ARAMARK Encourages Students to “Vote for School Lunch”
Food and Nutrition Programs Support Local School Wellness Policies Across the Nation
PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ARAMARK, a world leader in providing professional services, is encouraging students to “Vote for School Lunch,” in celebration of the theme developed by the School Nutrition Association for this year’s National School Lunch Week, October 15-19, 2007. In recognition of this important week, ARAMARK has developed nutrition-related educational tools, including posters, banners, letters to parents, school newspaper advertisements, public address announcements and graphics, to communicate the importance of enjoying a well-balanced lunch and adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Established by former President John F. Kennedy in 1963, National School Lunch Week helps raise awareness of and build support for the role played by school food service and nutrition programs in the lives of American children.
Much has changed in school food service since that proclamation in the 1960s. Today, more stringent state and federal nutritional guidelines and Local School Wellness Policies are in place. In support of these policies, ARAMARK has developed customer-focused menus and age-specific dining brands and promotions to raise student interest in their school food service programs.
“National School Lunch Week is an opportunity for ARAMARK and its district partners to celebrate our commitment to healthy lifestyles,” said Dennis Maple, President, ARAMARK Education. “ARAMARK is dedicated to the health and wellness of our nation’s school children and we continue to support our district partners by providing food and nutrition programs that address current childhood health issues.”
As part of an ongoing commitment to health and wellness, ARAMARK has created new recipes that are lower in fat, sugar and sodium, reduced portion sizes, added more fresh fruits and vegetables to the menu and increased breakfast options.
Students around the country now enjoy lunch menus that feature low-fat sandwich wraps, full-scale salad bars, 100 percent fruit smoothies, veggie burgers, baked chicken sandwiches, whole-grain pizzas, and yogurt and granola parfaits. A few examples of healthy menu items from ARAMARK-managed school districts include:
Bernards Township Schools (Bernards Township, NJ): Vegetarian burger; chef salads; whole wheat pizza and stromboli; 100 percent fruit smoothies.
School District of Beloit (Beloit, WI): Whole wheat pizza crust; made-to-order deli bar; baked chicken nuggets; chef salads; fresh fruit and veggie bar.
Canyon Independent School District (Canyon, TX): 100 percent fruit smoothies; wheat rolls; baked chips; fresh wraps and salads; fajitas and quesadillas.
Chappaqua Central School District (Chappaqua, NY): Twisted whole grain rice and pasta, containing partial whole grains, is helping students get used to whole grains as part of their diet. Sandwiches contain half white and half whole wheat bread.
Cherry Hill Public Schools (Cherry Hill, NJ): Rice or bean sides instead of french fries or chips; fat-free, fresh sandwich wraps.
Clear Creek Independent School District (League City, TX): Spike’s Veggie Club and Spike’s Fresh Fruit Club – loyalty programs, named after ARAMARK’s nutrition mascot Spike, where students who make these healthy selections every day are eligible to win prizes.
Duval County Schools (Duval County, FL): All lean beef products; reduced-fat cheeses; turkey hot dogs and turkey-based lunch meats; baked snacks.
Houston Independent School District (Houston, TX): Menu items include fortified whole grains, vitamins, and nutrients; steamed vegetables; baked french fries; nachos made with fortified and enriched flour chips, 80 percent chicken and 20 percent beef filling, and low-fat cheese; hot dogs made with 100 percent low-fat turkey and served on whole wheat buns.
Round Rock Independent School District (Round Rock, TX): Educational program where elementary students learn to prepare healthy snacks, like fruit kabobs and yogurt parfaits, in the classroom environment.
St. Louis Public Schools (St. Louis, MO): Grilled chicken salad; baked chips; yogurt parfaits; 100 calorie snacks; chicken quesadilla; teriyaki chicken with steamed rice; taco salad with rice and black beans.
Sterling Public Schools (Sterling, IL): Vegetarian quesadillas.
ARAMARK has also developed wellness programs like SnackFactor, AMP UP with Breakfast, HealthSmart™ APPLES, Treat Yourself Right (TYR), FUEL, and “Spike,” ARAMARK’s Elementary Mascot, to help students make informed, well-balanced meal choices whether eating in or outside of school. **
About ARAMARK Education
ARAMARK Education provides a complete range of food, facility, uniform and other support services to more than 600 K-12 school districts in the U.S. It offers public and private education institutions a family of dining and facility services including: on-site and off-site breakfast and lunch meal programs, after-school snacks, catering, nutrition education, retail design and operations, maintenance, custodial, grounds, energy management, construction management, and building commissioning. ARAMARK Education serves nearly 350 million meals each year to students in 420 school districts nationwide. For more information on ARAMARK’s K-12 programs, please visit www.aramarkschools.com.
About ARAMARK
ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world. In FORTUNE magazine’s list of “America’s Most Admired Companies,” ARAMARK has consistently ranked as one of the top three most admired companies in its industry as evaluated by peers and industry analysts since 1998. The company was also ranked first in its industry in the 2007 FORTUNE 500 survey. Headquartered in Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 240,000 employees serving clients in 18 countries. Learn more at the company’s Web site, www.aramark.com.
** Descriptions of some of the ARAMARK nutritional education programs and activities:
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.
AMP UP! With Breakfast: A new breakfast program for kindergarten through 12th grade students. This program offers easy-to-implement breakfast delivery options for classrooms, cafeterias and/or portable stations, with a focus on convenience. It features over 400 grab and go products to build a new breakfast program menu or enhance existing breakfast offerings. Students can enjoy great-tasting, morning favorites, such as fruits, wholesome hot foods, cereals, breakfast snacks, yogurt, smoothies and juice beverages.
HealthSmartTM APPLES: An award-winning customizable K-12 nutrition education and wellness activity curriculum that teachers and foodservice can customize for their respective student groups. This comprehensive bilingual program incorporates MyPyramid guidelines and other wellness standards from all 50 states.
Treat Yourself Right (TYR): This education program for middle and high school students reinforces healthy lifestyle messages. TYR utilizes a variety of communication vehicles, such as weekly tips, posters, nutrition newsletters, flyers, and a web based community, to empower students to make the right decisions for wellness.
FUEL: The FUEL campaign is aimed at making school lunch “cool” and relevant to secondary level students. With monthly themed promotions, FUEL is designed to combat “menu fatigue” and generate excitement around in-school dining, while reinforcing a healthy school lunch as an important way for students to get the fuel they need to participate in their favorite activities throughout the busy school day. FUEL materials are designed with graphics and messaging that resonate specifically with the tween and teen marketplace; and the program website (www.fuel4me.com) features interactive games, Treat Yourself Right (TYR) tips and links to nutrition resource sites.
SPIKE: Elementary school nutrition mascot, Spike, shares his Stay Healthy wellness message through a monthly program, with a new theme each year, which includes inserts to share nutritional fun facts, along with an educational premium. A Spike Live assembly show and video series with lesson plans also teach students about the importance of making healthy choices and staying fit.
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