ARAMARK announces partnership with Grayson Natural Foods

ARAMARK recently announced that they will serve Grayson Natural Foods hamburger patties twice monthly in the Reynolda Fresh Food Company. The announcement comes after a long accreditation endeavor on the part of Grayson Foods and ARAMARK, who typically buys as much as possible from one national distributor to keep costs down. The move to purchase more sustainable, local products is in response to the university’s encouragement to buy local. The move is in keeping with ARAMARK’s commitment to “fostering new connections from field to fork emphasizing fresh whole foods that are raised, grown, harvested and produced locally and/or sustainably.”

Grayson beef comes from pasture-raised, antibiotic-free cows that spend their days roaming the mountainous pastures of Grayson County, Virginia. The meat production system is “Source Verified” which means that each steak or hamburger patty can be traced back to the pasture where the particular steer or heifer was born. Each animal is raised in the pasture on a diet that contains absolutely no animal-byproducts. There are no crowded concrete feedlots on Grayson farms, so the animals are not force fed unhealthy food. If an animal gets sick, it is treated by a veterinarian and taken out of the Grayson food-production system and sold commercially. Just as they are raised, each animal is processed individually, resulting in Angus burgers that are lower in fat and free of hormones.  Shorty’s already serves a premium burger made of Grayson Beef.