5 things: Is the takeout trend overblown?

Each Friday Food Management compiles a list that highlights five things you probably missed in the onsite foodservice news that week and why you should care about them.

Here’s your list for the week of March 1:

A survey of over 1,200 consumers by the Invisibly research firm shows that the takeout meal trend over the pandemic period may have been more modest than some have assumed. Among the findings were that less than half (44%) ordered takeout or delivery during the past 12 months, with 18-24-year-olds (59%) unsurprisingly being the most active in using this method. What was a bit more surprising was that 54% of takeout orders came from individuals with incomes of $30,000 or less. Also notable—only 43% of respondents had the ability to work from home during the pandemic.

Read more: Did Delivery Deliver During COVID?

The University of Iowa (UI) Housing and Dining will keep its current food-menu items as it revives in-person dining, a change from the fall when the department had suggested that in-person seating may result in limited options. UI dining halls resumed limited-capacity in-person dining March 1 after offering takeout-only for the fall and beginning months of the spring semester.

Related:5 coronavirus things: Survey suggests COVID made many embrace work-from-home

Read more: UI Housing and Dining to maintain menu size as in-person dining begins this week

The Healthy For Life 20 By 20 initiative created jointly by Aramark and the American Heart Association in 2015 recently reported its five-year results. They included achieving a 20% average reduction in calories, saturated fat and sodium, and an almost 20% increase in fruits, vegetables and whole grains across menus served in Aramark-operated workplaces, hospital cafes and university dining halls. The program also boosted vegetarian/vegan main dishes to 34% on menus and reduced red meat on menus by 12%.

Read more: Healthy for Life 20 by 20 Marks Five Year Milestone by Reporting on Healthy Menu Innovation and Announcing Expanded Nutrition Education

Pre-prepared sandwiches with “green meat”—apparently not intended as a St. Patrick’s Day gesture—from an outside vendor that some students refused to eat has prompted the Rochester City School District in New York to resume making lunches in-house with ingredients from local vendors. The district had gone to external meal sourcing after ending hot lunch service and laying off 165 food workers due to insufficient numbers of students attending classes in school buildings.

Related:5 coronavirus things: Vaccine distribution plan puts LAUSD’s April reopening in doubt

Read more: RCSD makes changes to lunch menu after students received sandwiches with green meat

A 51-year-old grandmother who is a chef for FM Top 50 firm Healthcare Services Group claims in a lawsuit that her supervisor tried to force her into a sadomasochist relationship on her very first day of work. In the suit filed with Mercer County Superior Court, AnnaMarie Ferrara charges that Howard Lawton fired her after she rebuffed his advances, citing a 2005 felony arrest he says she didn’t disclose before her hiring at the nursing home in Phillipsburg, a claim Ferrara disputes.

Read more: NJ nursing-home boss wanted granny chef to be his S&M master: lawsuit

Bonus: 19 hot pizza trends to slice into today

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]