Salem Schools outsource food starting in July

Salem schools will contract with Aramark for its foods served in schools. The assistant superintendent Mike Bryant told us the new federal nutritional guidelines are hard to meet. The guidelines limit sodium and calorie intake.

"The new federal regulations are so difficult to adhere to," says Michael Bryant, Assistant Superintendent. "With a private management company, they will be responsible to adhering those guidelines and make it easier on our cafeteria."

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Right now the school uses a company from Salem for their foods. With Aramark the schools expect to save about $76,000.

"They will be able to save money because of their increased volume in buying," says Bryant. "We have six schools and a number of accounts nationwide and they're able with volume to cut food costs."

Outsourcing school foods will provide more options for students and even a regional chef that the school system can't afford now.

We took a look at other localities too. Bedford County continues to use a local company and doesn't outsource any of its employees or food. Roanoke County has discussed outsourcing foods before but haven't made the move yet. Roanoke City schools doesn't outsource food but line employees who serve the food in the cafeterias.

The assistant superintendent says the school does follow federal guidelines now but want students to have more options too.