# Presentation: 568744

## Just Ask Us! Restaurant Program

- Presented by: Melissa Jacobson, MPH
- Steps to a HealthierNY Program Coordinator
- Rockland County Department of Health
- Rockland County, New York

- Encouraging Healthier
- Eating When Dining Out

**Notes:**
This presentation should have you ready for lunch by the end.  Tell you about Rockland County, we are a suburb of New York City, many commuters, over 280,000 residents, unique in that 1/3 of our county is parkland, and over 1200 food service establishments

## Today’s Objectives

- To describe the achievements and challenges in the design, implementation and evaluation of a countywide program to encourage restaurants to offer and highlight healthier choices on their menus.

## Just Ask Us!Program Overview

- Based on the successful New York State Department of Health “Just Ask Us!” Program, Rockland County’s “Just Ask Us! We Bake, Broil, or Grill” Program began July 29, 2005.
- Collaborated with the local chapter of the state restaurant association to determine needs of restaurateurs.

## Just Ask Us!Goals and Objectives

- The goal of the program is to improve nutrition to reduce overweight and obesity.
- The objectives of the program are:
- To empower consumers to make healthier choices when dining out.
- To work with restaurants to offer healthier choices.
- To promote restaurants that offer healthier options on their menus.

## Just Ask Us! 

-  Meals consumed outside of the home are less healthy and nutritious than meals prepared at home.**
-  Concerns over high rates of obesity led the Steps to a Healthier Rockland Collaborative to implement a healthy eating campaign.

**Just Ask Us! **
**Support for Program **

- *National Restaurant Association
- ** Journal of the American Dietetic Association

**Notes:**
I am currently reading Marion Nestle's book What To EatThis is a great line to use, just quote it from her"Today, nearly half the typical family's food budget goes for foods prepared and eaten outside the home, where business with motives having nothing to do with health are in control of content and amounts"  I would maybe change amounts to serving size.   

## Why Bake, Broil, or Grill Message

- Catchy theme.
- Applicable to most restaurants.
- Educates customers about the healthier ways to prepare food.
- Appropriate for adult and child menus.
- Main dish ordered at restaurants.

**Notes:**
Theme can change, annually. Through a Mayor’s Health Challenge instituted by Steps, two Mayor’s have worked with 8 restaurants each in their villages to designate a Mayor’s Healthy Choice  

## Target Group: 

**Target Group: **

- All Licensed Food Services Establishments in Rockland County, 1200 facilities.
- Compliant with Sanitary Code.
- Willing to promote healthier choices for their customers.
- Promote program more aggressively in low-income areas and to restaurants of different ethnicities to reach a larger percentage of county residents.

## Initial letter mailed to food service establishments. At least 20 restaurants called as a result of this letter.

**Initial letter mailed to food service establishments. At least 20 restaurants called as a result of this letter.**

**Notes:**
This letter was sent by the Health Commissioner encouraging food establishments to participate in the Just Ask Us campaign.

## Just Ask Us! Volunteers

- Members of the Steps to a Healthier Rockland Collaborative.
- Members received a “Just Ask Us! Volunteer Kit”.
- Members were trained in speaking with restaurateurs at a quarterly collaborative meeting.
- Each Member of collaborative was requested to promote Just Ask Us! at 2 of their favorite and most frequented restaurants.

**Notes:**
President of the restaurant association and a local restaurateur was invited to speak at the quarterly meeting.  Role plays were conducted and a thorough review of the volunteer kit was conducted.
Volunteers highlighted free advertising and other promotional materials to restaurateurs.

## Just Ask Us! Volunteer Kit

- Included the following materials
- Support letter from Commissioner of Health
- Support letter from President of the Westchester/Rockland Chapter of the NYS Restaurant Association
- Samples of promotional materials

**Notes:**
We constantly communicated with the volunteers to show appreciation for their invaluable input and support.
Promotional materials and packets were developed by a local media and marketing company that is working with us on all of our steps initiatives.
Promotional materials include table top display, brochures, ad frame holder, menu labels, buttons for wait staff, window decal, CD Rom of art work, paper placemat, draft advertisement, healthy choices tip sheet, and order form.

