Friday, April 4th, 2014
In April, we’re offering Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce members 20% off their first organic fruit delivery to their office!
Chamber members can sign up to receive weekly or biweekly deliveries of fresh organic fruits and snacks. We offer a variety of fruit options, starting at $29.
How to Redeem this Offer:
Must sign up by April 30, 2014. Use the Promo Code GBC20. Must be a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce to receive discount. Discount applies only to Office Fruit Boxes.
To learn more about our office fruit options, visit our Office Deliveries page or email Vanessa Friedland at [email protected].
Happy snackin’!
Monday, September 9th, 2013
We love to hear what other local businesses are doing to keep themselves and their employees healthy. We decided to catch up with Lose It!, one of our long-time fruit customers, to find out what other initiatives they have in place for employee wellness.
Lose It! is a free weight loss app based in Boston. They provide app users with a personal weight loss program by helping them set a daily calorie budget, track food and exercise, and stay motivated through peer support to make smarter choices and achieve their goals.
Lose It! doesn’t just work to help the public stay healthy; they have an extensive range of health-focused initiatives for their employees! Here are some of the cool things Lose It! is doing to encourage a healthy workplace:
1. Fresh Fruit Deliveries
Lose It! has been receiving deliveries of fresh organic fruit from Boston Organics since 2012.
By keeping fruit around the office, employees always have access to healthy snacks.
2. Employee Gym Memberships
Lose It! employees receive gym memberships to Wave Health & Fitness.
3. Community 5k Walk
In 2011, Lose It! hosted a community 5k walk in Boston for their team
and app users.
4. Partnerships
The Lose It! app integrates with LifeFitness machines for more seamless exercise tracking. Users can sync their workouts directly to Lose It! by plugging their device into the machine while exercising.
Lose It! also has a partnership with George Foreman III’s flagship boxing facility in Boston.
- Lose It! was the first health app to integrate with Nike+ FuelBands, allowing people who wear the bands to see their activity on the Lose It! app. All of Lose It!’s employees wear the bands, and they feel this partnership is a simple way to help people get more activity into their everyday lives.
Why is a healthy workplace important?
“We believe that if you surround yourself with healthy options (like fruit in the office and a paid-for local workout facility), then you’re setting yourself up for success,” says Whitney Klinkner, Community Manager at Lose It!.
“We’re also a pretty competitive team so we’re always using the challenges on Lose It! to go head to head with one another — who can log the most exercise minutes this week, who’s earned the most Nike+ fuel, and challenges of that nature.”
“When we have internal fruit and veggie challenges, our employees do just about anything for more points. It’s pretty great to see our CEO (who is known to dislike vegetables and fruits) opt for a salad at lunch instead of his normal sandwich.”
Employee Engagement is Key
Lose It! shows us that employee engagement can be a crucial motivating factor when encouraging a healthy company culture.
By making all kinds of healthy options readily available, Lose It! makes it easy for employees to adopt healthy habits during their workday.
We applaud the Lose It! team for their commitment to workplace health, and we look forward to a continued partnership in corporate wellness.
Learn more about Lose It! by checking out their website, blog, or downloading their free app!
Wednesday, July 10th, 2013
As the Boston area skyline grows with new businesses, companies are exploring ways to keep their employees happy, healthy, and productive. Employees themselves are searching for the same thing, and they’re looking to their employers to provide company sponsored wellness programs.
Wellness programs can offer a wide range of healthy lifestyle opportunities for employees, such as discounted gym memberships, fruit deliveries, and even paid time off for health checkups.
Late last year, Massachusetts recognized the opportunity to incentivize local companies into offering official wellness programs with a state tax credit. Here’s a brief overview of the tax benefits below.
Tax Credit:
- Equal to 25% of the implementation costs of a “certified wellness program”
- Maximum credit $10,000 in any fiscal tax year
Regulations:
Companies applying for the credit must have wellness programs that meet the Department of Public Health’s criteria. Below are some of the criteria:
- Credits are only available to employers with 500 or fewer employees
- Programs must promote physical and mental health, fitness, and behavior change measures
- Businesses must apply for certification with DPH and meet their eligibility requirements (application below)
How Do I Start A Wellness Program?
There are several things you can do as an employer to kick-start a wellness program. Making healthy snacks available is a simple way to start your corporate wellness initiatives, and now with the Massachusetts tax credit, you can get something back for putting your company’s health ahead.
We’ve been delivering office fruit boxes to health-minded businesses in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and surrounding towns for several years now. By making fresh organic fruit available to our own employees, we feel that we’re helping to promote a healthier, happier workplace.
Here’s an online guide to help you get started with a wellness program, and you can take your first step towards a healthier workplace by signing up for a Boston Organics Office Box.
Already have a corporate wellness program? You can apply for the Massachusetts State Wellness Program Tax Credit here!
Monday, October 22nd, 2012
Happy Food Day (week) from your friends at Boston Organics! This week brings pie pumpkin add-ons, Massachusetts cranberries, parsnips, turnips, kohlrabi, red potatoes, and delicata squash. We’ve also got lots of tasty and comforting recipes to help you get familiar with some of these lesser-known veggies. Check out the newsletter!
Monday, October 15th, 2012
Cranberry season is here! We’ve got 8oz bags of fresh organic cranberries going out in boxes for the next few weeks from local MA cranberry growers. Other fall produce for this week includes Carnival squash, sweet potatoes, rosemary, kale, beets, and more. We’ve also added organic olive oil and canola oil to our add-on grocery selection! Check out the newsletter!
