At a glance
A baseline assessment of the food environment is important to understand what improvements and resources are needed. It will also enable you to track changes once you have implemented food service guidelines.
Assessment of food service policies, practices, and capacity
Use an assessment tool, such as the Food Service Guidelines Organizational Assessment Tool, to collect information about food service policies, practices, and capacity in your setting. Engage members of your team who understand your agency's food procurement and food preparation practices to complete the assessment.
The questions will vary depending on the needs of your agency but should generally identify:
- Type of organization and number of employees or patrons.
- Food service venues where food is prepared, served, or sold.
- Existing policies, standards, and practices that affect food purchasing and nutrition.
- Scope of your authority over what foods are sold.
- Contracting process and procedures for buying foods and food services.
- Capacity to implement food service guidelines.
Assessment of specific foods and beverages
Before you begin using food service guidelines, determine the extent to which food and beverages offered in your settings meet your guidelines. This information provides a baseline to:
- Determine what percentage of foods and beverages meet specific food and nutrition standards in the guidelines.
- Establish objectives for implementing food service guidelines that can be phased in over time.
- Track changes over time with repeated measurements for program improvement.
- Monitor compliance with food service guidelines.
You can use the following checklists to assess compliance with the Food Service Guidelines for Federal Facilities.
- Food Service Guidelines Checklist for Prepared Foods.
- Food Service Guidelines Checklist for Packaged Snacks.
- Food Service Guidelines Checklist for Beverages.
Calculator for Packaged Snacks and Beverages
The Food Service Guidelines Calculator for Packaged Snacks and Beverages can help determine which products meet the Food Service Guidelines for Federal Facilities. This calculator is a supplement when using the above checklists for packaged snacks and beverages. It does not apply to prepared foods.
The calculator will automatically populate fields as you enter information from the Nutrition Facts Label. If a field is red and bolded, you must decide whether the product:
- Does not meet the nutrition standard.
- Is exempted from the criterion. Exempted examples are reduced-fat cheese or nuts.
If you determine that a product meets the nutrition standard or is exempt, you must then determine if it meets the food (first ingredient) standard. The calculator provides information on how to do this. Also, note that beverages are calculated on a different tab that you must toggle to get to.
Next steps
Return to "Building Blocks"
Use the "Building Blocks of Food Service Guidelines" to navigate to other parts of the Food Service Guidelines Implementation Toolkit.