We Don't Operate a Canteen

BBQs are a popular way to raise funds, cater for large numbers of members and/or spectators, or to simply get your members and supporters together socially. But a BBQ doesn’t have to be limited to a sausage in white bread. There are many healthy alternatives that you can include in your BBQ.The following links provide great ideas that you could introduce.

HEAS - Healthy Barbeques

Heart Foundation - Healthy BBQ Catering

If your organisation uses a bring-a-plate arrangement for break-time or social gatherings, consider developing a healthy eating standard that encourages members to bring healthy, nutritious foods that fall into the Green category of the traffic light system.

The following links provide simple ideas for healthy alternatives.

HEAS Healthy Food and Drink Ideas

Axe Creek Cricket Club’s introduction of a ‘no barcodes’ policy for afternoon tea is also a novel idea that the club had great success with. You can hear about it in the following video.

Sports Focus

Your organisation may run a series of catered events throughout the year. Talk to your usual caterer about healthier alternatives, or find a new caterer that can supply healthy and nutritious food for your event. The following link provides great ideas for healthy catering options.

HEAS Healthy Food and Drink Ideas

Even if you are not operating a canteen, there are often occasions when food and drink may be supplied in a less formal environment. These may include:

• An esky/container on the sidelines
• Food stops during travel to and from events

Think about how to include healthy foods from the Green category for these situations and bring healthy snacks when travelling instead of stopping for fast food.

A ‘policy’ is a set of principles or rules that guide an organisation towards its overarching goals. They are generally endorsed by the managing committee or board and published somewhere that everyone can find them.

Research shows that change is more achievable and lasting if it’s backed up by policy. This is because having a policy can help you:

• Communicate a consistent message about healthy eating.

• Plan and agree on a direction for change that aligns with the organisation’s values and priorities.

• Set specific goals and support canteen staff as they make the change.

• Help deal with negative feedback.

A Healthy Eating Policy is most effective when it has the support (or at least the endorsement) of the committee, and is regularly reviewed.

Important points to consider when developing a Healthy Eating Policy include:

• Why – What is it that you want for your organisation?

• Supporting health and wellbeing of members?

• Improving sporting performance?

• Improving/maintaining your reputation in the community?

• Providing a new revenue stream within your canteen?

• What – What will you be changing?

• Expanding healthy food choices?

• Encouraging members to make healthier choices?

• Focusing on junior members?

• Supporting local suppliers?

• How – What changes will you put in place to achieve your goals?

• Setting targets for Green, Amber and Red canteen offerings?

• Making healthy swaps?

• Altering the display of foods?

• Modifying pricing?

• Offering smaller serving sizes?

Research shows that unhealthy food advertising in sporting settings has a strong influence on children’s perception of those foods. It also influences the foods they ask for and buy. This undermines the healthy behaviours that sport tries to encourage.

While unhealthy food advertising has the biggest (and most concerning) impact on children, it also influences adults who participate in sport. A Healthy Sponsorship Policy will support and build on your work to make your sporting organisation become healthier. This may mean you need to find alternative sponsors to fast food chains or businesses that supply unhealthy food.

Some alternatives to unhealthy food sponsors may include:

• Local suppliers of fresh produce, eg. fruit market
• Sporting equipment suppliers
• Local gyms or leisure centres
• Other local non-food businesses (e.g. banks, accountants, real estate companies, pharmacies)

A Healthy Sponsorship Policy may also mean providing non-food rewards on game days and presentation nights. Alternatives to fast food vouchers for achievement awards and/or presentation nights may include:

• Sport collector cards, e.g. football cards
• Music vouchers, e.g. iTunes
• Gym/swimming pool passes
• Merchandise vouchers
• Sports equipment vouchers
• Movie tickets
• Hair cut/style voucher
• Donations to a chosen charity

The link below provides more details about unhealthy food sponsorship and its influence on children. The Healthy Sponsorship template can be adapted to suit the needs of your organisation.

Healthy Sponsorship Template

Obesity Policy Coalition - Unhealthy Food sponsorship in children's sporting settings

Your organisation needs to be aware of and understand its obligations around food allergens so it can protect itself and members. This is particularly important to keep in mind when you are modifying canteen menus and/or seeking new suppliers.

