We used to say…”How can they work on
the computer for an hour at a time?”…and now it’s “What do you mean it’s down
for 10 minutes?!”…and when it’s down for the whole day, Sarah, Melissa, and I
learned recently that we still know how to push a pencil and that there are
other things that can be done. No one got a black eye as we tried to share
one open computer.
Legislation for child nutrition
programs should be on the discussion agendas at the national level in February
(probably later in the month) and March. Stay tuned for impact that is has on
the programs.
Elaine Scott retired several weeks ago
– and her replacement should be on board soon. We had some good candidates
for the position and that is always gratifying.
Vending and a la carte sales and their
impact on childhood obesity are hot button topics right now (in case you
hadn’t noticed!). We encourage you to look at the foods that you sell and
have control over to determine whether or not they are “healthy”. Would you
be pleased or shamed to have someone from the media come take a look at what
you sell in light of children’s health? Pleased? Keep up the good work –
toot your horn (or get someone to toot it for you!). Shamed? Set a plan for
how to improve the items, find out what students like, talk to vendors about
healthy alternatives, purchase for re-sell accordingly.
Marlyce put together a good packet of
breakfast ideas for March. Find the ideas in there that will work for you –
and promote breakfast whether students eat it at home or at your agency. It
is critical for them to start their day out right and be ready to learn when
the classes start each day.
“Learn from the mistakes of
others.
You can’t live long enough to make
them all yourself!”
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March is National Nutrition Month
What
better way to kick off national nutrition month than by celebrating school
breakfast week during March 8-12, 2004? The American School Food Service
Association’s theme for breakfast week is, “Navigate Your Day with School
Breakfast”. The American Dietetic Association’s theme for National Nutrition
Month is, “Eat Smart, Stay Healthy”. Carrying out the message of these
slogans will help make your school cafeteria and classrooms a festive and
happening place during this exciting month!
Whether
you choose to promote nutrition month and eating breakfast at school or at
home, you will be helping your students navigate whatever challenges lie
ahead. A well-balanced breakfast as well as well-balanced daily meals allows
children to think more clearly and feel healthier. A good breakfast can make
the difference between listening to their stomachs instead of listening to
their teachers; achieving good grades versus mindlessly spacing out; running
around during recess or feeling sick on the sidelines. In addition, recent
studies indicate that kids who eat breakfast are more likely to maintain
healthy weights. That is welcoming news during this time of heightened
awareness of childhood obesity. If you are a school that sends home a monthly
calendar March would be a great time to include nutritional messages on your
calendar for parents and students to become more aware of the importance good
nutrition plays in their daily lives.
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SFSP - Summer Food Service Program 
Just as
learning does not end when school lets out, neither does the need for good
nutrition. Children who aren’t hungry learn better, act better, and feel
better. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) helps children get the
nutrition they need to learn, play and grow during summer months when they are
out of school. SFSP is administered at the Federal level by the Food and
Nutrition Service (FNS), an agency of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA). State education agency administers SFSP in South Dakota
through Child and Adult Nutrition Services. More sponsors are needed at the
local level in order to feed more hungry children during the summer months.
If your organization is interested, contact: Cassandra Rupe at (605) 773-3413
or e-mail at
cassandra.rupe@state.sd.us.
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Creative 5-A-Day School Food Service Professional of the Year AWARDS
In 2004 Dole Food Company will be
presenting two “Creative 5 A Day School Food Service Professionals of the Year
awards. Dole Food Company is a leading produce industry supporter of the
National 5 A Day for Better Health Program. The award deadline of March 15,
2004 is quickly approaching.
This award recognizes American School
Food Service Association members who have developed creative ways to motivate
students to eat their 5 A Day. One award will be given to a school food
service professional who creates a district-wide program and another for a
school food service professional working at an individual school who creates a
program that motivates students to eat more fruit and vegetables. Both award
winners in 2004 will receive registration, airfare and hotel for the 2004
ASFSA Annual Nutrition Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 25-28, 2004.
Additionally, Dole will host an award ceremony in the winners’ school
districts during September, which is National 5 A Day Month.
Applications are due by March 15,
2004, and winners will be announced in mid-May. Applications are reviewed by
members of the ASFSA Nutrition Committee, a food service professional at the
Produce for Better Health Foundation, and nutrition professionals at Dole Food
Company.
Go to
www.dole5aday.com for more information.
