It’s that time of the year again—the Taste of Chicago! Every summer since 1980, the city has collaborated to present this outdoor festival showcasing the city’s diverse food. This year, it is being held from July 10th to 14th, 2013 in Grant Park.
In addition to dining on flavorful food, Humana health insurance has partnered up with the festival to bring the Humana Healthier Choices Passport Guide. This guide helps attendants make healthier food choices while sampling through vendors by listing the healthier dining options. There are also wellness activities and opportunities for passport holders to collect stamps, which will give them an opportunity to win prizes.
The Healthier Choices Passport Guide has been reviewed by physicians, and lists 35 meal options from 20 Chicago restaurants. Choices include appetizers, main entrees, and deserts, so you won’t feel like you’re missing out on the Taste of Chicago experience.
If you’re interested in obtaining a passport guide, they are available at over 70 Dominick’s grocery branches, Humana’s Well-Being booth at the festival, or you can download it at the festival’s website here: http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/dca/Taste%20of%20Chicago/HumanaHealthierChoicesPassportGuide2013.pdf
While at Taste of Chicago, make sure you look for the green apple logo on booths to match the foods to the passport guide!
Some examples of their tasty meal options are:
Appetizer: Celtic Corn on the Cob from O’Brien’s Restaurant (with less than 320 calories, less than 300 mg of sodium, and less than 2 g of saturated fat)
Entrée: “Ragin Cajun” Chicken Sausage from Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill (with 500 calories or less, 500mg of sodium or less, and less than 4 g of saturated fat)
Dessert: Strawberry Fruit Bar from Churro Factory (with less than 320 calories, less than 300 mg of sodium, and less than 2 g of saturated fat)
Humana’s Well-Being booth at the Taste of Chicago will also include other health and fitness activities, such an interactive Xbox Kinect game called “Your Shape”, biometric screening stations, water station, and free pedometers for the attendants to check how much they’ve walked during the festival.
Another fun and healthy activity for kids during the Taste of Chicago is the Fleet Feet Kids Dash. This is divided by age group and distance (with babies even having a 15 foot diaper dash/crawl), but friends and family can participate if they like. The whole family can have fun by being active, and kids can receive a race bib, T-shirt, and medal!
References:
Fleet Feet Sports Kids’ Dash. (2013). Taste of Chicago. Retrieved July 11, 2013, from http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/kids_dash.html
Humana Healthier Choices. (2013). Taste of Chicago. Retrieved July 11, 2013, from http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/taste_of_chicago10.html
Public Health Monica 
I was at the Taste of Chicago and definitely noticed the Humana Healthy Choices logos at many of the booths. I think this was a great way to get people thinking about their food choices. I didn’t not participate in the passport activity, but I’m sure many people did so they could be entered to win prizes. I would be interested to see how many people actually did the raffle….
Of the foods with the Humana logo, I tried the corn on the cob, sweet potato chips, watermelon, and nutella crepe! I don’t think I missed out on too much making these healthier choices!
I love the idea of providing healthy eating tips at big events like this. People are not normally aware of their eating habits at these kinds of events because they are so focused on trying so many new things. It is great that a healthy food choice guide is offered to those who are still health conscious at these types of events. I would like to see if this will be done at other large events where they are allowing people to make healthier choices and still enjoy the event.
Such a fantastic post Monica!
It amazes me how many calories are in some food choices at festivals. I absolutely love this concept; giving people the essential information to choose healthier opinions and motivating people by being able to win a prize.
Your post reminds me of a few articles I recently read from Weight Watchers. The articles were about eating healthier opinions at theme parks and stadiums. In these articles, Weight Watchers informs the reader what opinions are good choices and which are “once-in-a-while” choices. They also suggest to have a game plans before going to the event.
Links to the Weight Watcher articles:
Stadium: http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=55491&sc=3030
Theme Park:
https://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=54361&sc=3010
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