During the sixth annual International Forum on Food & Nutrition, The Kroger Co.'s Lynn Marmer, group vice president for corporate affairs,  discussed the company's efforts — including health-focused incentive programs for employees and lower retail prices in its produce department for customers — to promote a healthy lifestyle and fight obesity.

The forum, held at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, Dec. 3-4, was sponsored by the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation, a think tank focused on the links between food and nutrition and other social, environmental and economic issues.

Marmer outlined the obesity challenge in the United States — where one-third of children eat "Fast Food" every day and 34 percent of all citizens are obese — and Kroger's efforts to promote healthy living for associates, customers and communities.

Healthier Employees

Kroger, the sixth-largest employer in the United States, gives associates a variety of tools to improve their health, including an incentive program with measurable outcomes to improve workplace wellness.

Since 2010, employees participate in annual health screenings that measure blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, body mass index and blood glucose levels. The percentage of associates meeting targets in each of the four areas has increased from 2010 to 2013, demonstrating improvement in the health of Kroger's workforce.  

"We want our workforce to be the healthiest in America," Marmer said in a press release. "More of our associates meeting health targets each year shows real progress toward that goal. We know that becoming healthier, both individually and collectively, improves our personal and work lives — and that benefits our customers, too."

Earlier this year, Kroger's workplace well-being program received a 'Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles' award from the National Business Group on Health, and the company's commitment to employee health and wellness was recognized by the American Heart Association.

Healthier Customers and Communities

Kroger uses its economies of scale to increase access to healthy foods for more Americans, through both merchandising and food rescue efforts.

"For nine consecutive years, we have lowered our costs of doing business and reinvested those savings in lower food prices that save our customers more than $3 billion every year," Marmer said in the press release. "More recently, we have invested considerably in lower retail prices on fresh fruits and vegetables in our produce department, especially, which is expanding access to healthy foods for our customers. We are equally committed to caring for our neighbors in need. Our Perishable Donations Partnership contributes millions of pounds of fresh, nutritious items annually to food banks across the country."

Kroger's fresh food rescue program is responsible for 25,000 tons of fresh produce, meat, dairy and bakery items donated to food banks last year, which equates to more than 35 million meals of healthy, perishable food to help feed hungry families.