Articles in the September 2009 Issue

A Note from Sandra

School bells are ringing and students are back in class at school and Head Start, – which means the food service is up and running, too. Some never closed! Routines at the childcare centers are being established again and we are all ready to roll! Here’s wishing you a successful and healthy year. This is like another shot at New Year’s Eve – a chance to make new resolutions and ideas to implement in the coming year.
 
We have some new personnel in Child & Adult Nutrition Services who were at the summer conferences and I hope you had a chance to visit with them. We all had a first day somewhere along the way – so do not hesitate to call them when you have a question. If they do not know the answer, they will find it.

Word on the street is that reauthorization for the child nutrition programs may be pushed back a year. We will keep you posted as we learn more either about progress or holds.

As you make your plans for the months ahead, I hope each of you gets what you want out of this year, and that you still want it after you’ve gotten it! (from Kaplan’s Laughs)

 

Back to Top

Training for New Kitchen Managers

 

 

Are you a new school food service kitchen manager? Those first months can be pretty overwhelming to a new kitchen manager who soon realizes their job responsibility includes a lot of paper work and reports and is more than just being sure all students are fed a reimbursable meal. If you are a new manager who has not recently attended Child Nutrition Institute sponsored by CANS in June on the Augustana Campus in Sioux Falls or did not have the opportunity to enroll in the New Manager’s pre-conference class at Fall Conference in July at Huron, you will have another opportunity to get some training. A 1 1/2 day New Managers Training class is being planned for presentation in Pierre starting at 1:00 p.m. on October 1st and continuing on October 2nd at the State Library Building. In addition on the morning of October 1st, a half day training class “Developing a Food Safety Program” is also being planned. Participants will have the choice of attending either or both trainings.

Who should consider attending these trainings? Anyone who is new to being a school food service kitchen manager, or the person responsible for completing required paperwork pertaining to the lunch and breakfast programs within the last year or two. The training will be free of charge, however a fee of $25, to cover materials, will be billed to the school for each person who registered for the class but did not show up for class. Be watching for further information and the registration form which will be sent to your school. Contact Marlyce Micklos at 773-3610 for more information.

Back to Top

Updates to Child Nutrition Program Regulations and Policies

USDA recently released memos on Milk Substitution Rule, School Closings for H1N1 Outbreaks, and Extending Categorical Eligibility to Additional Children in a Household. You can read them if you go to the FNS/USDA website: www.fns.usda.gov/cnd and click on Program Policy.

Q&As re Milk Substitution for Children with Medical or Special Dietary Needs (Non-Disability)

Schools in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program have the option to offer a nondairy milk substitute to a student with a medical or special dietary need other than a disability. The final rule Fluid Milk Substitutions in the School Nutrition Programs addresses the substitution of fluid milk for children whose non-disabling allergies, culture, religion, or ethical beliefs prevent the consumption of cow’s milk. The final rule sets nutrition standards for the nondairy milk substitutes that may be offered as part of the reimbursable meal.

Note that this final rule does not apply in cases of disability. For a student with a recognized disability who cannot consume cow’s milk, the school must omit or substitute fluid milk based on the written statement from a licensed physician.

Refer to USDA policy memo SP 35-2009 for detailed questions and answers regarding implementing the milk substitution at the above link.

School Closings for H1N1 Outbreaks: Questions and Answers

School Food Authorities (SFAs) and community organizations may continue to provide reimbursable meals to low-income children during school closures related to the H1N1 influenza virus. Such closures would prevent the service of congregate meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. Meals served during these school closures may be claimed either through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) or the National School Lunch Program’s Seamless Summer Option (SSO).

Any SFA or eligible community organization that wants to continue to provide reimbursable meals for children in schools closed due to the H1N1 virus must have an agreement with the State Agency which covers operation of the SFSP or the SSO. SFAs and organizations with existing agreements in place may modify these agreements to include waiver requests for operation during H1N1 school closures.

For more details on providing reimbursable meals during an H1N1 outbreak and how to modify the SFA’s current agreement with the State Agency, please refer to memos SP 33-2009 SFSP 06-2009 and SP 31-2009 SFSP 05-2009 in the link indicated above. State and local agencies should periodically check the above FNS/USDA website for updates on efforts to address the H1N1 situation.

For additional information regarding the H1N1 flu virus go to: www.flu.gov; www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu; or www.doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/H1N1flu.asp

Extending Categorical Eligibility to Additional Children in a Household

Beginning in School year 2009-2010, for direct certification with SNAP, FDPIR or TANF and applications with case numbers for these programs, all children in the family are categorically eligible for free meals. To the extent possible, local agencies must extend eligibility for free meals to all children in what would be considered a family for the purposes of applying for free or reduced price meals or free milk under the special milk program. If the local agency does not have an application as a reference, it may be able to use school district enrollment records to determine additional children who are part of the family who were not identified through direct certification. For households submitting applications with case numbers for some, but not all, of their children, the local agency must certify all children as categorically eligible for free meals or milk under the special milk program. Any income on the application is disregarded. Further, for purposes of carry-over into the new school year, categorical eligibility must, to the extent feasible, be extended to newly enrolled siblings.

