In Brief 2009-04-01

The School Nutrition Association and the School Nutrition Foundation have recognized Alexandria (VA) City Public Schools, St. Paul (MN) Public Schools, Lee's Summit (MO) R-7 School District and Riverside Local School District in Painesville, OH, with District of Excellence Distinction in School Nutrition designations following the fall 2008 application and peer review process.

Aramark Higher Education has introduced a new campus convenience store concept, Provisions on Demand (P.O.D.) Market, to its more than 600 North American college and university clients. The concept features place-of-origin and nutrition information for the foods offered as well as product cues clearly identifing food items as vegan, organic, kosher, locally-grown, gluten-free, low-carb or fair trade.

The stimulus bill passed by Congress in February included a $100,000,000 grant program for National School Lunch Program equipment assistance. The funds will be provided to state agencies administering the school lunch program based on the proportion of meals served per state.

Hot Stuff Foods has named Executive Vice President (and former Compass/Foodbuy vice president) John Barber Chief Customer Officer, and added Marie Nelson as director of marketing. Nelson recently served as the Industry Advisory Council chair for HFM.

Women's Foodservice Forum (WFF) has announced the recipients of its major industry awards. They are Dr. Rohini Anand, senior vice president and global chief diversity officer at Sodexo (Trailblazer Award); Loria Danage-Scott, vice president, Aramark Corp. (Leadership Award) and Barbara Kane, assistant vice president at Ecolab (Volunteer of the Year Award).

The Sodexo-operated Mess Hall 455 Camp Johnson at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC, has been named the winner of the W.P.T. Hill Memorial Award, the highest honor for a food service operation in the United States Marine Corps.

Trusthouse Services Group, Inc., and FDY, Inc., have formed a joint venture “sustainable lifestyle-driven foodservice management company” called FDY Trusthouse Services to solicit business in the healthcare and college segments.