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Kids in the Kitchen
Finger Pancakes: Recipe from What's Cookin' II
| 2 Large Eggs |
3 Cups Skim Milk |
| 2 Cups Flour (may substitute up to
1/2 whole wheat flour) |
1/2 tsp. Salt |
| 1 tsp. Sugar |
1 tsp. Baking Powder |
| Powered Sugar as needed |
|
1. Beat eggs and add milk
2. Add dry ingredients (except powdered sugar), combine until well mixed
3. Pour 2 Tbsp. batter onto lightly greased skillet and cook until golden brown
on each side
4. When pancake is cooked, sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar, roll up jelly
roll fashion and eat or fill with fresh fruit before rolling.
Snack Idea (1-5 year olds):
2 pancakes filled with 1 Tbsp. each of chopped fruit and 1/2 cup orange juice.
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2004 South Dakota Child Nutrition Program Certification Institute
Who:
Child Nutrition Program Employees
What:
40th Annual Certification Institute
When:
Sunday, June 20th - Friday, June 25th
Where:
Augustana College, Sioux Falls
2004 Registration
Information will be mailed to Food Service Directors and Authorized
Representatives at the end of February. Please share this information with
your employees. Also, remember to check the monthly Nutrition Bulletin for
updates.
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ATTENTION ALL FOOD SERVICE PERSONNEL!
It is once again time to begin
preparations for the 2004 Child Nutrition Program Certification Institute and we
need your help!
It is a difficult task to come
up with themes for each year at Certification Institute, so…we decided to give
the participants a shot at it!
Join in the fun and email your
theme ideas to Sarah Straight at
sarah.straight@state.sd.us.
Previous themes include:
2003 Take the Road to Good Nutrition
2002 Knowledge Is Power
2001 Good Nutrition Builds Successful
Learners
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Direct Deposit of Federal Funds
The
Department of Education recently sent out a letter stating that all federal
funds would start being direct deposited. Federal funds in this case refers
to the Title Programs, Special Ed, etc. It does not include National
School Lunch, School Breakfast, Summer Food or Child Care Food programs. The
direct deposit is for public school districts. Because child nutrition
programs deal with non public schools and child care agencies we are not
included in this direct deposit process. In order for us to participate we
would have to be able to process the public school districts separate from
other agencies. Our current system does not allow us to do this. With the
hope of having a new claim reimbursement processing system on the horizon, our
programs probably won't implement direct deposit before that time.
Bob Adams
Office of
Grants Management
SD
Department of Education
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Edit Checks:
Is your business office performing
adequate edit checks prior to submitting the monthly claim for federal
reimbursement dollars? The purpose of monthly edit checks is to help SFAs
identify potential problems in the meal count system and facilitate accuracy
of their monthly claim. It is much better to catch a counting error prior to
submission of a claim to avoid having and pay federal money back to the State
than catching errors after a reporting error has been made.
CFR 210.8 is the federal regulation
which requires school food authorities to compare each of their school’s daily
counts of free, reduced price and paid lunches against the product of the
number of children in each school currently eligible for free, reduced price
and paid lunches, respectively, times an attendance factor.
NSLP Memo #53 gives the exact
information necessary for factors to know in order to be able to perform
adequate edit checks. The end result is the SFA comparing the number of
students in the free, reduced price, as well as paid eligible categories
multiplied by the attendance factor against the number of meals served by
eligibility category on a daily basis. Office personnel responsible for
filing the monthly claims must complete the edit check chart located in NSLP
Memo #53. During a program review the inspectors will request to see the
chart to determine the SFA has consistently completed the required monthly
edit checks.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does a
school have to continue to verify or follow up on applications after the
requirements that are to be completed by December 15 have been met?
A: There
is a slight difference between verification and follow-up. Typically,
follow-up occurs when a family has been given temporary approval for free
meals when they report ‘0’ income on the application. Households cannot live
continually on zero income. After 45 calendar days they often have job
prospects or have applied for and/or are receiving aid such as food stamps or
TANF. If after the first 45 days, the situation has not been resolved,
continued follow-up in another 45 days should occur. Sometimes it is
necessary to make notes as to why the income is zero and in that instance
might apply to the whole year. Two examples that come to mind are a business
that operated at a loss and the family had no other income. The other is an
education grant or other income that has been declared to be not counted as
income. Pages 37 and 38 of the newer Eligibility Guidance for School Meals
Manual provides a list of those sources.
Verification efforts are usually
completed by December 15. However, sometimes a family is denied continued
eligibility for failure to respond during initial verification efforts. If
that family reapplies after their eligibility has been discontinued, the
school personnel should verify that application.
Q: We have
an elementary student who is on free lunch. If the child brings his own
lunch, do we have to provide him with the milk? And if so, how do we count
that? Or can we?
A: You are
not obligated to provide the child with a free milk – and if you choose to,
you cannot claim it for reimbursement. In order to have a reimbursable meal,
the child has to be offered the 5 components and has to take as many items as
indicated in your school’s offer versus serve policy (anywhere from 3 to 5).
