The Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness today announced that   K-VA-T Food Stores Inc., parent company for Food City, has been named a 2016 Healthier Tennessee Workplace for its commitment to encouraging and enabling employees to live a healthy lifestyle both at work and at home. This is the company’s third year to receive the designation.

“We are pleased to once again recognize Food City for its commitment to employee wellness. Creating a culture of health in the workplace improves the quality of life of employees and their families, and that’s good for the company, the community, and our state,” said Richard Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the Governor’s Foundation.     

“Food City is honored to have once again been recognized by the Governor’s Foundation as a Healthier TN Workplace. This acknowledgement reverberates our continued commitment to the health and wellbeing of our associates.  We are proud to provide a comprehensive program to help educate, support and enable our associates to live healthier and more productive lives,” says Steve Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer.

To become a Healthier Tennessee Workplace, Food City certified that they have a wellness program in place that does the following:

➢    Provides individual consultation and group education on health and wellness topics by the company’s Registered Nurse and Registered Dietitian
➢    Offers healthy eating options at work
➢    Encourages physical activity
➢    Provides a tobacco-free environment and help with tobacco cessation
➢    Encourages and enables employees to monitor their own health through regular health risk assessments, screenings or check-ups 
➢    Rewards and recognizes employees for participating in health and wellness activities and achieving health improvements

Lori Hamilton, RN, C and director of healthy initiatives for Food City said, “We are honored and proud to achieve this recognition. We are here for our associates and their families to encourage, educate and support them in matters of health and wellness. Everyone is busy and often put their own health/wellness on the back burner so it is important to assist and remind them. We focused on total wellbeing – mind, body, and spirit plus prevention, screenings and resources.”

“The foundation of our company’s mission and values is meeting the needs of our customers and associates. We care about the wellbeing of our associates and their families and want to be sure they have the resources and tools needed to achieve their health goals and an overall positive quality of life,” said Elizabeth Hall, Food City Registered Dietitian.

The designation is granted for one full year with an opportunity to renew on an annual basis.

Those interested in becoming a Healthier Tennessee Workplace should apply at www.healthiertn.com/workplace. A company representative must register for Small Starts @ Work, then use the Small Starts tool to enter information about the healthy practices the company has in place to promote physical activity, healthy eating and tobacco cessation.  

Companies that don’t currently have an ongoing wellness program can use Small Starts @ Work, a free, online tool, available through the Healthier Tennessee initiative, to get started and become eligible.

About the Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness
The Governor's Foundation for Health and Wellness is a non-profit corporation dedicated to enabling and encouraging Tennesseans to lead healthier lives. Based in Nashville, the Foundation brings together a statewide coalition of employers, health insurers, hospital systems, local governments, school systems and healthcare-focused foundations and community organizations to effect positive, measurable change. The Foundation’s Healthier Tennessee initiative strives to increase the number of Tennesseans who are physically active for at least 30 minutes five times a week, promote a healthy diet, and reduce the number of people who use tobacco.

About Food City
Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 135 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, Chattanooga and north Georgia.