Monitor and Evaluate

At a glance

When monitoring and evaluating the implementation of your food service guidelines initiative, consider several factors. These factors include the feasibility of your plans, the types of data available, whether the data are appropriate for your setting, the people affected, and whether there are any co-benefits.

Icon of a checklist and a file of papers against a peach colored background.

Overview

When monitoring and evaluation are applied to implementation of food service guidelines, consider the long-term goals of your initiative. Give thought to what is feasible to monitor in terms of cost, availability of personnel to conduct the audits, and time.

Other decisions should be based on:

  • Types of data you can obtain. Examples include point-of-sale, procurement, production, and menu data.
  • Appropriateness of data type for the setting, meaning where foods are sold, served, or given away.
  • Reach and populations impacted.
  • Co-benefits of food service guidelines implementation, such as support of local farms, job growth, and cost-savings due to waste reduction.

As you monitor and evaluate food service guidelines, work with your evaluator to answer questions of interest to others affected by food service guidelines. These include leaders, champions, partners, vendors, consumers, and more. Such representatives may be a part of your food service guidelines team or coalition and can advise you accordingly. If not on your team or coalition, you can gain their input through public meetings, interviews with key individuals, or other methods.

Definitions

Monitoring uses periodic data collection (such as audits) to track implementation progress. This lets you know if you are on track to achieve your goals.


Evaluation determines the effectiveness of your program or initiative. This helps you understand why your program may or may not be working.

Next steps

Man monitoring inventory in kitchen
Monitor Food Service Guidelines
Contains checklists and calculators to help monitor food service guidelines.
Four young adults in cafeteria serving line.
Evaluate Food Service Guidelines
Provides overview of process, outcome, and long-term outcome evaluation.
Food in a food service line
Use Multiple Data Types for Outcome Evaluation
Introduces five types of data used to evaluate food service guidelines implementation.
An institution serving the same meal to it residents.
Choose Data According to Setting
Describes how data used for long-term outcome evaluation is affected by setting.
Healthcare worker getting a meal from a cafeteria.
Measure Reach and Impact
Provides definitions, examples, and a formula for calculating reach for evaluations.
Farmer with box of fresh produce.
Track Co-Benefits of Food Service Guidelines
Lists benefits including population health, the local economy, and the environment.

/food-service-guidelines-toolkit/php/monitor-evaluate/monitoring-food-service-guidelines.html

Go back to

Icons for the four Building Blocks of Food Service Guidelines. The four icons are 1) trowel and brick wall 2) shaking hands 3) a checklist and 4) a street sign going in three directions.
Food Service Guidelines Implementation Toolkit
Describes how to use the four Building Blocks of the Food Service Guidelines Implementation Toolkit.
Print
Content Source: