When it comes to school food, many people think about the amazing servers and cooks who help make sure students receive tasty, nutritious meals every day.
Yet there are also nutrition experts behind the scenes who are making sure recipes and meals are nutritionally sound and balanced to give school students the food they need to fuel their day and their semester.
“Our dietitians work to ensure students can choose the tastiest, most nutritionally sound meals while they’re at school. They also help ensure food allergens are appropriately handled and identified so students are safer and parents can have peace-of-mind,” said Barbara Flanagan, President and CEO, Aramark Student Nutrition. Flanagan is also the executive sponsor of Aramark’s dietitian-led employee resource group (ERG), NOURISH.
“NOURISH Is fantastic because it connects our dietitians across the company,” said Beth Ann Engelland, RDN, Vice President of Operational Excellence, Aramark Student Nutrition. “Yet we identified a distinct need for our dietitians focused on K-12 school districts to connect with each other, to share best practices, and to make sure we are doing everything possible to add value to our clients’ operations.”
For that reason, Engelland worked with other colleagues to create a community of dietitians within Aramark Student Nutrition called the Nutrition Network, which launched in March 2023 during National Nutrition Month.
So far, more than 60 registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) and other nutrition experts have connected online and are working to find ways to better share resources and best practices.
Real-World Needs, Real-Time Solutions
One example of sharing resources includes work on school wellness committees, which most public schools in the U.S. have formed. Often, Aramark dietitians get involved at the local level at one of Aramark’s more than 400 school district client accounts.
Having a connected Nutrition Network may help them source nutrition education materials or other resources that other Aramark dietitians have already found successful in their districts, such as finding ways to show diversity in food cultures for awareness and education activities in schools.
The Nutrition Network can also help members facilitate and coordinate the hosting of dietetic interns at their accounts. Before a person becomes an RDN, they need to take part in an accredited dietetic internship program, whether the interns come through the Aramark Dietetic Internship program or from another program.
Another goal of the Nutrition Network is to enhance career development for members; for instance, it can help make them aware of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) opportunities, in which all RDNs must participate annually.
While the Nutrition Network is still new and growing, it has already proven to be a simple and effective way to connect and engage Aramark Student Nutrition RDNs and other nutrition experts in ways that benefit school students and their district’s health and wellbeing initiatives.
