What’s on the menu? - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

What’s on the menu?

When it comes to providing restaurants that specialize in healthy options like salads and grilled chicken rather than burgers and fries, the Air Force “could do better,” said Col. Michael Snedecor, chief of the public health division at the Air Force Medical Operations Agency.

The leading brand-name restaurant found on Air Force and Army bases was Burger King with 207 restaurants, far outpacing any other chain, according to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. Rounding out the top five restaurants on base were Subway with 106 locations, Baskin-Robbins with 91, Charley’s Grilled Subs with 88 and Taco Bell with 67.

Airmen can find healthy options at each one of these food chains, but Burger King isn’t known for its salads.

“If you go to McDonald’s, they do have salads, but do they taste as good?” said Dr. Dympna Gallagher, director of the Human Body Composition Core Laboratory of the New York Obesity Research Center.

Maj. Dana Whelan, deputy chief of health promotions, Air Force Medical Operations Agency, said she would like to see bases provide snack areas that serve only fruit and 100-calorie-a-portion snacks.

The service can’t control the options airmen have when they leave base, but base commanders do have a say over which restaurants are built on base. Base commanders work with Air Force Services and AAFES representatives to gauge what airmen want on base, as well as which companies can be awarded contracts.

In the end, however, the choice falls to airmen. They can simply drive off base if they want the 990-calorie Double Whopper with cheese or the 760-calorie Nachos Bell Grande. AAFES officials said they have to consider the nutritional qualities of the restaurants along with what airmen want.

“Commanders are asking for popular brands that airmen know and like,” said Judd Anstey, an AAFES spokesman. “Our ability to meet our mission is contingent on satisfying needs.”

Jim Halvorson, chief of Air Force Services Operations Division, said he has witnessed less demand from airmen for fast food over the past 10 years.

“I don’t see nearly as many requests for burger places on base,” he said.

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