Articles in the May Issue:
A Note from Sandra
The first week of May is Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week and Child Care Provider appreciation day is Friday, May 11. Let me take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to each of you who helps make sure children have access to nutritious foods in a safe environment each day. Your work helps to make them ready to learn. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~William James
What fun it was to participate in awarding Custer Elementary School their Silver HealthierUS School Challenge! It was obvious from the enthusiasm of children and staff at the school that this is a great place to be!
Speaking of the HealthierUS School Challenge, the program has changed. There are new levels, new guides, and, best of all, monetary awards! You can read up on it and complete an application at
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/healthierUS/index.html. You can choose to start at the bronze level and work your way up to the highest level you can meet and receive the monetary award for each level that you meet. Check it out!
Congratulations to the schools that were chosen to receive the very limited equipment grant money that we have available, and who have been awarded the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. We appreciate all the applications and regret that we do not have funding for all schools yet.
The Child & Adult Care Food Program continues to grow – congratulations to those sites, too, that have completed the lengthy application process. Your daily work with children to provide guidance and opportunities to learn and grow as well as nutrition is huge and we appreciate all you do.
Another portion of child nutrition that is just starting into gear at this time is the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option in the National School Lunch Program. We have about 6 new agencies on the programs providing meals to children this summer. Even though they don’t have a special recognition day, we do appreciate the efforts to help children with nutritious meals when school is not in session.
Reauthorization of the child nutrition programs is in progress. You can read the bill and amendments as well as summaries at
http://ag.senate.gov/site/legislation.html. It is still in committee.
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CANS on the move (again!)
Child and Adult Nutrition Services, along with most of the rest of the Department of Education, will be moving to the building which houses the State Library. Education’s Library staff members are already there. This is the building where the CANS office was from 2000 – 2007. The move is scheduled to start in mid-June.
• Continue to use the 800 Governors Drive mailing address.
• Fax and phone numbers will not change.
• Package delivery will be able to use 800 Governors Drive.
• Fax, phones, and computers will be inaccessible to staff for a time on the day we move.
We will provide reminders later regarding the day the move is scheduled to occur.
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We are finalizing details for Child Nutrition Institute!! If you haven’t already registered you’ve still got time! The registration deadline is May 28, 2010. Registration numbers are strong and if this is the year you want to take Baking Class or Computer Class this is the year to do it as it will be going to an every other year rotation. Institute will be held from June 20-25, 2010.
Confirmation letters and the newsletter will be going out the second week of May.
Please read the information you receive closely, a number of instructors are asking that you bring items such as production records, menus, recipes, etc. to their classes. You will find the list of items you should bring with you listed in the 2nd newsletter under What Do I Need to Bring. Don’t forget to grab those records before you leave school for the year. If you are registered and have not received your confirmation letter by May 20, 2010 please contact our office.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in June!!! Yes, the red hat is packed!
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Team Nutrition Mini Grants and The Amazing Body Tour Exhibit application date has been extended to May 28th. For more information visit the Team Nutrition site.
http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/nutrition/index.asp
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The CACFP Basic workshops are designed for new staff that need to be trained in the basics of the CACFP. The basics class is limited to 25 participants per class. The CACFP Plus! workshops are designed for veteran staff that have a solid understanding of Program requirements. Pre-registration is required for all workshops. There is no charge to attend. For more information please contact Melissa Halling at (605) 280-2696 or by e-mail at
melissa.halling@state.sd.us.
The dates and locations of the CACFP Basic training are as follows:
May 11 - Rapid City - Youth & Family Services
May 18 - Sioux Falls - Sioux Falls School District
June 2 - Pierre, SD - State Library
The dates and locations of the CACFP Plus! training are as follows:
May 12 - Rapid City - Youth & Family Services
May 19 - Sioux Falls - Augustana College
June 3 - Pierre, SD - State Library
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Eighty elementary schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program have been selected to participate in the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) for the 2010-11 school year. Schools will receive funds to provide free fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the school day to students.
The goals of this program are to create healthier school environments by: providing healthy food choices expand the variety of fruits and vegetables children experience, increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption; and to encourage students to make healthy choices in their diets.
Schools that have a 50% or higher percent of free/reduced price meal eligibility receive priority. The fresh fruit and vegetable snack must be served during the school day and outside of the breakfast or lunch meal.
Click here to see a list of the FFVP schools.
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Magnificent plans have been put together for the annual School Nutrition of South Dakota fall conference. Authorized Representatives and School Food Service Directors should be watching for the registration form and conference details to be arriving in your school mailbox soon. The CANS website will soon be updated to include fall conference information.
