacking in the workplace and encouraging everyone to reach for fruits and vegetables over unhealthy junk food.

With this year’s Russian import ban on many European agricultural products, including fruits and vegetables from Flanders, All Day Long found it especially pertinent to ask the participating companies to show what they had done to promote home-grown produce.

Aedes’ submission convinced the jury with its commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle at work. The dynamic company provides its employees with all the facilities they need to keep active such as showers, saunas and even personal trainers.

Company CEO Katrien Vanden Bulcke told the Flemish Centre for Agricultural and Fisheries Marketing (Vlam) why they are the deserved winner of the All Day Long Award 2014: “At Aedes, we believe in a healthy mind in a healthy body,” she said. “We encourage our employees to work out for a few hours every week. We believe that you can only take care of others once you’ve first taken care of yourself.”

Aedes Insurance also showed solidarity for Flemish apple and pear growers, right from the start of the embargo. “We decided to take action right away, to show our support for the Flemish producers,” said Vanden Bulcke. “Moreover, we can completely identify with the philosophy of healthy snacks at work.”

That’s why Aedes sent 25 kilograms of local apples and pears to each of its insurance agents, who could then decide for themselves what they did with the fruit: donate it to a school, a nursing home or, of course, just enjoy it. In total, the company distributed nine tonnes of produce.

The All Day Long campaign treated the employees to a healthy lunch (including apple smoothies, pictured) and goodie bags full of fresh fruits and vegetables. Track and field star Kim Gevaert, ambassador of the campaign, handed over the trophy earlier this week.

Gevaert has been the campaign’s goodwill ambassador for six years now. According to VLAM, she exudes the positive message of the All Day Long campaign, which is about enjoying fruit and vegetables all day, as part of an overall healthy lifestyle.

The All Day Long campaign is a joint initiative of the Belgian fruit and vegetable growers and domestic retailers, and is co-ordinated by Vlam with the support of the European Union.