Start planning now to attend the annual Child and Adult Care Food Program / Summer Food Service Program training during the month of May 2004.  The dates and locations will be announced in late March.  Be watching for more information in your mailbox.  Make sure to return the needs assessment survey to give your input on the topics we cover.  For more information please contact Melissa Halling at (605) 773-3566 or by email at melissa.halling@state.sd.us.

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2004 South Dakota Child Nutrition Program Certification Institute

The 40th annual South Dakota Child Nutrition Program Certification Institute will be held June 20-25, 2004 in Sioux Falls at the Augustana College campus.  All tracks are 5-day courses and qualify for 30 continuing education credits from the American School Food Service Association (ASFSA).  All tracks have a size limit and will be filled on a first come, first served basis.  In order to guarantee your enrollment, send in your registration form and payment as soon as possible!

Registration Information was mailed out the last week of February to Food Service Directors and Authorized Representatives.  If you have not received a packet by March 12th, please call 605-773-4718 to let us know.  You can also print the information and registration form from the Certification Institute link on the CANS website at http://www.state.sd.us/deca/CSCF/CANS/. 

Continue to watch the monthly Nutrition Bulletin and CANS website for Certification Institute updates!

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The Hill City Lunch Ladies donned animal print aprons and head pieces to help celebrate the National School Lunch Week activities October 14-17, 2003.  Students colored pictures to decorate the lunch room and prizes were awarded at the end of the week. 

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Professional Development Opportunities

National Food Service Management Institute
Satellite Seminar:  Coaching Employees:  Will you make a difference?
April 28, 2004
2:00pm-3:00pm 

Viewers will be able to identify the coaching relationship as a partnership or joint venture.  Ultimately the following objectives will be realized:

• Strengthening employee skills;
• Increasing productivity of the employee, the tram, and the Child Nutrition Program;
• Enabling employees to excel and achieve success

If you are interested in viewing this seminar, contact Sarah Straight at 773-4718 by March 31st. 

The SD Department of Health (DOH) is planning to downlink two satellite conferences in the coming months across the state to approximately 6-10 sites.  More information will be sent when it becomes available.  Brochures will also be posted on the DOH website calendar at www.state.sd.us/doh.  There will be no charge for these conferences.  Save the following dates:

April 29, 10 am-4 pm CT, “Metabolic Syndrome: Prevention and Treatment Challenges”.  The goals of this conference will be to:  --provide a critical review of research efforts to define, diagnose, and characterize the primary contributors to the Metabolic Syndrome

--Outline prevention and therapeutic strategies to alleviate the physiological consequences of the Metabolic Syndrome by integrating physical activity, nutritional, pharmacological, and psychological approaches

--Identify future directions for prevention and treatment of the Metabolic Syndrome

June 2, 12-4 pm CT, “Food Allergies in Children: Prevention and Intervention”.  This conference will alddress diagnosis and treatment of food allergies in children.  There will also be a discussion of food allergies and school policies.

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CANS Welcomes Janet Penticoff

Janet Penticoff recently joined the Child and Adult Nutrition Services staff as senior secretary taking over responsibilities for Elaine Scott in the commodity program. 

She is originally from Murdo, SD and graduated from Mitchell Technical Institute in Business Office Careers.  She has been employed with state government for approximately 15 years developing many of her professional office skills. 

In her off hours Janet enjoys cooking and gadgets and keeping busy as a Pampered Chef Consultant along with playing volleyball and darts and spending time with family and friends. 

Janet is looking forward to her new responsibilities and working with everyone in the future.

Welcome aboard Janet!

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Guidance for Homeless Children in the School Nutrition Programs  

In a growing number of circumstances, schools have enrolled students who are living in households other than their traditional family.  It is sometimes difficult to know how to determine their eligibility for free and reduced price meals.  The circumstances can vary greatly.  While the Eligibility Guidance for School Meals Manual answers many of those questions, school personnel do and should contact Child and Adult Nutrition Services to discuss the unusual circumstances and determine the best method for handling these situations.