This memorandum supersedes the policy provided in the January 2008 edition of the Eligibility Manual for School Meals concerning categorical eligibility. The manual will be updated. These policies extend to the Child and Adult Care Food Program and to the Summer Food Service Program when applications are taken. Please note that these policies do not extend to other categorically eligible categories such as Head Start or children enrolled in the Migrant Education program.

Refer to USDA policy memo SP 38-2009, CACFP 08-2009, SFSP 07-2009 for detailed questions and answers regarding extending the categorical eligibility to additional children in a household at the above link.

Back to Top

Commodity Updates

We in the Food Distribution office at CANS would like to say Welcome Back!  It has been a very busy summer. Some of the changes that we have been working with during the last few months include Fresh Fruits And Vegetables Order Receipt System (FFAVORS), TAP-IT, Net Off Invoicing (NOI), and learning all about Food Distribution. 

As many of you may know I started the 24th of March with the Department of Education Child and Adult Nutrition Services as a Food Distribution Specialist. I worked with Elaine Scott for a SHORT two weeks trying to learn as much as possible from her in the short amount of time until she decided she had to enjoy retirement. 

Since I have started we have been looking into different avenues of using entitlement more efficiently. One of those items is called Net Price Through Distributor or Net Off Invoicing. We have been working with a small group of schools that have expressed interest in trying NOI for their school district. We are working with the national food distribution office to procure items for this process.  Hopefully we will be able to have more schools involved in the future.

TAP-IT – Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Ordering

I have been informed that TAP-IT will be making some changes with the ordering software. The schools will be switching from FFAVORS TAP-IT to FFAVORS Web sometime after August 2009. At the time of this printing I have not been informed of the new information. At this time continue ordering your produce as usual. The fall of the school year should give you the best use of your entitlement in fresh produce.

DoD HELPFUL HINTS: THIS IS WELL WORTH REPEATING!!!

  • The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia  (DSCP) Mini Team has asked for your assistance in submitting via TAP-IT your produce orders in a timely manner.  Still print out your confirmation of the DSO Final Buy as a matter of record that you placed the produce order.  Produce suppliers can not deliver a produce shipment without a DSO Final Buy Report-By Vendor sent from DSCP: billing and accounting issues may occur.  Again, print out your confirmation of the DSO Final Buy as a matter of record that you placed the produce order. 

  • LOGOUT PROCESS:   use the LOGOUT option on your MAIN MENU.  DO Not, I repeat: Do Not leave or exit the system using your internet browser nor “X” out.  The next time you attempt to access the system a message will appear advising you that another User is in your account. SIGN OUT PROPERLY!

  • LOSS OF CONNECTIVITY: whether you use FFAVORS TAP-IT or FFAVORS Web when you are idle on the application screen for 20 minutes or more you will certainly lose connectivity to your data base. 

  • PASSWORD ACCESS VIOLATION: three (3) unsuccessful attempts and you will be locked out and can not be released without assistance from your Account Specialist, Karen Kenton (e-mail: Karen.Kenton@dla.mil or phone: 303-961-1235). NOTE: is you CAPS lock on?

  • SAVE YOUR PRODUCE ORDER: SAVE YOUR PRODUCE ORDER input by processing a print screen of your CONFIRMATION NUMBER. The Confirmation Number will greatly assist you in identifying that you in fact placed a valid produce order. If you have worked your way through the process and are unable to complete a Print Screen then you know your order is not valid and most likely will not be processed by DSCP to your awarded produce supplier.

  • HELPFUL PRODUCE STORAGE TRAINING WEBSITE

  • Have You Heard About FFAVORS Web? Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Order/Receipt System on the web is the new ordering system which will replace TAP-IT Online. FFAVORS Web will provide the actual product cost/final delivered price at the time of order. The price you see on the catalog is what you will be billed.  FFAVORS Web also provides access to your funds balance and the total cost of the order being placed. Another enhancement is the ability of the school to place a receipt for every delivery to ensure that the vendor invoice and billing are correct. Please remember to print your order confirmation number after placing your order and your receipt confirmation number after confirming that you have received all produce in acceptable form.  User IDs and passwords will be sent to every authorized ordering person from DSCP.

