NIH - Eat Well At Work Study

 In its early days, Good Bowls was funded in part through an NIH grant designed to test the feasibility of offering healthy, frozen meals to rural manufacturing  worksites using innovative approaches such as a frozen-food vending machine.  These early tests showed significant promise and the NIH went on to fund aGood Bowls worksite research project for an additional three years through an STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) phase II grant.  

With the help of the STTR funding, Good Bowls will be embarking on a number of projects that include expansion of our frozen-meal vending machine to rural worksites. In addition to offering healthy meals, we'll also be testing some artificial intelligence App-based strategies to “nudge” workers toward healthier food choices to promote better health outcomes, improved employee morale, and hopefully reduced health care costs.

We’re currently in the phase of recruiting worksites to participate in our worksite study.  We  just purchased 4 frozen food vending machines that we’re outfitting now and hope to install in participating sites in the late summer and early fall of 2022.  

Already we’ve learned that there is substantial interest in creating access to healthy and delicious food at worksites, especially those located in more remote areas with limited access to healthy food.  Many of the companies are asking if they can continue using the Good Bowls vending machines after the study. Therefore, finding a way to sustain this program is one of our top priorities.

Stay tuned to see more about participating worksites and hear about their experiences testing Good Bowls and our AI App-based nudges.  If you are interested in having a Good Bowls vending machine at your worksite or office, get in touch with us and we can discuss the possibilities!