At a glance
When identifying a setting to implement food service guidelines, you will need to consider various factors. These factors include reach and impact, need, ease of implementation, and whether nutrition laws or policies already exist for specific settings.
Considerations
Food service guidelines can be implemented anywhere foods and beverages are sold, served, or distributed. These settings include, but are not limited to:
- Federal, state, and local government facilities.
- Hospitals and healthcare facilities.
- Colleges and universities.
- Parks and recreation centers.
- Private worksites.
- Faith-based institutions.
- Correctional facilities.
- Food pantries.
Deciding where to implement food service guidelines can be challenging. Below are some ideas to consider.
Examine reach and impact
Suppose your food service guidelines initiative will reach more people in one setting than another. Settings that reach more people will likely have a more significant impact on healthier food purchases. Choosing a setting with a greater reach and impact will provide the most benefit for your time, effort, and funds invested.
Reach and impact should be major factors in selecting a setting. For example, a private worksite with only a few employees will have a limited reach. Similarly, a setting with only four vending machines will likely have a minor impact on employees' health.
Conduct a community needs assessment
Consider conducting a community needs assessment to examine policies, systems, and environments within a local area. Using this approach can determine areas of need. These include places where people have lower incomes or limited access to healthier foods. Consider selecting a setting within these areas to implement food service guidelines.
One tool to consider is the Community Health Assessment aNd Group Evaluation (CHANGE). The CHANGE tool is a data collection and planning resource. It guides the assessment process and helps define and prioritize possible areas of improvement.
Consider ease of implementation
You may want to start implementing food service guidelines in a setting that will provide relatively easy and quick success. Doing this allows you to develop a model example, work out kinks in your process, and build momentum for other settings.
You may choose the setting because a champion or other partners can help you or provide resources. Alternatively, staff at a specific facility may have started implementing food service guidelines but may need your assistance to be fully functioning.
Review existing nutrition laws or policies
Using food service guidelines may not be appropriate in settings that provide foods and beverages to individuals with specific nutritional needs. These settings may include schools, childcare facilities, or hospitals serving specialized diets to patients. Often, federally mandated nutrition standards already govern feeding programs serving these populations. For example, federal laws and regulations govern schools and childcare facilities. These include the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program.
If the setting you are considering must follow an existing law or policy for food service, in some cases you may still be able to augment or enhance the existing nutrition standards. For example, the federal Older Americans Act defines minimum nutrition standards for its senior feeding programs. However, these standards can be improved by applying additional food service guidelines provisions. If enhancing the standard is not possible or would have little impact, then consider another setting.
Next steps
