Managers of Albert Lea area restaurants who have signed the restaurant pledge for the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project are asking the public for input on healthy ideas to implement into their establishments.

People can send their ideas to restaurantideas@yahoo.com. They will be shared with all of the participating restaurants.

Cathy Purdie, marketing director at Trail’s Restaurant, is also the chairwoman of the initiative. She said she and restaurant managers are looking for simple changes they can make to their businesses.

In July, 30 restaurant managers signed the pledge, showing their commitment to provide healthy food choices to patrons. Managers were given 12 ideas to consider implementing into their businesses — one of which included coming up with their own ideas.

The other 11 options included changes such as developing at least two new healthy items on the menu, providing smaller portions as a choice, offering fruit or salad as a side option, and changing the size of their cups and glasses.

Since the restaurant pledge kickoff, one other restaurant, Mama’s Grille of Emmons, has also signed up to participate.

Purdie said she has already heard of restaurants that have seen major success with the healthy options.

At Trail’s Restaurant, there is now the option of fruit or salad as a side dish instead of french fries. Before, the restaurant only offered fries, she said.

The company recently ran some reports comparing last year’s sales to this year’s sales and found that the french fries orders are down and that those orders are being picked up by the side salads, fruits and vegetables, Purdie said.

“It’s just neat to see,” she said. “It makes you wonder if the options just needed to be presented to the public — just to make it easy for them.”

She noted she’s also heard of success atLakeside Café & Creamery with their new fruit kabobs, and she heard that Wedgewood Cove’s restaurant is offering fruit and veggie appetizers.

Though the pledge started in July, area restaurants began participating in the Vitality Project months ago with the help of national experts Brian Wansink of the Cornell Food Labs and professor Leslie Lytle of the University of Minnesota, who is a nutrition expert. These experts offered workshops for Albert Lea restaurants on simple ways to make subtle impacts that will improve health.

Purdie said she is sending out a letter to the participating restaurants this week to ask them how their changes have worked out.