For more information, please read the Department of Health allergen and intolerance fact sheets for businesses.

Food businesses - Food allergen awareness

A ‘policy’ is a set of principles or rules that guide an organisation towards its overarching goals. They are generally endorsed by the managing committee or board and published somewhere that everyone can find them.

Research shows that change is more achievable and lasting if it’s backed up by policy. This is because having a policy can help:

• Communicate a consistent message about healthy eating.
• Plan and agree on a direction for change that aligns with the organisation’s values and priorities.
• Set specific goals and support staff as they make the change.
• Help deal with negative feedback.
• A Healthy Eating Policy is most effective when it has the support (or at least the endorsement) of the committee, and is regularly reviewed.

Important points to consider when developing a Healthy Eating Policy include:

• Why – What is it that you want for your organisation?
  • Supporting health and wellbeing of members?
  • Improving sporting performance?
  • Improving/maintaining your reputation in the community?

• What – What will you be changing?

• Encouraging members to make healthier choices?
• Focusing on junior members?
• Supporting local suppliers?

• How – What changes will you put in place to achieve your goals?

• Changes to the way functions are catered?
• Altering vending machine contents or display?
• Creating a separate policy on healthy sponsorship

“If all your players are fit and healthy you know that they’re out there working. We don’t want people to be breaking down in their 30’s and 40’s so we try to look after them the best we can.” Yinnar Football Netball Club

Other things to consider include:

• Support and endorsement –

• This is not always easy and requires a willingness to listen and possibly compromise.
• Consider providing your committee with some background information for discussion on healthy eating and its influence on health, wellbeing and performance.
• Ensure that the committee and members understand how a Healthy Eating policy supports the overarching goals of the organization.
• Document how this healthy eating policy relates to or supports other established policies such as those on smoking, drinking or inclusiveness.

• Promotion of the policy –

• How will you communicate your Healthy Eating Policy to members, supporters and visitors?
• Some of the ways to promote your new policy could be to:

• Display it around the organization.
• Hand it out with membership or enrolment forms.
• Put it in the organisation’s handbook.
• Write an article about it in the newsletter or on the website/social media page.
• Hand it out at functions or meetings.
• Email a copy to every member, with some background on why it was created.

“From the healthy eating options at the tea breaks of games (including a stronger focus on fruit), through to the policies and procedures that have been put in place, the environment of the club has been changed for the longer term.” Moe Cricket Club

A Healthy Eating Policy is very specific to each organisation because each one has a different environment, values and needs. However, you can use the below templates as a starting point for developing your own policy.

Ballarat Aquatic Centre Healthy Eating Policy

Basketball Victoria Becoming A Healthy Eating Association

Policy template "Adapted from Victorian Little Athletics"

Guide to Developing a Healthy Eating Policy

Once you have successfully made some healthy eating changes, keeping up the momentum and being able to pass the baton to new committee members is key to long-term success. This is one reason why developing a Healthy Eating Policy is recommended. You could also:

• Document your healthy eating journey through
  • Healthy Eating page of your website
  • Newsletters
  • Videos/You Tube clips
  • Social media e.g. Facebook, Instagram
  • Annual Reports

• Educate committee and members on healthy eating, its importance and the steps that your organisation is taking to address this issue.
• Develop a Healthy-Eating sub-committee.
• Keep records of food purchased and suppliers and sales history including prices and quantities.
• Document what recipes or marketing ideas were tried – and which ones worked.
• Include healthy eating as part of a formal succession planning document.

“With the healthy eating module we formulated a policy so that the future committees will have some guidelines to go by.” Axe Creek Cricket Club

The following case studies show how some Victorian sporting organisations have successfully implemented healthy eating changes. For further support in making these changes work for your organisation, contact your State Sporting Association or sport development staff from local government.

If you are in Regional Victoria, Regional Sports Assemblies provide volunteer support, information and training and development opportunities to local sporting organisations in rural and regional Victoria.

Trafalgar Victory Football Club

Valley Sport Regional Sports Association