Superfoods Go Primetime At Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI)

DNI Invests in Innovative Nutrition Education and Health Initiatives
David Murdock, owner and chairman of the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables, is embarking on an ambitious, several hundred million dollar mission to change how you eat – and how long you live.

Mr. Murdock, a fish vegetarian who works out 5 times a week, lost his mother, sister and wife to cancer, passionately extols the value of a plant-rich diet and the potential of foods, rather than drugs, to prevent disease. His dedication to spreading the health benefits of fruits and vegetables and educating the public about nutrition science, is truly unparalleled.

The Dole Nutrition Institute DNI www.dolenutrition.com
Launched in 2002, the Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI) is an education foundation in Westlake Village, California, which makes health and nutrition education and resources available and easily accessible to people of all ages.

DNI resources include:
- Self produced health and nutrition segments that run on airline in-flight TV
- Educational newsletters and brochures including What You Need to Eat Everyday & Why, a pithy superfoods guide that is much easier to follow than the 15 different food "pyramids" prescribed in the redesigned USDA Food Pyramid
- A glossy magazine styled after Self
- An educational Website that shares new research findings with the public
- A hardbound food encyclopedia
- Informative monthly editorials in major market newspapers and magazines written by Jennifer Grossman - a former speechwriter for George Bush, Sr., who serves as the director of DNI.

Examples of Dole Nutrition Institute initiatives to bring health and nutrition to the public.
Superfoods Campaign
This past September, Dole embarked on a major new Superfoods campaign.

So called "Superfoods" are nutritionally dense foods with targeted health benefits for your skin and heart, your immunity system, joints - even your brain. A new Website, www.dolesuperfoods.com has been launched, and a new Superfoods cookbook was tipped in 275,000 copies of Prevention magazine this past fall.

One of the most visible initiatives are these new logos that will appear on select Dole fruits and vegetables:


What You Need to Eat Everyday and Why
This Superfoods guide (brochure and poster - below) is a simple guide to what foods you need to eat for optimum health and is much easier to follow than the USDA's 15 new food pyramids. This guide began appearing in supermarkets and schools this past September.

Dole Fights K-12 Obesity With "School Salad Days"
Designed to encourage healthy eating habits and promote daily fruit and vegetable consumption in California public schools, the "School Salad Days" pilot program will be launched with the donation of an initial 50 full-service portable salad bars to California-based K-12 schools in 2006.

Besides providing onsite self-serve salad bars, DNI also offers recipient schools timely nutrition information. This continues Dole's longstanding commitment to nutrition education through programs such as the Dole "5-A-Day" program (soon to be re-launched and updated as Dole SuperKids).

Other components of the "School Salad Days" program include:
- Partnering with school food service directors, nutritionists and healthcare providers to combat child obesity through better nutrition
- Working with schools to develop fruit baskets to be sold as fund-raising alternatives
- Helping schools plant on-site "edible gardens"
"Dole Food Company shares Governor Schwarzenegger's commitment to preventing childhood obesity," said DNI Director Jennifer Grossman. "By increasing access to fruits and vegetables and teaching the importance of nutrition, we hope to be part of the solution to the epidemic of childhood obesity in California."

Dole's Employee Wellness Program (DEW)
DEW encourages a healthy lifestyle by providing an on-site fitness center, daily aerobic and yoga classes, free fruit in the morning and vegetables at night. With an eclectic daily menu developed by nutritionists, the Dole Cafe (employee commissary) encourages good eating habits with significant price discounts on a wide range of healthy menu items.

DEW was developed by the Dole Nutrition Institute, which is currently repackaging elements from its DEW program for use by other California employers.

For more information on the Dole Nutrition Institute, visit www.dolenutrition.com