A to Z Salad Bar Nutrition Education Program

Challenge
Sodexo School Services, a foodservice provider focusing on the K-12 market, needed to update and enhance a dated salad bar program geared toward elementary and middle school students. Highlighting produce beginning with each letter of the alphabet, the program needed a complete overhaul to compete for students’ attention and participation.

Approach
Ideaworks used student feedback obtained via focus groups and one-on-one interviews to design a more engaging and interesting graphic look for the overall program. In addition, the team enhanced the display content and lesson plans associated with the program to focus more on today’s nutrition education requirements. Finally, more emphasis was placed on not only the cafeteria promotion materials utilized as part of the program, but also the take-home value the program offered via parent handouts and flyers.

Results
Sodexo Schools’ representatives were not only completely satisfied with the design overhaul of the program, but they also decided to extend the scope of the program by partnering with national produce boards for enhanced content and student value. The program continues to play a critical role in the company’s nutrition education in-school and community outreach efforts.