PHILADELPHIA, PA – High school students from across the country will head to the nation’s capital to compete in the 2017 national finals for Healthy Schools Campaign’s Cooking up Change, a program that challenges high school culinary students to create healthy, great-tasting meals that meet the real-life requirements of the national school meal program.
The students will compete in the national finals on June 12, where they will recreate their winning recipes for celebrity judges, and they will meet with their Senators and Representatives on June 13.
Aramark (NYSE: ARMK), the award-winning food & nutrition partner with more than 380 school districts nationwide, is the National School Nutrition Partner for Cooking up Change.
“Aramark is committed to enriching and nourishing the lives of the millions of children we serve each year and is proud to be the National School Nutrition Partner for Cooking up Change,” said John Hanner, president of Aramark’s K-12 business. “Cooking up Change provides students with the opportunity to impact the food being served at schools across the country and engages them in the national dialogue about school food, making it an impactful learning experience for everyone involved.”
In its K-12 Education business, Aramark strives to improve childhood nutrition through creative menus featuring healthier versions of student favorites, as well as through initiatives like the Healthy Bites program, which encourages students to try free samples of unfamiliar foods to help them develop healthy eating habits.
Aramark provides almost 370 million meals annually to 2+ million children. The company also tailors facility services programs to meet the needs of more than 130 school districts across more than 2,700 buildings, and is the only provider that generates insights & actions based on direct feedback from over 100,000 middle and high school students annually.
Services provided by Aramark in America’s schools include: on and off-site breakfast, lunch and dinner, after school snacks, catering and nutrition education; implementing complex nutrition guidelines, while increasing student participation in food programs; providing maintenance, custodial, grounds, energy and construction management; and building commissioning.
About Healthy Schools Campaign
Healthy Schools Campaign launched Cooking up Change in Chicago in 2007, and more than 1,800 students from 20 cities have participated in local contests since the program started. Winners travel to Washington, D.C., for the national finals to show off their culinary skills and engage with health and education leaders, the culinary community and Congress.
About Aramark
Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) proudly serves the world’s leading educational institutions, Fortune 500 companies, world champion sports teams, prominent healthcare providers, iconic destinations and cultural attractions, and numerous municipalities in 19 countries around the world with food, facilities, and uniform services. Because our culture is rooted in service, our employees strive to do great things for each other, our partners, our communities, and our planet. Aramark has been named to DiversityInc’s “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” list, the Forbes list of “America’s Best Employers for Diversity,” the HRC’s “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” and scored 100% on the Disability Equality Index. Learn more at www.aramark.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
