We all know as the military make changes the contractors also have to make a change in the way to do business and that’s exactly what Blackstone Consulting Inc did by educating the staff providing the necessary training to ensure the company stays within regulatory compliance and meets the Government approval. The Go for Green program is the Army’s dining facility nutrition education program. Go for Green is a nutritional recognition labeling system providing the Soldier’s with a quick assessment of the nutritional value of menu offerings and food products in the dining facility. The menu offerings and food items are labeled green (eat often), amber (eat occasionally), and red (eat rarely) based on the impact the food can have on a Soldier’s performance. For example, foods labeled green are high performance foods that can positively impact a Soldier’s performance and foods labeled red are performance inhibiting foods which can negatively impact a Soldier performance. The program has posters and menu cards for the serving line providing explanation of the Color-coding system.
Go For Green
The menu planning is a major responsibility of the dining facility manager is to ensure that diners have nutritionally adequate menu choices. The menu planning is normally performed at the military Food Program Manager office by using a 10 – 30 day cyclic menu plan. The contactor Project Manager will ensure that a food safety and nutrition education program is provided for the customers of the dining facility. The dining facility manager as a minimum, will convey the points that, (1) Healthy food choices provide a diet that is nutrient dense with recommended intakes of vitamins and mineral, high fiber, moderate protein, and much lower levels of saturated fat, sodium, sugar, cholesterol, and preservatives than is typical of the most current eating patterns. (2) Healthy foods typically have minimal food processing technologies applied to them. (3) A healthy, balanced diet combined with other lifestyle choices leads to increased resistance to disease, better daily performance, and a better sense of well-being.
Robins Air Force Base – Go For Green Station
The Project Manager will ensure that the following actions are taken to apply nutrition principles to the installation foodservice program: (1) Dining facilities will provide both healthy choices and highly acceptable food items for diner selection through the entire serving period for each meal. (2) Food item catalogs and master item files will be reviewed and updated at least semiannually to include a wide variety of food items that are available for the production of healthy menu choices. (3) Training is provided to all food service personnel on food items and preparation techniques that support health and nutrition goals. (4) Training and promotional materials that educate customers and reinforce the benefits of choosing a nutritionally sound and balanced meal are available and promoted at each to dining facility.
Dining Facility Managers/First Cook/Shift Leaders in the process of Go For Green Training
- Hang poster where visible to patrons in the dining facility and make educational materials readily available to customers.
- Label all food items on the serving line.
- Ensure all food items have correct green, amber or red labels for each meal service.
- Ensure a system is in place to keep labels neat, clean and professional. Replace labels as needed and discard dirty, discolored or illegible labels.