## Just Ask Us! Commitment

- Place Just Ask Us! decal on front door or window.
- Highlight healthier menu items with a heart, steps healthy choice sticker or Steps sneakers.
- Allow customers to make substitutions for healthier items.

## Participants Receive......

- free paid advertisement in local publications
- free earned media on local and regional radio, television, and print publications.
- free promotional materials.
- free promotion on the Steps to a HealthierNY website.
- free consultation from public health nutritionist/culinary consultant.
- free menu review.

**Notes:**
Some of this material is shown here in the presentation.

## Slide 13

## Slide 14

## Slide 15

**Notes:**
Restaurants just want more people to come to their store, too many names for ad.

## Samples of Promotional Items

- Window Decal

## Just Ask Us! Placemat

**Just Ask Us! Placemat**

**Notes:**
These placemats are very popular with diners and other kid friendly restaurants. We have recently reordered 100,000 and are in the process of distributing them.

## Just Ask Us! Healthy Choices Tip Sheet

**Just Ask Us! Healthy Choices Tip Sheet**

**Notes:**
This information was given to restauranteurs to educate their staff in helping people making healthier choices/substitutes and the info is also on the tabletops.  We have had many telephone requests from patrons asking if they could have a copy of this mailed to them.

## Just Ask Us!Promotional Materials Order Form

**Just Ask Us!****Promotional Materials Order Form**

**Notes:**
These are all the promotional materials available to food establishments. It allows them to pick and choose what they feel will work best for them.

## Who’s Participating

- 122 food service establishments registered for program and received some promotional items.
- 73 are actively participating and have healthier choices highlighted on their menus.
- Eateries in all Rockland County municipalities.
- Fast food restaurants, take out places, fine dining restaurants, national chain restaurants, workplace cafeterias.

**Notes:**
In the second year of the program 32 new restaurants registered for the program.  Legal Seafoods, Ruby Tuesday’s & Red Lobster in Rockland Co. are participating.
LeCroy Corp. (Otto’s Café) only uses part-skim ricotta and mozzarella and reduced fat mayonnaise.

## List of participating food service establishments by location.

**List of participating food service establishments by location.**

**Notes:**
Handouts for Customers and news advertisements

## Just Ask Us! Restaurateur Evaluation

- July 2006
**	****Observations**
- Is the Steps decal prominently displayed in the window?
- Are healthy items marked on the menu?
- It is clear that customers can ask for substitutions?
- Is the restaurant using any of the following? ___ Brochure holders   ___ Table tops ___ Buttons  ___ Placemats   ___ Labeled menu boards or daily specials  ___ Other Steps materials

**Notes:**
An evaluation began in the summer of 2006 which included observations and questions for the restauranteur.

## Just Ask Us! Restaurateur Evaluation Continued

**Questions for Restaurateurs**
- Have the changes you made as a result of this program impacted what the customers ordered?
- Did customers ask for more substitutions?
- Did customers order the healthy items more often?
- Did you have to order more of a particular item than usual? (e.g. whole wheat bread or pasta, skim milk, vegetables)
- Do you plan to keep the changes you made?
- What did you like about participating in this program?
- Is there anything we could do to improve this program?

## Began in Summer 2006
Customer survey with free mints.
Are you aware of a restaurant campaign in Rockland County that promotes healthier choices?
Did you order an item marked with a heart or a sneaker on the menu at this restaurant? 
Did you ask for any healthy substitutions when you ordered?
Did you choose this restaurant because it is part of a healthy restaurant campaign?	
Would the healthy items and substitutions influence your decision to return to this restaurant?
Comments?
Zip Code?