Mark your calendar to be sure to take advantage of the early bird registration which is due by Thursday, July 1st. Pre-conference classes fill quickly, be sure to reserve your seat now.
For the 2010 conference we will be returning to the Huron Crossroads Hotel and Event Center in Huron SD. Pre-conference classes will begin on Tuesday July 27th and conclude on Wednesday morning July 28th. We have planned lots of exciting and informative pre-conference classes will include “The New Healthy Edge”, “ServSafe”, “ServSafe - Recertification, "New Managers Training”, “Financial Management”, “The Healthier US School Challenge”, Traditional and Enhanced Menu Planning”, “Your Food Safety Plan” and “Talk With Your State Director”. The conference first general session will begin Wednesday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Thursday will include the traditional vendor food and equipment show followed by concurrent education workshop sessions. The committee has selected some wonderful and stimulating key note speakers you will want to meet. The conference will end with a third general session on Friday, July 30th, and will conclude about noon.
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Be sure to assign duties before walking out for summer vacation to have your food service freezers checked daily.
Be watching for the 2010-2011 Combined Application to be arriving in your school mail box about the first full week in July.
Please do not try to print parent letters until you have received the 2010-2011 Income Guidelines which will be included in the Annual Agreement packet. CANS does not get this information until July 1st.
CANS will offer New Managers Training again in early October to meet the needs of schools that may not have vacant positions filled by the time of the July fall conference training.
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On March 24, 2010 Custer Elementary School was the fifth school in South Dakota to receive the HUSSC Silver award. Pictured are Carol Veit, Principal, Angie Lord, Food Services Director, Joey Kortemeyer, Physical Education Teacher, and Jim McDonald, USDA. Mr. McDonald presented the award at an all school assembly on March 24, 2010.
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Eligible sponsors such as non-profit organizations, schools and local governments have been applying to be an approved site in either a low-income area or serve a group of children, most of whom are low-income.
Summer Food Service Program 2010 applications have been coming in and we have received 36 sponsor applications, six more than submitted in 2009.
The NSLP-Seamless Summer Option or Summer Food Program has brought in 33 sponsors, three fewer than in 2009.
More information on Summer School is found at our website
http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/sfsp/index.asp and for additional information you may attend the School Nutrition Association Fall Conference session “Making Extra Cents with Summer Feeding Programs” or contact the Summer Food Service Coordinator at Child and Adult Nutrition Services, Julie McCord at (605) 773-3110.
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Section 6(e) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) requires that the value of USDA food (commodity) assistance for schools is not less than 12 percent of all Federal assistance provided under sections 4, 6, and 11 of the NSLA each school year (SY). FNS uses the following calculation to determine if this provision is met:
Total commodity assistance divided by total FNS assistance must equal at least 12%.
• Total commodity assistance = entitlement commodity earnings (lunches served times the published commodity rate) + the value of bonus commodities distributed.
• Total FNS assistance = total cash payments (section 4 and II reimbursements) + entitlement commodity earnings + Nutrition Assistance Grants for America Samoa and Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.]
For SY 2010, total USDA food assistance fell short of the required 12 percent level by an estimated $150 million. To offset this shortfall, FNS must provide additional commodity value and expend these funds by September 30, 2010.
To accomplish this, FNS will increase SY 2011 entitlements by adding $.0250 to the estimated SY 2011 per meal rate of $.1950. This would, in effect, yield a preliminary rate of $.2200 per meal. This does not represent the actual SY 2011 per meal rate. The SY 2011 per meal rate will be published in the Federal Register in July 2010, and FNS will adjust States' entitlement, if necessary, once the new rate becomes available.
So – what does this mean? The state can and will order additional USDA Foods (commodities) for distribution in the 2011 school year. While that doesn’t help the budget this year, it will be additional help next year.
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Six South Dakota agencies have been awarded grants to purchase new, or upgrade existing, food service equipment through a one-time appropriation of funds through the (FY) 2010 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants. A total of 61,729 will be distributed through the program. These equipment assistance grants are similar in nature to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 but should not be confused with them.
According to federal guidelines, agencies that did not receive ARRA Equipment funds were given priority for the new funds. State Agencies were allowed to fund preexisting applications that were next in line to receive funding.
Agencies receiving funding are:
Shannon County Schools/Wolf Creek Elementary
Little Wound School
Crow Creek Tribal School
Faith School
McIntosh School District
Andes Central Elementary
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The question comes up periodically – did I hear this was recalled? USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services has a goal is to have every school and every recipient agency of USDA foods sign up for the notifications from
www.recalls.gov. This is a one-stop shop for U.S. Government recalls. You can sign up to receive email notices of recalls. You can choose to receive recalls for food only, or any of several other categories that may interest you. Check it out at
www.recalls.gov. You can also search for recalled items on that site.
