National Food Service Institute hosts workshops

Nutrition Update will be held Oct. 20-21 at the National Food Service Management Institute at the University of Mississippi. Nationally recognized nutrition experts discuss recent developments and current issues, adolescent nutrition needs, the relationship between child nutrition and chronic disease, energy metabolism in children, and nutrition myths and misinformation. Participants will receive a copy of a current nutrition text, and other valuable resource materials. For information, call 1-800-321-3054.

First Choice Procurement Seminar will be held Nov. 9-11 at the National Food Service Management Institute at the University of Mississippi. Based on “First Choice: A Purchasing Systems Manual for School Food Service,” 2nd Edition, the workshop presents procurement education that supports the delivery of nutritious and appealing meals to children. It emphasizes the links among purchasing, nutrition integrity, food safety, and financial success of the program. Target audience includes child nutrition professionals, school administrators and business managers, and others interested in learning more about the procurement process in Child Nutrition Programs. Approved for ASFSA credit; approval from other organizations possible. For information, call 1-800-321-3054.

Changes due to reauthorization outlined

Most of the changes caused by reauthorization of the Child Nutrition and WIC programs affect school nutrition programs, rather than Child & Adult Care Food Program or Summer Food Service. Changes outlined below are effective now.

1) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program – While the law establishes fresh fruit and vegetable as a program rather than a pilot project, the number of states and schools funded remains somewhat limited. Schools in the area governed by the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation were included in the bill. 

2) School Breakfast Program - Severe Need - paperwork reduction. Schools that served 40 percent free and reduced price lunches in the second prior year can now claim the higher rate of reimbursement (severe need) without having to complete the cost justification. Agencies with eligible sites will be contacted to advise them of the higher rate. 

3) Duration of Eligibility of Free/Reduced Price Meals – Approved applications for free and reduced price meals are good for the entire academic year for the School Lunch, School Breakfast and Special Milk programs. Formerly, families who had been approved were to report if their income changed by $50 per month.

4) Categorical Eligibility of Migrant, Runaway and Homeless Youth – This is an additional categorical eligibility for free meals for all programs for children who are known to fit in one of these categories. 

5) Permanent Exclusion of Privatized Military Housing Allowances – Makes permanent an exclusion which had been previously implemented through policy. 

6) Seamless Summer – Makes permanent and renames what was formerly called “summer waiver” or “Alisal waiver.” This allows schools that would be eligible for the Summer Food Service Program to continue on the school nutrition programs throughout the summer.

7) Proprietary Centers in CACFP – Makes permanent an allowance which had been previously implemented through policy. Allows proprietary centers to participate in CACFP if they meet certain criteria of income levels. 

8) Emergency Shelters – Raises the age limit from 12 to 18 for children whose meals can be claimed for reimbursement in emergency shelters.

9) Special Provision 2 and 3 – In NSLP and SBP, schools that participate in the NSLP/SBP can use district-wide percentages to calculate the claim for reimbursement.

10) Pilot States to End Reduced Price Meal Category – Five states will be authorized to eliminate the reduced price category. The states have not yet been named.

Offer versus serve

In the mid 1970s, Congressman Bill Goodling from Pennsylvania and other congressional leaders believed that students were throwing away far too much food, so they declared “war on waste.” They wanted to reduce the waste of food and the waste of government money used to purchase and prepare this food. A part of this “war on waste” was the Offer Versus Serve (OVS) option. It was a way to avoid forcing students to take food they do not intend to eat.

The goals of OVS are to: 1) minimize plate waste and 2) encourage more food choices.

Schools that implement OVS must offer all the planned menu items to all students.  Students may refuse a specified number of menu items. Schools that do not choose to do the OVS option must serve all food menu items to all students.

Senior high schools participating in the National School Lunch Program are required to implement OVS. In elementary and junior high/middle schools, OVS is a local option whereby students may decline one or two menu components. School food authorities may implement OVS in their School Breakfast Program as well. Full portions of a minimum required number of items must be taken for a meal to be claimed for reimbursement.

Substantial cost savings may occur with OVS. The manager determines the quantity to prepare based on previous production records and menu pattern required-serving amounts. The cashier and kitchen manager must work closely together in defining the reimbursable meals for the day.

Meals must be priced as a unit. This means paying students will pay the full meal price, and students eligible for reduced price will pay the current reduced price charge whether they take the minimum number of menu items or the complete meal. The cashier needs to determine the menu items and serving amounts before the meal service begins. A reimbursable meal must be defined for claiming purposes.

At schools implementing either the Traditional or Enhanced Menu Pattern meals, when students go through the line, they must be offered five food items. Under OVS, a student may decline up to two of the five required food items and still have a reimbursable lunch.  In other words, a student must take full portions of at least three of the five food items offered to have a reimbursable lunch. Students do not have to take a milk or entrée to have a reimbursable lunch. Any three components from a Traditional or Enhanced Menu Pattern menu will make a reimbursable meal.

The five components of a Traditional and Enhanced Menu Pattern include: one serving of meat/meat alternate, two servings of vegetables and/or fruits, one serving of grains/breads, and one serving of milk.

If the meat/meat alternate is split into two menu items (i.e., the main dish and one other menu item), the student would have to take both items for the meat/meat alternate to count as one of the five food items.

Under OVS, students may take smaller portions of the declined food components. The required food components selected by the students, however, must be a full serving. The decision to decline the allowed number of food items or to accept smaller portions of otherwise declined food items does not affect the charge for the meal. Within the minimum quantities specified in the regulations for the various age and grade groups, the menu planner establishes what constitutes a “serving.”  It is the student’s choice which items to decline including the entrée or milk.

OVS reduces plate waste and improves acceptability of the meal. Students have choices available, which encourage them to choose a meal that is more specific to their preferences. The food service staff is committed to promoting the nutrition goals of the school nutrition program by providing students with healthy food choices.