News | November 8, 2006

ARAMARK Votes For A Healthy Lunch

Philadelphia, PA - ARAMARK, provider of professional services, is teaching children about healthy eating habits and nutrition during National School Lunch Week, October 9-13, 2006. The theme this year is "Vote for School Lunch," where students were able to vote on their favorite lunch entrees through the School Nutrition Association according to ARAMARK.

ARAMARK has supported its district partners in the development of local school wellness policies by providing nutrition awareness programs, communication templates and a toolkit with guidelines to address the foodservice requirements of the local school wellness policy.

For the National School Lunch Week, ARAMARK has developed nutrition-related educational tools, posters, banners, letters to parents, advertisements in school papers, public address announcements and graphics to communicate the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle. ARAMARK-managed school districts encourage students to eat lunch at school, where they can enjoy innovative healthy menu items. A few examples included by ARAMARK as follows:

  • Appleton Area School District (Appleton, WI): Flax-seed bread; Flax-seed power drink; Chicken Salad wrap featuring yogurt instead of mayonnaise
  • Cherry Hill Public Schools (Cherry Hill, NJ): Salad alternatives; Rice or bean sides instead of french fries or chips; Fat-free, fresh sandwich wraps
  • Duval County Schools (Duval County, FL): Substituting Jell-O pudding and applesauce for oil in all cakes to lower fat content; All lean beef products; Reduced-fat cheeses; Turkey hot dogs and turkey-based lunch meats; No candy; Salads offered every day; Reduced chip bags to 1 oz. bags and increased the portions for baked snacks
  • Everett Public School District (Everett, MA): Leverage commodity fruit to make homemade sorbets; flatbread salads; over 50 healthy selections offered daily
  • Round Rock Independent School District (Round Rock, TX): Offers whole-wheat roles and bread; Yogurt offered daily; Educational program where elementary students learn to prepare healthy snacks, like fruit kabobs and yogurt parfaits, in the classroom environment

ARAMARK also recently introduced SnackFactor, a healthy snack program for middle and high school students. With SnackFactor, ARAMARK offers students more than 150 healthy snack options, including mainstream and organic versions of low fat granola bars, cereal bars, baked chips and snacks, animal and graham crackers, yogurt, water, 100% juice and smoothie beverages, fresh fruits and vegetables. Through ARAMARK's various service delivery systems, healthy snacks can be offered on the traditional food service line, before and after-school, in the classroom, during state test periods, in grab-and-go kiosks and vending machines adds the ARAMARK.

SOURCE: ARAMARK