WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – Pitsenbarger Dining Facility at Wright-Patt will be the second dining facility in the Air Force to implement the new ‘Go for Green 2.0’ initiative.
The Go for Green 2.0 initiative has been around since 2011 and is a joint service performance-nutrition initiative that enhances the current food choices in the environment that Airmen work and live in.
“Go for Green is easily identifiable as it uses a stop light color coding system, said, Tech. Sgt. Shantavis Hightower, Air Force Services Agency representative. “The program uses the color codes green, yellow and red to identify nutritional quality. Additionally, as part of the initiative, low, medium, and high saltshaker symbols now identify sodium content. Overall, the goal is to optimize performance by incorporating whole foods, cleaner foods and healthier options.”
In an effort to help dining facility employees learn how to implement the new culinary changes, Pitsenbarger Dining Facility hosted training Sept. 24-27, and representatives from four bases were in attendance.
Hightower, along with one other Air Force Services Agency representative, four master chefs and a consulting dietitian from the Culinary Institute of America provided the training.
One of the objectives of Go for Green 2.0 is to give diners more options.
“The best thing about 2.0 is that if you don’t want it you don’t have to eat it, said Lisa Brefere, a certified executive chef with the Culinary Institute of America. “However people that want healthier choices, options have been added.”
Brefere added that incorporating good cooking procedures into the dining experience model is also a goal and the new foods are not only healthy but taste delicious as well.
Hightower provided the following healthy food tips:
1.) Aim to fill half your plate with Green-coded foods.
2.) Eat consistently to keep your energy up.
3.) Make nutrient-rich foods the easy choice at home and work.
The Pitsenbarger Dining Facility serves military personnel more than 250,000 meals per year. Their hours of operation are breakfast 6 a.m. - 8 a.m., lunch 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. and dinner 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. For more information on the Go for Green 2.0 initiative call 937-257-7151 or visit the Human Performance Resource Center website at https://www.hprc-online.org/page/go-for-green.