ASPHN has released the “Vendors Training Guide Tool,” a data-driven resource for public health nutritionists who build relationships and create trainings and educational sessions for vendors, blind vendors, and Business Enterprise Program (BEP) partners under the Randolph-Sheppard Act.

To help users gain the most from this powerful tool, ASPHN is conducting a webinar on April 15, 2020 from 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Registration is open to all public health and nutrition professionals and can be accessed here. The webinar will:

• introduce the key components of the guide and identify consumer and vending trends;
• demonstrate how to utilize the data to bolster relationships with vendors/blind vendors;
• address key challenges as identified by vendor data;
• employ messaging resources to guide effective communication when working with vendors.

The "Vendors Training Guide Tool" is designed to facilitate education around topics that blind vendors have identified as paramount to better, healthful vending services and customer satisfaction. The 30 page brief pulls from various data sources and heavily references a survey of 139 members of the National Association of Blind Merchants (NABM).

The survey was conducted in 2018 by The Alliance for A Healthier Generation in conjunction with NABM and the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA). Funding for the survey was provided through ASPHN and The Centers for Disease Control (CDC). 

According to Allison Schnitzer, RD, LD, Health Educator II, Office of Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion, Southern Nevada Health District, "All of the surveying of operators is terrific, especially hearing what vendors think would be most helpful to them in implementing nutrition policies, and also seeing what level of compliance they currently have with nutrition policies. The tool makes it easier for public health nutritionists to join forces with vendors for healthy food sources."

The "Vendors Training Guide Tool" can be obtained from ASPHN’s website. For more information or questions, please contact Shana Patterson, RDN at shana@asphn.org or 814 255-2829 ext. 708.

Founded in 1952, ASPHN is a non-profit membership organization that provides state and national leadership on food and nutrition policy, programs and services aimed at improving the health of our population. ASPHN’s membership is composed of more than 500 public health nutritionists located throughout all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. ASPHN's vision is healthy eating and active living for everyone. You can find ASPHN on the web at www.asphn.org and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/asphn.

This publication was supported by the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists’ Cooperative Agreement Number NU38OT000279 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.