- Customer survey with free mints.
- Are you aware of a restaurant campaign in Rockland County that promotes healthier choices?
- Did you order an item marked with a heart or a sneaker on the menu at this restaurant?
- Did you ask for any healthy substitutions when you ordered?
- Did you choose this restaurant because it is part of a healthy restaurant campaign?
- Would the healthy items and substitutions influence your decision to return to this restaurant?
- Comments?
- Zip Code?

**Just Ask Us! ****Customer Evaluation**

**Notes:**
Beginning in the summer, willing food establishments will collect 100 Customer Evaluation forms to help us evaluate the program. Customers will receive a box of mints for participating. Many restaurants have already indicated a willingness to participate and like the idea of giving out the mints. Of the 86 customers that filled out the evaluation card at Rhoda's Cafe, 79 were from Rockland. 58% said they were aware of a restaurant campaign in Rockland County that promotes healthier choices42% said they ordered an item marked with a heart or a sneaker on the menu at the restaurant43% said they asked for a healthy substitutions when they ordered(57% either ordered a marked item or asked for a healthy substitution!)38% said they chose the restaurant because it is part of a healthy restaurant campaign80% said that the healthy items and substitutions would influence their decision to return to the restaurant
Are you aware of a healthy restaurant campaign in RC?Rhoda's: 58%Ole Ole: 52%Did you choose this restaurant because it was part of a healthy restaurant campaign?Rhoda's: 38%Ole Ole: 17%Would the healthy items and substitutions influence your decision to return to this restaurant?Rhoda's: 80%Ole Ole: 54%Percent that either ordered a marked item or asked for a healthy substitutionRhoda's: 57%Ole Ole: 48%

## Customer Evaluation Card

## Restaurateur Reactions

- Receptive to personal approach from HD.
- Enthusiastic about the program.
- Supportive of healthy menu options
- Willing to make adaptations to provide healthier options.
- Appreciate the free publicity and promotional materials.
- Easy program to adopt.
- Would do it even without the free materials and support.

## Restaurateur Quotes

- _Del Arte_ “We want to partner with the HD and the local Farmers Market to offer healthy cooking classes to the community.”
- _Mia Cucina_ “This a fantastic program; requests for whole wheat pasta have increased so that now I order one case of whole wheat pasta once a week.  Prior to this program I only ordered it once a month.”
- _Priya_ “I didn’t know how many items could actually qualify for healthier choices. I thought the menu item Aloo Chola (chickpeas and spinach) had too many carbohydrates.”

## More Restaurateur Quotes

- _Ole’ Ole’_ “I am surprised that many parents are choosing  to eat at my restaurant since I have highlighted and offer a “healthier choice” on the children’s menu.”
- _LeCroy Corporation_ “I have made my signature dishes healthier by using reduced fat mayonnaise in my chicken and tuna salad and using part skim ricotta and mozzarella in my lasagna.”

**Notes:**
Mr. Eric Cantos has spotlighted the “Just Ask Us” program during an interview with the newspaper, he was also our guest presenter and provided a personal testimonial on his successes with the program.

## Just Ask Us! Challenges

**Just Ask Us! ****Challenges**

- Many restaurateurs don’t open their mail or toss it aside.
- Needed to explain the program in detail to each restaurateur several times.
- Not all restaurateurs have access to or used computers – CD ROM usage was limited.
- Many said “yes” – put decal on door – didn’t modify menu or highlight their healthier choices.

## Just Ask Us! Challenges Continued

- Initial barriers included misconceptions, misinformation, mistrust coming from the Health Dept.
- Had to gain the confidence of the restaurateurs, that there was no hidden agenda.
- Avoidance factors-Difficult for volunteers scheduling visits to discuss program with owners.
- Restaurateurs were unsure as to what could be labeled as a “healthier choice”. I.e. thought a baked potato was not a healthier choice because of the number of carbohydrates.

## Response to Challenges

- Utilized Public Health Nutritionist and trained Public Health Educator to visit restaurants and personally review menus with restaurateur.
- Showed sample menus of how other restaurants adopted the program.
- Demonstrated “good will” with free professional advertisement in local publications.
- Gained the support of highly reputable restaurants as program champions.
- Sent memorandum of agreement to all participants to establish a uniform code of participation.

