At a glance
After you have implemented food service guidelines in one setting, you may be ready to expand into other settings and venues. This means you have learned ways to implement food service guidelines and to overcome challenges. For places where food is sold, you can expand to more of the same type of facility or select a different setting. For places where food is served or distributed, you can adapt food service guidelines.
Apply in new settings or venues
To expand food service guidelines into new settings or venues, you can:
Address different venues within the same facilities
Your initial efforts may have applied food service guidelines only to vending machines or cafeterias at your chosen setting. With leadership support, there may be a complementary opportunity to expand your initiative. For example, you can expand to cafeterias or snack bars if vending machines were addressed previously. Likewise, you can expand to vending machines and micro markets if cafeterias and other concessions were previously addressed.
Recruit more facilities of the same setting
You may have begun implementing food service guidelines in one setting, such as a hospital or park and recreation facility. You can now expand your efforts by working towards countywide or statewide efforts. You can do so by working with a state professional association that can influence your setting. For example, the association can recruit other hospitals in your state, region, or county to adopt and implement food service guidelines.
Recruit different types of settings
You may have started food service guidelines implementation in only one type of setting, such as worksites. Once you have experience in guiding food service guidelines implementation, put them in other settings in your state or community. Other settings could include parks, colleges, or recreation centers.
Adapt for where food is served or distributed
Food service guidelines are generally written for places where food is sold to customers who purchase food and beverages from a variety of choices. You can expand your food service guidelines work to places where food is served or to places where food is distributed. Be sure the guidelines align with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Places where food is served include eldercare, faith-based, or correctional facilities where staff are responsible for providing all or most meals. Individual choice may be limited in these facilities. Think about how you can partner with county or state associations to spread your initiative to more than one facility.
Places where food is distributed include food banks or pantries. Food is purchased or received through donations and given to individuals to prepare and/or eat at home. Rather than adapting food service guidelines for these settings, we recommend using the Healthy Eating Research Guidelines for the Charitable Food System.
