Food Service Directors' perspectives and strategies: Strengthening competitive food and beverage standards while minimizing impacts to school profits

Background and Purpose: Since the Child Nutrition Act of 2004, districts nationwide adopted a wide range of competitive food and beverage policies. One key barrier that districts face in adopting and implementing strong standards is the threat of lost profits. Significance: Districts nationwide continue to work on school nutrition standards with limited evidence for best practices. By highlighting these strategies through the experiences of a key stakeholder in school nutrition reform- Food Service Directors (FSDs) - this research provides lessons learned for schools that are implementing stronger nutrition standards with limited resources. Also, these findings are relevant as the USDA seeks new nutrition standards for all foods outside of school meal programs. Methodology: The Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI), The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) partnered to identify 27 districts nationwide with strong nutrition standards through the Bridging the Gap (BTG) project at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Health Policy Center. From these districts, 9 FSDs completed semi-structured telephone interviews that focused on implementation of successful strategies and impacts on finances. Findings: Preliminary findings indicate diverse challenges that were met with a wide range of creative strategies. FSDs incorporated gardening, farm to school strategies, and community collaborations to reform school food environments. FSD also involved students to improve food presentation, which encouraged participation in school meals. Conclusion: These case studies contribute to our knowledge of best practices for implementing stronger nutrition standards without compromising profits.