It would be acceptable to provide water for the child to drink or give the
child the opportunity to purchase milk. The federally-reimbursed Special Milk
Program only covers milk served to classes where breakfast and/or lunch are
not offered as part of the day. That would cover schools with no breakfast or
lunch program and 1/2 day classes (kindergarten, pre-primary) that are not
given the opportunity to participate in the breakfast or lunch programs.
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Product Recall Site
Have you
ever wondered if an item you have or are about to prepare for a meal has been
recalled? A single Product Recall Site is available from the US Government at
www.recalls.gov/index.html. In addition to checking for food recalls, you
can also check on consumer products, medicines, cosmetics, etc. It will be a
very useful site.
Child & Adult Nutrition Services will
continue to send out notices of food recalls that we are aware of to agencies
for which we have e-mail addresses. If there would ever be a commodity recall,
that information would be provided to all agencies that receive commodities.
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Nutrition Tidbits
Supplements:
What do you need to know?
Use of
dietary supplements is on the rise, but how do you know which ones do what and
if you need them?
Before
you decide to include supplements in your daily routine, get the facts on what
is known about them. Ask your physician or dietetics professional the
following questions about any supplements you are thinking about taking:
-
What are the health claims?
-
Are these claims legitimate?
-
Where did the product information come
from?
-
Is the supplement safe?
-
Can the supplement cause harm at any
level?
-
How does the supplement work in the
body?
-
Does the supplement contain the
amounts of ingredients it claims to?
-
What is the scientific evidence behind
the product?
-
What amount is recommended and how
often should it be taken?
Always remember that
good nutrition depends on overall healthy eating and physical activity, not on
the use of dietary supplements.
For
additional information on supplements check out these websites:
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/supplmnt.html
http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/supplements/intro.html
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1998/598_guid.html
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/etext/000015.html
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Professional Development Opportunities
ASFSA’s Legislative Action
Conference 2004
Washington, DC
February 29-March 3, 2004
Clear your schedule and plan to attend the
32nd annual gathering of school foodservice professionals in
Washington for ASFSA's Legislative Action Conference (LAC)! Be in the right
place at the right time as LAC 2004 will coincide with Congressional action on
Child Nutrition Reauthorization. The conference is an opportunity to:
- Make a difference in the future of child nutrition
programs
- Interact with key partners who share your passion.
- Learn from experts and colleagues about current
legislative issues in child nutrition.
- Hone your skills as an advocate for children’s health.
For additional information
go to the American School Food Service Association website (www.asfsa.org)
& click on “meetings & events”.
National Food Service Management Institute
Satellite Seminar: Coaching Employees: Will you make a difference?
April 28, 2004
Additional information
will be available closer to seminar date at
www.nfsmi.org
ASFSA’s Annual
National Conference 2004
Indianapolis, Indiana
July 25-28, 2004
It’s time
to start your engines and race to Indianapolis, Indiana, for the American School
Food Service Association’s 58th Annual National Conference (ANC), July 25-28,
2004. This ANC will feature "Hot Wheels, Hot Meals" and promises to be "One Hot
Conference." For additional information go to
www.asfsa.org/anc2004.
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Selby Gets Wild About School Lunch
Bea
Goetz and other food service staff got a little wild about celebrating the
National School Lunch Week. Bea says they had the best response ever from
parents coming to join their students for lunch. High school students drew up
some fabulous art work to display in the lunch room. Bea went to a local
lumberyard to retrieve large carpet tubings (rolls of carpet come on them),
then anchored them in 5 gallon buckets of sand. They were then crisscrossed
with wire for hanging bananas with the addition of green tissue paper for the
palm leaves. The students thought it was pretty awesome to be able to get
bananas out of the trees for lunch. Each class was asked to do a project.
Additional “carpet tubing trees” were then decorated with the artwork projects
from each class as shown in picture above. Windows in the dining area were
covered with black plastic to carry out the jungle theme. K-6 students were
asked to dress like an animal on Friday. Note the monkey and tiger pictures.
Bea indicates all students had a great time. Congratulations on a job well
done!
Click here to view pictures
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Feeling Stressed?
If you’re feeling
exceptionally stressed, try some of these five minute exercises.
1)
Count slowly to ten. Breathe deeply in on the odd
numbers and breathe out on the even numbers.
2)
Tighten your entire body from head to toes. Then,
slowly relax the muscles in your body starting with the toes and working your
way up to the neck and shoulder muscles.
3)
Do a few small circular muscle stretchers with your
wrists, ankles, and neck.
4)
Close your eyes and imagine a place where you feel
happy and relaxed. Keep that image in your mind when you are stressed.
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