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On the front of meeting the needs of people, a new food bank operated by Community Food Banks of South Dakota (CFBSD) has opened in Pierre. Their goal is to serve pantries in central South Dakota. Agencies such as this participate in The Emergency Food Assistance Program.
The CFBSD also is a sponsor, along with Western South Dakota Community Action, Inc. in Rapid City, of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). CSFP received a caseload increase this year. The CSFP provides a box of groceries to eligible participants in the areas which are served. Senior Citizens are the focus of both agencies. While they did receive a caseload increase, it is not large enough to meet the needs of all citizens in the state.
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Improve your health and have a little fun by participating in the Cups From the Ground Up Healthy Challenge! This challenge operated by SD Department of Health encourages increasing fruit and vegetable intake including possibly growing your own cups of veggies. The Cups From the Ground Up challenge will count cups of fruits and vegetables and runs May 1-31. The challenge is open to all South Dakotans. Sign-up begins now so get your team together.
Most adults need 2 to 2.5 cups of fruits and 2.5 to 3.5 cups of vegetables per day yet only 18.6% of us get even a total of 2.5 cups per day. Fruits and vegetables provide important nutrients such as potassium, folate, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and fiber, and may help reduce the risk for heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.
Growing your own is a great way to increase fruit and vegetable intake plus it is great physical activity. Cups From the Ground Up participants will receive garden seeds and a can cover to help them get started to eat more fruits and vegetables. Ten randomly selected participants will receive a prize of gardening tools at the end of the challenge.
For more information and to sign-up, go to
www.HealthySD.gov and click on the Cups From the Ground Up Challenge link.
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1. Inspect Cans for damage. Check for cracks and bulges that may compromise the quality of the item.
2. Fresh cut produce should be refrigerated. Also check for bruising.
3. Select frozen food and dairy products last.
4. Sea food should be wrapped separately in plastic bags so as not to drip on other foods.
5. Eggs should be opened and inspected. Look to see they are clean and not cracked. Refrigerate as soon as possible.
6. Fresh fruit and vegetables and meat should be bagged separately to avoid cross contamination.
7. Refrigerate all grocery items with in 2 hours (2 Hour rule). The rule changes to one hour when the temperature is 90 degrees or above.
Check out more information at
www.fns/gov/consumer.
By: Doriliz DeLeon- Consumer Safety Officer FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)
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The 2010-04 issue of Mealtime Memo for Child Care, the monthly newsletter that includes menus, recipes, and activities related to child care, is now online. This issue of Mealtime Memo includes feature stories on: planning a garden, making compost, planting the garden, indoor gardening, and other fun indoor gardening activities. Recipe for Oven-Baked Three Grain Pancakes (A-06B) is featured along with a week's worth of breakfast, lunch, and snack menus.
Gardening With Children
Download past issues of Mealtime Memo for Child Care
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The 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. If you go to their library search page you can search their library resources whenever you would like.
The NCCIC Library can be found at:
http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/library/index.cfm?do=oll.search
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School’s out! This is the perfect time to increase your physical activity. The community can create and sustain an environment that influences children’s attitudes and behaviors about nutrition and physical activity. Community members should be actively involved in assisting schools to implement an effective wellness policy. Children need ongoing reinforcement throughout the community of the healthy lifestyle messages they get at home and school. It is worth the effort to involve the community in a variety of ways.
The Community Nutrition Action Kit is a tool designed to help communities motivate children and families to create healthy eating and physical activity patterns. The kit was developed in collaboration with Families, 4H, and Nutrition of Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services.
You may download the kit at
www.teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/cnak.html
The kit contains learning activities with master copies for reproducing selected handouts. It also contains resource materials needed to implement the activities. Schools, Out of School time programs, Summer programs will find this tool helpful in involving the community in promoting the Team Nutrition message of developing a healthy life style.
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This month’s issue of the Coordinated School Health News Infused features:
The release of a new position statement from the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) on the use of physical activity as punishment or behavior management.
The availability of Team Nutrition mini grants to help schools and agencies improve their nutrition and physical activity environment.
Information about the Physical Education, Health and Wellness Clinic June 29-30, 2010 at Harrisburg, SD
Visit
http://www.doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/newsinfused/10/4/index.htm for more information.
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Fall Conference July 27-July 30, 2010