CAFÉ FAVORITES – HOLD has been RELEASED

  • July 6, 2009 US Department of Agriculture has released the hold that was recently placed on Café Favorites products. The products have been found to be safe for consumption.

Back to Top

National School Lunch Week Oct. 12-16, 2009

 

 

 

The theme selected by the School Nutrition Association to celebrate National School Lunch Week is titled, “All-Star School Lunch”. The theme is a slam-dunk to help students learn about the importance of eating healthy and being active.
The NBA inspired campaign features 5 “basketball teams” each comprised of healthy school lunch menu items and coached by a current or former NBA/ WNBA player. The campaign runs from August 2009 to October 2009, culminating during National School Lunch Week, October 12-16, 2009.

The April 2009 issue of School Nutrition featured the campaign launch article for “All-Star School Lunch” Download the article now for campaign information, menus, decorating ideas and some great tips on how to make this the best National School Lunch Week ever. For further on-line information, the following web address http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/meetingsandevents/nslw2009/  can be used to find the featured menus, tools to help plan your special week, information for the “All Star Team Contest”, and the participation sweepstakes survey. You can complete and submit the participation sweepstakes form found on the website and you will have the chance to win “All-Star” prize packs for your school.

CANS strongly encourages all schools to become involved with the 2009 National School Lunch Week promotion. When you get excited about school meals your students will enjoy and appreciate your efforts. If you take pictures of your NSLW promotions be sure to send some copies to share with either CANS or Eric Kunzweiler, publication editor for the SNA of SD newsletter. Eric can be reached at 605-334-2808.

Back to Top

 

Kitchen Equipment Grants Awarded

Thirty sites in 20 agencies in South Dakota have been awarded money to purchase new or upgrade kitchen equipment through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Equipment Assistance Grant.

South Dakota received over $2.1 million in grant application requests—almost ten times the actual amount available of $255,465. Priority was given to schools that met the application requirements of serving a significant number of students with 50% or more of the participants eligible for free/reduced price meals through the National School  Lunch Program. Requests also had to meet at least one of four focus areas:

  • improve the quality of school foodservice meals,
  • improve the safety of food served,
  • improve the overall energy efficiency of the operation, and/or
  • equipment that can support expanded participation in a school meal program.

Agencies that received funds are:

Colome School District
Dupree School District
Enemy Swim Day School
Flandreau Indian School
Gregory School District
Hot Springs School District
Huron Public Schools
Kadoka Area Schools
Mitchell School District
Newell School District
Rapid City Schools
St. Joseph Indian School
Sisseton School District
Sioux Falls Public Schools
SD Dept. of Human Services
Tiospaye Topa
Todd County School District
Tripp-Delmont School District
White River School District
Yankton School District

A full list of sites can be found at http://doe.sd.gov/stimulus/

 

Back to Top

Building for the Future with the CACFP

Child Care Resources:

The National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) Library collection contains over 20,000 summaries and availability information for published documents of interest to policymakers, administrators, practitioners, researchers and other members of the child care community. Links to full-text publications about child care and school-age issues are provided when available. You can find the library at: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/library/index.cfm?do=oll.search.

Production Records Quiz Show:

In an attempt to help you avoid the most common errors we see during CACFP reviews we are using this as a way to educate agencies on the requirements for production records in the CACFP that are most commonly found as errors during program reviews.

Did you know?

  • That you need to record specific information in the Quantities Prepared column. This information must be measurable (e.g. recording 1 loaf it not specific and measurable; you need to record the weight of that loaf)
  • That you need to complete the leftover column when you are going to serve those leftovers at another meal.
  • That you must record the number of children in each age group and the number of adult meals that you served for every meal that you claim for reimbursement
  • That you may not claim adult meals.

 

Back to Top

Kids in the Kitchen


Homemade Tortilla Chips
Source: Physical Activities
and Healthy Snacks for Young Children



5 whole wheat tortillas

Salt Free Herb Blend:
5 teaspoons onion powder
2½ teaspoons garlic powder
2½ teaspoons sweet paprika
1½ teaspoons dry mustard
1½ teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine ingredients and mix well. Spoon into a shaker. Makes 1/3 cup.

Spray light coating of cooking oil or water on 5 whole wheat tortillas. Sprinkle herb mixture on the tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges. Spread in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until crispy.

Provides 1 grain/bread for CACFP Snack for 1-5 year olds
Calories, 80; Fiber, .8 g; Total Fat, 1.7 g; Saturated Fat, .4 g.

Snack Idea (1-5 year olds):

4 chips with hummus and a glass of water

 

Back to Top

Kids on the Move




Locomotor Skills
Source: Physical Activities and
Healthy Snacks for Young Children

Arrange the children in a scatter formation so all children can see you.

