The use of Styrofoam containers in correctional facilities across the nation is causing major problems. These containers are not only wasteful and detrimental to the environment, but they burn a hole in your budget too. The use of Styrofoam containers and other forms of disposable containers could be costing you upwards of $100,000.

As healthcare foodservice grapples with the challenges posed by inflation, innovative solutions are needed to ensure quality, nutrition, and cost-effective meal delivery. In this article, we explore the impact of inflation on healthcare foodservice and discuss how JonesZylon’s temperature-controlled food carts can play a vital role in mitigating these challenges.

Have you ever had one of those on then off again relationships- where one minute you’re in love and things seem to be “heating up” and the next minute things are “ice cold” and you’re just not feeling it? Those can be draining, because we can’t figure out what is supposed to be and what isn’t.

In foodservice tough situations can escalate rather quickly for a variety of reasons. The goal in every kitchen is to control as much as possible when it comes to food safety, food cost, and food quality. Yet ensuring these things are under control can become increasingly difficult before the day even begins.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way the world operates. Nearly every industry has been impacted-some more than others. In the corrections industry, there remains an urgent need to deliver meals to the incarcerated in as safe and effective a manner as possible to keep individuals healthy. This is no small feat.

Serving hot meals can be a challenge if the meal is served in the housing unit. Serving hot food in a dining facility is straight forward: hot kettle or tilt skillet to heated hot box to heated steam table, then dish it up and hand it over nice and hot. But what if you dish it up and hand it over 45 minutes later? Maybe not so nice and hot now.

What’s the “best” way to deliver meals to housing units? That’s the wrong question. The right question is “What’s the best way to deliver meals to housing units at my facility?” for the problems that I need solved, for the number of inmates I serve, for the distances I transport the meals, for the budget that I have, for the priorities important to my warden/sheriff, for the… you get the point. It would help to know what the options are and their advantages and disadvantages. In this paper you’ll find a brief synopsis of the 6 main methods and their pros and cons. The summary at the end of this paper concludes with a matrix to use for comparison.

Most of the correctional dinnerware on the market looks the same from one supplier to the next and looks like the same stuff that was around 20 years ago. Isn’t there anything new? The primary thing that has evolved isn’t the shapes and sizes; it’s the material that all of this is made from. A meal tray serves pretty much the same purpose in any environment. However, the unique requirements in the corrections environment calls for special characteristics of the material. Can it break into shards and sharpen into a weapon? How long does it last? What is the max temp it can withstand? What happens if it’s melted? These questions and others have driven the evolution of correctional dinnerware and we have arrived at some pretty novel solutions for facing the challenges of corrections food service.

It’s no surprise to most of us that a 362-bed skilled nursing facility faces several key challenges in food service. Hundreds of different sets of tastes, preferences, and health requirements, multiple locations all needing served simultaneously, and a mission to serve good, hot food where it needs to be and when it needs to be there. Many facilities find that it’s almost impossible to pull it all off without making real compromises in meal options offered, cost efficiency, consistency of service, and the time/locations where residents can eat.

Designing the meal delivery systems in order to serve meals in the housing units instead of the cafeteria.