Healthy Meeting Resources
Creating a culture of health and wellness in meetings and events is an important way to foster a healthier work environment. The Virginia Tech Healthy Meeting Guide provides assistance for shifting the culture of meetings and events to one that makes the healthy choice the easy choice for employees, students, and campus visitors.
Virginia Tech has built an impeccable reputation for on-campus dining facilities. There are a wide array of healthy options to choose from, should you decide to take your meeting on the move or order from one of Dining Services’ award-winning centers. Below, you will find the “Best Bites” from a few of these dining centers. “Best Bites” are high in essential nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, low in saturated fat, and taste great.
Owens Best Bites
Variabowl
- Chicken Burrito bowl
- Add vegetables to your burrito bowl
- Salad without rice
Wan
- Stir fry
- Lean meats and vegetables
Dish
- Daily vegetable
- Lean meat and fish specials
- Green beans
- Rotisserie chicken
Turner Place Best Bites
Qdoba
- Ask for a whole wheat tortilla or order a bowl
- Choose grilled meats
- Choose brown rice
- Load up on vegetables
- Light on cheese and sour cream
Bruegger's Bagels
- Whole wheat bagel
- Zesty egg white sandwich
- Fresh-cut fruit salad
- Mediterranean mozzarella salad
- Harvest chicken salad
Squires Food Court Best Bites
Au Bon Pain
- Herb chicken salad
- Turkey or roast beef on sprouted grain bread
- Napa chicken avocado wrap with whole-wheat tortilla
- Low-fat triple-berry muffin
- Sweet turkey wrap with whole-wheat tortilla
Burger 37
- Turkey Burger
- Veggie Burger
- Sweet potato fries
West End Market Best Bites
Leaf and Ladle
- Flatbread with veggies
- Garden vegetable soup
- Power greens salad
- Garden fruit and nut salad
- Braised tempeh Asian bowl
- Chili
Seven Seventy Wraps
- Roasted cauliflower wrap
- Choose spinach or whole-wheat tortillas
- Two-bean Mexican wrap
- Grilled chicken wrap
“Best Bites” information provided by Ashley Foster of Virginia Tech Dining Services
Make the healthy choice the easy choice at your meetings and events by following these guidelines:
- Fresh veggies each time food is served
- Water as default beverage
- Select whole grains
- Serve healthy condiments and dressings
- Fruit as side dish or dessert
- Provide activity breaks
- Practice sustainability
- Lean proteins and plant-based options
- Small, right-sized portions
- Practice food safety
Meeting and event coordinators are encouraged to use this checklist as both a planning tool and a post-meeting or event assessment tool to work toward creating a culture of healthy meetings on campus.
Did you...
- Offer fresh vegetables?
- Provide water as the default beverage?
- Serve whole grains?
- Choose healthy condiments and/or dressings?
- Offer fruit?
- Build activity breaks into the agenda?
- Take measures to minimize waste, encourage recycling, and/or source products locally?
- Include a lean protein and plant based option?
- Provide small, right-sized portions?
- Take measures to ensure food safety?
Healthy Breakfast Items
Proteins
- Hard boiled eggs
- Low-fat or nonfat yogurt
- Made-to-order omelets
- Vegetable frittata or quiche
- Black bean and egg white burritos
- Almonds for yogurt parfait (+HF)
- Low-fat cottage cheese
- Chia seeds in oatmeal (+HF)
- Low-fat or skim milk
- Peanut or almond butter for toast, oatmeal, bagels (+HF)
- Avocado slices for topping omelet, toast, bagel, etc. (+HF)
Vegetables
- Vegetable frittata or quiche
- Open-face breakfast sandwich with spinach, tomato, and egg
- Kale and sweet potato hash
- Veggie pita with red peppers, spinach, and egg whites
- Veggie omelets
Carbohydrates
- Whole grain mini bagels
- Whole wheat toast
- Steel cut oats
- Shredded wheat cereal, uncoated
- Fruit
- Whole grain waffles
- Low-fat or nonfat yogurt
- Quinoa (can be used to prepare muffins, pancakes, frittatas, breakfast bars, or as a topping for yogurt parfaits)
- Whole grain english muffins
- Beans (use in breakfast burritos or breakfast casseroles)
(+HF = also a healthy fat)
Healthy Lunch Items
Proteins
- Bean salad
- Hummus (+HF)
- Peanut or almond butter sandwich (+HF)
- Quinoa salad
- Salmon (+HF)
- Grilled chicken, white meat turkey
- Lentil soup
- Tofu stir-fry
- Black bean or soy burger
- Steak salad with lean cut of beef
- Avocado wrap (+HF)
Vegetables
- Minestrone soup
- Chopped salad (add healthy protein such as beans, grilled chicken, fish)
- Veggie stir-fry
- Lettuce wrap
- Fresh vegetable tray with hummus (+HF)
- Tomato, lettuce, onion, cucumber, peppers for sandwich fixings
- Roasted eggplant pasta
- Mashed sweet potatoes
- Roasted root vegetables
- Veggie spring rolls in lettuce
Carbohydrates
- Whole grain wrap
- Whole wheat sandwich (add lean deli meats carved fresh from deli, peanut butter, hummus, or avocado + vegetables)
- Pasta salad made with whole wheat pasta noodles
- Whole wheat quesadilla
- Quinoa salad
- Taco bar with whole wheat soft tortillas
Fruit
- Fruit salad
- Strawberry salsa with corn chips
- Berries to top salad
- “Make your own fruit kabob” station
- Melon balls for dessert
(+HF = also a healthy fat)
Healthy Snack Items
Proteins
- Mixed nuts (+HF)
- Nut butter spread for fruit (+HF)
- Yogurt
- Hummus (+HF)
- Cottage cheese
- Edamame
- Lentil salad
- Roasted chickpeas
- Part-skim cheese sticks
- Sargento Balanced Breaks snack packs
Vegetables
- Celery sticks with peanut butter
- Tomato salsa
- Mixed vegetable tray with hummus (+HF)
- Sugar snap peas
- Pickles
- Beet, sweet potato, or kale chips
- Veggie pinwheels
Carbohydrates
- Granola bars with <5 g sugar per serving
- Pretzels
- Plain popcorn with no added salt
- Brown rice cakes
- Whole wheat crackers
Fruit
- Yogurt-dipped berries
- Fruit and oat bars without added sugar
- Simple fruit salad
- Pineapple and avocado salsa
- Sliced melon
- Cinnamon apple chips
- Dried/dehydrated fruit
(+HF = also a healthy fat)