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5 things: Sodexo expands Humane Society partnership

This and a New York City bill that would require health inspection grades to be posted prominently in school cafeterias are some of the stories you may have missed recently.

Mike Buzalka, Executive Features Editor

April 19, 2022

3 Min Read
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In this edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments affecting onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

  1. Sodexo expands Humane Society partnership

Sodexo is expanding its collaboration with the Humane Society of the United States with new initiatives aimed at tackling climate change and reducing the company’s carbon footprint by focusing on increasing plant-based menu options on Sodexo menus at hundreds of universities across the United States. It is part of Sodexo’s overall strategy to reduce their carbon emissions 34% by 2025 and follows an internal analysis that shows that at least 70% of its U.S. supply carbon footprint was related to animal-based food purchases in fiscal year 2020.

Read more: Sodexo and The Humane Society of The United States Team Up to Tackle Climate Change With Plant-Based Meals

  1. Bill would require prominent display of school cafeteria health grades

A bill introduced in New York City Council would give the Department of Health or another department the power to post health inspection grades in a visible place and if the grade is C or below, the Department of Education would need to inform parents. The proposed legislation is currently awaiting a hearing with the City Council’s Education Committee.

Related:5 things: Chartwells launches major plant-forward campus event

Read more: Bill would bring health inspection letter grades to school cafeterias

  1. Chartwells inks 10-year deal with Cal State system

Chartwells Higher Education has announced a ten-year dining services strategic sponsorship agreement with the California State University (CSU) system that provides the opportunity for any of the 23 CSU campuses, or any auxiliary organization authorized to manage, operate, or administer food services on behalf of a CSU campus, to use Chartwells’ services. Chartwells currently operates dining services at eight CSU campuses, with operations beginning at the ninth campus in the summer of 2022.

  1. Hospital returns cafeteria to foodservice after use as COVID unit

After nearly two years to the day, Hackensack University Medical Center, one of New Jersey’s largest hospitals, is returning its cafeteria to its traditional role after converting it into a 74-bed unit to treat COVID-19 patients in non-intensive care beds. "Together, our entire team not only navigated the early days of the pandemic, they built a dynamic path forward helping thousands of  patients recover and also go home to their families and today, being able to reopen our cafeteria is a major milestone symbolic of our return to normalcy,” comments Mark D. Sparta, President & Chief Hospital Executive, Hackensack University Medical Center President North Region, Hackensack Meridian Health.

Related:5 tech things: Panera tests automated coffee brewing system

Read more: Hackensack University Medical Center Reopens Cafeteria Nearly Two Years to the Day the Hospital was Forced to Convert the Space into a 74-Bed COVID-19 Treatment Unit

  1. California public schools see major enrollment decline

California public school enrollment has dropped for the fifth year in a row—a decline of more than 110,000 students—as K-12 campuses struggle against pandemic disruptions and a shrinking population of school-age kids amid wide concerns that the decrease is so large that educators can’t account for the missing children. California enrollment stood at 5,892,240 when measured in the fall of 2021, a 1.8% decline, according to recently released state data, the first time since 2000 that the state’s K-12 population has dipped below 6 million, with large urban districts accounting for one-third of the drop.

Read more: California public school enrollment spirals, dropping by 110,000 students this year

Bonus: The new barbecue fusion blows smoke in the face of conventions

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]

Read more about:

Sodexo

About the Author

Mike Buzalka

Executive Features Editor, Food Management

Mike Buzalka is executive features editor for Food Management and contributing editor to Restaurant Hospitality, Supermarket News and Nation’s Restaurant News. On Food Management, Mike has lead responsibility for compiling the annual Top 50 Contract Management Companies as well as the K-12, College, Hospital and Senior Dining Power Players listings. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Literature from John Carroll University. Before joining Food Management in 1998, he served as for eight years as assistant editor and then editor of Foodservice Distributor magazine. Mike’s personal interests range from local sports such as the Cleveland Indians and Browns to classic and modern literature, history and politics.

Mike Buzalka’s areas of expertise include operations, innovation and technology topics in onsite foodservice industry markets like K-12 Schools, Higher Education, Healthcare and Business & Industry.

Mike Buzalka’s experience:

Executive Features Editor, Food Management magazine (2010-present)

Contributing Editor, Restaurant Hospitality, Supermarket News and Nation’s Restaurant News (2016-present)

Associate Editor, Food Management magazine (1998-2010)

Editor, Foodservice Distributor magazine (1997-1998)

Assistant Editor, Foodservice Distributor magazine (1989-1997)

 

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