Locomotor skills are walking, running, jumping, hopping, galloping, sliding, and skipping. Hopping is a jump taking off from one foot and landing on that foot. In galloping the same foot is always in the front (leading). Skipping is step-hop, step-hop.

Have children move around the areas using each skill. Emphasize moving under control, so children don’t fall or bump into each other. Begin with walking, then progress to running, jumping, and so forth. The skills listed become progressively more difficult. You may have to help by holding a child’s hand hopping or demonstrating and practicing sliding, galloping, or skipping. Children begin these skills at the following ages: walk (12 months), run, hop, and jump (24 months), gallop, slide, and skip (36 months).

 

Back to Top

Contests and Competitions    

Dairy MAX – School Wellness through Expanding Breakfast Grant Program

The 2009 Dairy MAX School Wellness through Expanding Breakfast Grant Program helps schools begin new expanded breakfast programs to improve student access to nutritious meals. The goal of the expanded breakfast program is to increase the average daily participation by 50 percent or more by establishing one of the following alternative breakfast service options: Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab ‘n Go Breakfast (served outside the cafeteria), or Breakfast after 1st Period.

Grant awards will be up to $1,000 per school and will be awarded to the child nutrition department. Eligible applicants include schools that are in the National School Breakfast Program.

Deadline: December 1, 2009

Please contact Dairy MAX directly for more specific grant information and to apply: http://www.dairymax.org/expanding_grants.aspx

Go for the Whole Grain Challenge

People who eat whole grains reduce serious health risks like heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, digestive cancers, and stroke plus they help with weight control. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that half the grains we eat—or about 3 servings per day—be whole grains. Here’s your chance to practice
eating more whole grains and to have a little friendly competition at the same time!

The next Healthy Challenge will count servings of whole grains
and will be held September 15 – October 15. You can join the
 friendly competition as individuals or as a team of family, friends or co-workers.  Sign-up begins now by going to www.HealthySD.gov and clicking on the link on the opening page.  The Challenge is all web-based and each participant needs their own email address to participate.

To make it easy to participate, the Department of Health in collaboration with the South Dakota Wheat Commission, Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods, and Hodgson Mill will provide a whole grains cookbook, a measuring spoon, and a sample of whole grain cereal as an incentive for joining the challenge. At the end of the challenge, 10 randomly selected participants will receive a special prize.
                                                                                                                       
Get a team together today and help improve your health!     

 

Back to Top

HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) Application goes Online

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has a new, user-friendly interactive online application for the HUSSC that is located on the FNS Team Nutrition website (www.teamnutrition.usda.gov). The application can be used by schools applying for any of the four HUSSC award levels. One version of the online, interactive application is customized for Bronze or Silver Award applicants; a second version is customized for Gold or Gold Award of Distinction applicants. This new application is expected to simplify and streamline the HUSSC application and review process.

Some key new features include:

  • A General Information page, providing application tips and direct links to access important menu development resources and other information;
  • Drop-down boxes strategically placed to minimize typing;
  • “More info” rollover bars offering ideas for food items; and
  • A Competitive Foods Calculator intended to help schools determine if the foods and beverages they sell as competitive foods meet the HUSSC criteria.

The HealthierUS School Challenge initiative aims to improve the health of the nation’s children by promoting a healthier school environment via improving the quality of foods served in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program, providing students with nutrition and physical education, and providing opportunities for physical activity. This user-friendly interactive application is a tool to help them achieve these goals.

Back to Top

Do you need an updated Menu Planner of Food Buying Guide?

The CDs are here with the newest versions of the Menu Planner for Healthy School Meals and the Food Buying Guide. USDA is no longer providing hard copies of these resources so you can feel free to print them off to put in a binder or simply use them on the CD. These resources are also available on line for your use at http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/menuplanner.html and http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/foodbuyingguide.html. If you would like the CDs sent to you please contact Shar Venjohn, Child & Adult Nutrition Services at 773-3413 or by email at shar.venjohn@state.sd.us.

Back Top

CANS Technical Assistance Workshop

Save This Date

When:            Thursday, September 24, 2009
                        1:30 PM to 3:30 PM CST

Where:          State Capitol Building in Pierre
                       DDN Studio A & B, basement level
                       (Other local sites to be determined, will be
                         announced via e-mail and CANS website.)

What:           CANS Technical Assistance Workshop

    • Meal benefit eligibility topics
    • 30 day carry-over rule
    • Verification and Certification topics
    • Verification Summary Report 742SD
    • October Data Survey Report

FYI:  This date was chosen so people who come to Pierre for the ASBO meeting could conveniently choose to participate in a ‘live” DDN session at the Capitol DDN Studio before heading back to your home district.
 

 

 

DOE Home | State Home Page | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy

Copyright © Department of Education SD