Two businesses recognized for health, wellness efforts in San Diego County

LifeStyles InFocus and Café Merlot were officially recognized Tuesday evening as new Live Well San Diego partners.

Toni Kraft started the Poway-based LifeStyles InFocus with her daughter, Jessica McClure-Kuhar, about 12 years ago. A couple years later Toni and her husband, Rick Kraft, opened Café Merlot at Bernardo Winery.

Kraft said the Live Well designation recognizes the efforts both businesses have done over many years not only for employees, but the community. Even though the businesses have been partners with the county in putting on health and wellness events for the past seven years, Kraft said they had to go through the same extensive application process to qualify for the Live Well San Diego designation as other applicants.

“It’s a demonstration of our commitment to health and safety, promoting physical activity, alcohol and drug prevention, and emergency preparation,” Kraft said.

Live Well San Diego is a county initiative for residents to be healthy, safe and thriving. It began in 2010 as a health strategy, but evolved into a greater long-term effort to improve the health and wellness of all county residents, according to its website.

Regarding its three components:

• Building better health calls for improving the health of all residents and supporting healthy choices;

• Living safely calls for ensuring residents are protected from crime and abuse, neighborhoods are safe and communities are resilient to disasters and emergencies; and

• Thriving calls for cultivating opportunities for all people and communities to grow, connect and enjoy the highest quality of life.

LifeStyles InFocus provides a wellness solution for companies, organizations and communities locally and nationwide. Using their years of experience in the health and wellness industry, the mother-daughter duo formulate programs that help employers and employees improve their health through wellness care, which in the long run saves money, Kraft said. Since the late ‘70s, Kraft has been putting on wellness expos and other events for corporations like Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, McDonald’s and American Airlines.

She said the industry has evolved greatly and now there is often a food and celebration of life emphasis to their services. “Corporations want people actively engaged, so we do cooking demonstrations and holistic happy hours where (employees) get healthy snacks and chair massages.”

Its other services include on-site fitness demonstrations, team building activities and wellness workshops.

Kraft said food and digestion are a big component in taking care of oneself, which is where Café Merlot comes in and she can incorporate her knowledge of “culinary medicine.”

Dr. Nick Yphantides, the county’s chief medical officer, was among those present on Tuesday. His comments included praising Café Merlot for using local foods, making healthy food tasty and its efforts to educate children about nutrition.

Kraft said her interest in how food can benefit health began in childhood, when trying to help her mother, who was ill, and for decades she has embraced a combination of Eastern and Western medicine practices.

“My life has always been wrapped around food and events and health. ... It’s a personal mission for me,” she said.