Eat and Drink Well
Festival work can involve relentless time demands as well as a culture where people commonly rely on caffeine to get through and alcohol to wind down and celebrate.
It can be a challenge to have a healthy relationship with caffeine and alcohol, to drink enough water, and to eat nutritious food, or even to remember to eat at all! It helps to be prepared, and to keep it simple.
Preparing
Identify your busiest time and work backwards to manage meal preparations.
Working back from your busiest time, what can you do in the lead up to make eating nutritious meals as easy for yourself as possible? For example:
- Cook and freeze a bunch of filling meals
- Stock up on ingredients for easy-to-make recipes or with a range of pre-made meals
- Take healthy, filling snacks and a refillable water bottle with you
Investigate quick, healthy food options near where you will be working. Depending on your hours, check what’s open late too.
If you don’t have the financials for buying food out regularly, or the time to prepare in advance, look for low cost or free options like Hare Krishna restaurants, ‘pay as you can’ places, restaurants that have ‘pre-purchased meal boards’ available, as well as charities that run soup and food vans.
If possible for you, consider setting up a food delivery service to your home for your busiest time.
Food
If you can, have breakfast. Try eating smaller amounts of high quality, nutritious food more often. Where possible, move away from sugar and towards protein and fibre.
Know yourself – if nerves or scheduling means you can’t eat before a show or a bump in, figure out when to have your main meal. Experiment until you find your rhythm. Do eat when you can.
If eating late at night, try to avoid big servings and high fat meals. Aim for a small meal containing a complex carbohydrate with a quality protein source.
If eating on the run (while walking, driving, talking) try to slow down. Stop and sit, pull over momentarily, or end a phone call or meeting a couple of minutes early. Most people eat a full meal in 7-15 minutes. Can you give yourself that time to eat without rushing? If not, the scheduling may be too tight.
Water
Drink water throughout the day and night. Carry a refillable water bottle with you if you can.
Aim for 8 to 10 cups of water a day and increase your consumption in hot weather and when doing physical work.
Fruit and vegetables, hot and cold drinks, and other foods all contribute to water intake. A splash of lemon, or cordial, or drinking sparkling water can create variety.
Caffeine
Everyone metabolises caffeine differently. In small amounts, it can make you feel refreshed and focused. In large amounts it can make you feel anxious, upset your digestion, and disrupt your sleep.
Aim to have your last caffeinated beverage at least six hours before bedtime. Exercise and/or eating a balanced meal can be as re-energising as caffeine, so if you are reaching for another coffee, consider a short burst of activity, or a meal instead.
Good alternatives include:
- Green tea which contains a small amount of caffeine, so takes the edge off withdrawals
- Peppermint tea which promotes focus and alertness
- Dandelion root tea which is a digestive, liver tonic and mild laxative.
Alcohol
Space alcoholic drinks with soft drinks, non-alcoholic versions, juice or water, and consider alternating nights where you do drink with those where you don’t (or where you drink less).
Wind-down without alcohol, at least some of the time: e.g. check what else is open late such as ice cream shops, cafes, comedy clubs, and focus on shared experiences and conversations.
It is never too late to seek help if you’d like to change your relationship with alcohol. Directline is a useful first place to seek information and support: directline.org.au
A note for Festival Organisers
If you are the festival organiser, think about ways you can support healthy eating and drinking in your teams. Can you:
- Provide access to fridges, microwaves and safe food storage areas?
- Provide healthy snacks and/or meals?
- Provide access to private, comfortable spaces to eat and drink for staff and performers? (remembering that some people do not feel comfortable eating in front of others)
- Provide information about healthy and low cost meals available near venues, including places that are open early and late?
- Explicitly allow people to eat and drink during meetings and briefings?
- Create schedules that allow for proper breaks between commitments?
- Rotate staff, especially those in fixed positions, to allow people to look after their own needs, including eating, drinking, resting and toilet breaks
- Reduce harm from alcohol by creating a non-stigmatising culture that respects and enables people’s choices around alcohol?
- Offer quality non-alcoholic beverages at special events, celebrations, and as opening/ closing night gifts?
- Create opportunities to wind-down at the end of shifts and/or at the end of the festival that are not centred on alcohol?
- Create times and modes of celebration that everyone can take part in at the same time?