Monday, October 8th, 2012
This week’s produce includes the likes of local blue potatoes from Atlas Farm, beets, carrots, and delicata squash. Basil is the herb of the week. Equal Exchange add-ons are on sale throughout the month of October, and the featured add-on of the week is a bar of Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds from EE. Check out the newsletter!
Monday, October 1st, 2012
Happy October! October is shaping up to be quite a busy month with the Boston Local Food Festival and the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival coming up soon. We’re also celebrating Non-GMO Month and Fair Trade Month with a sale on Equal Exchange coffees, teas, and chocolates throughout October!
This week brings delicious fall produce including beets, leeks, and potatoes. Pomegranates are going out in some of the larger boxes this week, and Dogma Boxes are receiving Brussels sprouts!
Check out the newsletter!
Friday, July 6th, 2012
Guest Post by Kali Wyrosdic
If you’re trying to bring a little color to the workplace, have healthier on-hand snacks, or just trying to beautify your office simply and naturally, an office garden may be the way to go. But before you start going plant-crazy there are a few things to consider.
Location, location, location
In gardening as well as in real estate, the most important thing is location. If you’re fortunate enough to have an office with ample window-space and lighting, your options are much larger. You can grow anything from springy yellow Amaryllis, to mini cherry tomato plants to a light-loving herb garden filled with rosemary and lavender.
Unfortunately, most of us still work in low-light, fluorescent caves and need to consider other plant options. One perfect option is the Chinese evergreen. Not only does this little tree thrive in low light, it’s low maintenance and rated highly as an indoor purifier!
Other great low-maintenance indoor plants are the ponytail palm, violets, the Chamaedorea palm or almost any kind of cactus. If you feel like taking on a challenge, the moth orchid is nice and easy-to-grow as far as orchids go.
And if an indoor garden just isn’t feasible, consider picking a sunny wall to plant some climbing angel ivy and seasonal flowers on to create a calming, refreshing space to enjoy your lunch or catch some fresh air.
Don’t give your plant the cold shoulder!
After setting up your office garden there are still a couple things you need to be careful with. When watering your plant make sure to use room temperature water. Cold water will shock your plant’s roots and kill it. I use tepid water from one of our office’s bottleless water coolers. If your office tends to be on the arid side, you should consider keeping a little spray bottle filled with water at your desk to mist the plant every now and again.
The last thing to avoid is the air conditioning system. Make sure your new plant isn’t directly under a vent or sitting on top of a heater because rapid temperature changes will damage it. As far as fertilization goes, requirements vary by plant so make sure to check the instruction card that comes with the one you choose.
Now that you’ve got your garden ready to go, the important thing is to take the time to stop and enjoy the fruits- and flowers- of your labor!
Author Bio:
Kali is a guest author writing for Quench. She is a Philadelphia resident with a passion for good food, good music and filtered water. Quench is the largest provider of filtration-enabled bottleless water cooler and ice dispensers in the nation, providing a healthier and more cost-effective alternative to traditional water delivery in 5-gallon jugs.
Monday, March 12th, 2012
We are now delivering fresh organic fruit to offices in Waltham on Mondays!
For businesses that would like to provide an alternative to vending machines and unhealthy snacks, Boston Organics will regularly deliver organic fruit boxes which contain a variety of fresh fruits directly to your office or break room.
The “Office Box” contains an ever-changing variety of fresh fruits that are easy to eat in the workplace, including bananas, apples, pears, and citrus or seasonal fruits.
Many people want to eat healthily and at the same time support a healthy food system; however, right now it is difficult for many people to carry this philosophy into the workplace due to the lack of convenient, healthy options.
We look forward to helping fellow business illustrate their commitment to health and sustainable practices by making organic fruit available to their employees.
If you’re interested in getting fruit for your office, Boston Organics is now delivering to businesses in Waltham on a weekly or biweekly basis, without long-term commitments or delivery fees.
For more information and to sign up, visit www.bostonorganics.com/office.
Monday, February 27th, 2012
Most people spend the majority of their waking hours at work, leaving little time for exercising and focusing on overall well-being. With so much going on, it can be difficult to work healthy habits into our daily work routines.
Here are some easy ways that you can take advantage of your own health at work and get on your way to a happier, healthier, and more productive workday!
1. Take frequent breaks.
Sitting at a computer all day can seriously strain your eyes, wrists, and back. Your body needs a break, so do yourself a favor and take a quick break every hour. Breaks will also give you some time to clear your mind and come back to your tasks with better focus.
2. Keep healthy snacks at your desk.
If your only snack options come from a vending machine, chances are good that you’re not going to find too many healthy, natural snacks. Keep healthy snacks like fresh fruit or nuts at your desk, and you’ll be snacking healthily all day long. If you prepackage snacks in small bags, you can avoid overeating. Also, keep a reusable water bottle at your desk so you get plenty of water!
3. Bring your own lunch.
This requires just a little bit of planning ahead, but bringing your lunch can really pay off in the long run, saving you tons of money and extra calories. Stock up on Tupperware for easy-to-make salads, or pack up your leftovers into a lunch-sized portion the night before. Canned soups also make excellent low-calorie lunches.
4. Keep your work station clean.
Your phone, mouse, and keyboard can contain thousands of germs, so wipe down your work station frequently to avoid getting sick.
5. Get up and move!
If you spend the majority of your day sitting, try to create opportunities to move around whenever possible. You can take a quick walk during your lunch break, or conduct a meeting outside if the weather is nice. Find an office walking buddy, and you’ll both be more likely to keep it up.
Note: These tips might not apply to you if your job is to deliver fresh produce to happy people in Boston on a bike!
What do you do to keep yourself healthy at work? Send us your tips at [email protected], and we’ll share them with our community!