## Just Ask Us! Decal in Action

**Just Ask Us! Decal in Action**

## Just Ask Us! Deli Menu Board

**Just Ask Us! ****Deli Menu Board**

## Just Ask Us! Decal on Deli Case with Healthier Selections

**Just Ask Us! Decal on Deli Case with Healthier Selections**

## A Healthier Choice

**A Healthier Choice**

## The Troll Says: Healthier Choices are Everywhere!

**The Troll Says: Healthier Choices are Everywhere!**

## Welcome: Ad frame and table tent on concierge table

## Educational table tent helps customers make healthier choices.

**Educational table tent helps customers make healthier choices.**

## Healthier Buffet Options

**Healthier Buffet Options**

**Notes:**
The owner of Twin’s India Palace was so supportive of this program that she flew her nephew in from Detroit.

## SAMPLE MENUS

**SAMPLE ****MENUS**

**Notes:**
One is from a Kosher restaurant the other an Italian.
Hollywood grill faxes menus everyday to HD to show the healthier menu selections. This menu is also faxed to over 40 businesses each day.

## Slide 41

**Notes:**
Mr. D’s menu-This is our model restaurant. The first restaurant to change their menu and use the “Steps” logos.

## Slide 42

**Notes:**
Restaurant X-This is one of the exclusive RC restaurants.

## Slide 43

**Notes:**
Ole Ole

## Slide 44

**Notes:**
Restaurants were encouraged to be creative in the ways they highlighted healthier options using “Steps” logos.

## Slide 45

**Notes:**
this restaurant has an entire page separate from the original menu

## Just Ask Us!  Making News

- WABC Eyewitness News coverage
- Rockland County Dineout Guide
- The Dining Times Diner Placemats
- Rockland County Times
- Rivertown

- The Journal News
- Looking Forward
- Rockland Review
- Pennysaver
- El Sol
- El Clarin

**Notes:**
ABC out of NYC, Largest local paper, newsletter for Rockland Seniors, Diner’s use same placemat with Ads, etc.

## Just Ask Us!Activities

**Just Ask Us!****Activities**

- Continue promotional efforts.
- Promote different themes, Mayor's Healthy Choice, Rockland’s Tasty N’ Healthy Pizza Contest.
- Continue to recruit new establishments.
- Work in conjunction with food safety re-certification course.
- Sustain program by working with local Restaurant Association to adopt and assume oversight of the program.

**Notes:**
Food re-certification course is offered by the Rockland County Department of Health.
Our hope is that the local restaurant assoc will pick this up and bring to Westchester Co. as well. Ultimately, we would hope that the National Restaurant Assoc. would look at this as a model and pick this up and put in their newsletter, etc.

## Just Ask Us! Conclusions

- All participating restaurateurs have been educated about healthier menu options for their customers in order to sustain the program over time.
- Many restaurateurs have embraced this program especially since the media has highlighted the obesity epidemic and the effect of Americans eating out on our waistlines.

**Notes:**
Participating restaurants have been looking to us for assistance in changing their menus 

If their customers become obese and develop diabetes and are hospitalized or homebound, they are not eating in the restaurants.  This is a wake up to the owners who now see the importance of offering healthy choices, to keep their customers healthy and eating out more.
Restaurants are seeing the Health Dept in a different, more positive light.  Rather than just think of us as regulatory and inspecting them and fining them, they see us as a resource for menu & recipe development, and for promoting healthy & delicious menu options. 

## Just Ask Us!Contact Information

**Just Ask Us!****Contact Information**

- Michelle Kleinman, RD
- Public Health Nutritionist
- Rockland County Department
- of Health
- 50 Sanatorium Road
- Building J
- Pomona, NY 10970
- 845-364-3612
- Kleinmam@co.rockland.ny.us

**Notes:**
All participating restaurateurs have been educated with the tools to highlight healthier menu options for the health of their patrons to sustain this program throughout Rockland County.