Googlers eat real good
The Googleplex (the affectionate name for the Google campus in Silicon Valley) has some of the best cafeterias to feed it's hungry crew. I personally haven't eaten there (yet) but I have friends who have. One thing that did impress me though was Google's philosophy on food. Feed your employees good, healthy food and they will be healthier and happier. And because everyone is maintaining good health, there will be less sick days, and lower medical bills. Google management understands how powerful food is, and they show that they care about the physical well being of their people. Very simple.
Recently, Google opened a new cafeteria/restaurant called Cafe 150. Chef Nate Keller is a big fan of organics and sustainability, and Cafe 150 is:
"The newest and bravest frontier of fine dining, where the Bay Area culinary trinity of sustainable/local/organic has passed to the corporate cafeteria."
The "150" in the name came from the fact that Chef Nate will only use ingredients that are grown in a 150-mile radius of Google. The Bay Area has some of the best farmer's markets around because we are surrounded by a bounty of fruits and vegetables. I can't wait for my invite to eat at the Googleplex.
For those of you who have worked at start-ups or corporate companies with big cafeterias, you know that the food in many times is fattening, processed, and basically cheap. At one start-up I worked at, the break rooms looked like a 7-Eleven filled with Cheetos, Ding Dongs, Goobers, and Jolt. We had pizza, Noah's bagels and Krispy Kremes every other day. You could drink all the soda you could imagine. Everyone at our company gained 10-15 pounds on average in the first 6 months of their employment.
Some will say that Google is swimming in money so they afford to be so frou-frou with their free-range chicken, and mango chutney tofu. However, if you really think about it, saving money by buying cheap food for your employees could increase other costs like health insurance and sick time. Did you see Supersize me? Food is medicine, and if employees eat well, meaning healthfully, your company is helping itself by making sure it's contributing to the good health of it's staff.
