Popular and Nutritional Menu Choices

Variety FoodServices recognizes the direct relationship between proper nutrition and the ability of a student to learn. In fact, nutrition is critical to the success of the students at your school. Nutrition is more than having enough food; it means eating the right balance of foods with the right nutrients. Variety exceeds the basic USDA Recommended Daily Allowances for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast meal patterns.

With the recent reauthorization of the Federal National School Lunch program requiring schools to create wellness policies for nutrition and fitness, Variety FoodServices is committed to working with our schools to provide the healthiest programs available.

The trend is to eliminate sales of soda and sugary, fatty snacks as well as to reduce the amounts of deep fried foods during the school day. Statistics show that an estimated 15 percent of children ages 6 to 19 are overweight.

These are some examples of things that Variety is currently doing to provide healthier choices and nutritional education for the students:

Foods:

• Replacing canned fruits and vegetables with fresh fruits and vegetables on an increased basis. Fresh apples, grapes, oranges, bananas, pears, and peaches.
  
• Utilizing turkey franks rather than regular hot dogs or corndogs.
  
• We offer whole and enriched grain products that are high in fiber, low in added fats and sugars, and served in appropriate portion sizes that are consistent with USDA standards.
  
• A minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, providing fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruits and vegetables using healthy preparation techniques and avoiding added sugars.
  
• Variety promotes calcium consumption by offering a wide selection of dairy products, including nonfat and low-fat plain and flavored milk and yogurt, as well as low-fat real cheese rather than imitation cheese.
  
• Protein and other nutrients such as B-vitamins, iron and zinc are offered in the form of cooked lean meat, poultry or fish using healthy food preparation techniques. We also provide nuts; seeds and trail mix snacks in one-ounce size portions or less.
  
• Sauces, dressings and dips are offered in one-ounce servings or less to decrease excess calorie intake
  
• Offering yogurt as a dessert
  
• Having 2% milk as our standard
  
• On our ala carte menu, offering fresh garden salads with low fat or no fat dressings, baked chips and pretzels, yogurt cups, 100% fruit juices, bottled water, and cut vegetables (carrots and celery) with low fat ranch dips.
  

Preparation methods:

• Baking most all of our foods. Nothing is fried.
  
• Utilizing margarine rather than butter in cooking and seasoning foods.
  
• Utilizing a salt substitute, Mrs. Dash, instead of using salt.
  

Having a Certified Nutritionist on our Staff:

• Our menus are checked to be sure we are meeting all of the guidelines of the school lunch program.
  
• We can offer training classes or seminars to the school to educate the students on proper nutrition and its importance to good health and performance in school.
  
• As we offer new items, they can be checked by our Nutritionist for compliance with the nutritional guidelines.

Adherence to Federal and Other Regulatory Guidelines

Variety FoodServices is committed to presenting and delivering a food program that adheres to all regulatory guidelines.

Our hot school lunch meal program complies with a standard type “A” lunch as set forth by the State of Michigan. We are in compliance with the Federal standards for nutrition as set forth by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Our menus are designed to allow no more than 30% of an individual’s calories come from fat and less than 10% come from saturated fat. Our lunches also provide at least one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories.

We invite you to visit our Main Office and Commissary located in Warren. We would enjoy showing you our facility and introducing you to the rest of our team of professionals ready to make your food service program the best that it can be. We strive to get an A+ rating from your staff.

Nutritional Analysis

Variety does and maintains a complete nutritional analysis on all the items we serve. This information is constantly updated and available for your review at any time.