The most recent issue is homeless children.  Numbered memo NSLP – 75 was issued in December 2002.  It addresses the definition of “homeless” and how school officials and others may streamline the procedures for the approval and documentation of free lunch and breakfast or free milk eligibility for homeless children after consultation with the school’s homeless coordinator in accordance with USDA policy.

A copy of the memo should be in the agency’s numbered memo binder.  It can also be accessed online at http://www.state.sd.us/deca/CSCF/CANS/index.htm at the “Forms and Documents” bullet.  Look for the numbered memos section, find the number 75 in the NSLP column and click on the title to read the memo.  If there are additional questions, please contact staff members in Child & Adult Nutrition Service at 605-773-3413.

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Justice for All

Do you know why CANS staff and Department of Public Safety inspectors always look to see if you have a “Justice for All” poster properly posted?  All school child nutrition programs are partially funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS).  Therefore the office of Civil Rights primary mission is to prevent and eliminate unlawful discrimination and to ensure equal treatment and opportunities for beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries of federal assistance provided by USDA and FNS.

Each year in the annual Agreement Packet a fresh poster is included for the purpose of replacing old torn or discolored posters from the previous year as well as have the most current version of the nondiscrimination statement.  The color of the poster changes from year to year for easier identification by reviewers.  Also note in the lower left hand corner, this year’s poster should have a ‘Fall 2003’ date.  It is important to update the posters as there are times when some wording in the statement has been made or an update in the address line.

The nondiscrimination statement should read as follows:

 “…      AND JUSTICE FOR ALL  In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C.  20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD).  USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.”

At one time it was required to have the statement on all materials the schools/agencies disseminated to the public, including the monthly menu calendars.  Since the statement is included on the application form in the school lunch packet families receive at the beginning of their school year, the requirement to have the statement on each menu calendar has gone away.  However, if the school does want to include the statement on the menu calendar or any other materials a couple things must be kept in mind:

1.)     The statement must be printed in full, in the same size font as the text of the document page it is printed on.

2.)     If the material is too small to permit the full statement to be included, the material needs to at minimum include the statement, in print size no smaller than the text, that “This institution is an equal opportunity provider.”

Be sure the poster is posted at reading level for the persons going through the food service meal lines.  The poster is intended to be read by the customers so posting it on the cook’s bulletin board somewhere in the kitchen is not the most appropriate place.  If you have Justice for All posters that do not have the ‘Fall 2003’ date in the lower left corner please remove or destroy the posters as they may have outdated wording.  If you need a new poster be sure to contact CANS.

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SDSFSA Sponsors Legislative Breakfast

Members of the South Dakota School Food Service Association (SDSFSA) executive board traveled from all corners of the state to be in Pierre on January 29^th and 30^th.  At 5:30 the group met at the SD State Library Conference room to host a forum titled, “Feeding America’s Kids”.  A light supper was served and about ten legislators were able to attend.  The forum began with Joni Davis giving a brief history of the USDA child nutrition programs, program issues for 2004, explaining the breakfast and lunch patterns, as well as how the meal patterns are influenced by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  She had sent out a survey to the SD legislators and reported back to the forum what the legislators had indicated as their concerns regarding child nutrition programs in SD.  The keynote speaker for the evening was Dr. Christine Hart, MD, Family Physician.  She gave an excellent presentation on “What Should We Eat – and What Should We Feed Our Kids”.  The legislators and food service members asked some very good questions regarding obesity and diet patterns.

The following morning the SDSFSA executive team met at 6:30 a.m. to prepare breakfast buffet tables in the Capitol building in the legislative lobby halls for each the Senate and the House.  This was an opportunity to showcase typical school breakfast items and actually meet and talk with our South Dakota legislators.  One of the most conversational breakfast items were the ‘banana-grams’ which had been prepared the evening before by the SDSFSA executive team.  Are you wondering what a ‘banana-gram’ is?  It is simply a banana, whose outside peel has been embellished with words such as, “SDSFSA – Navigate Your Day with School Breakfast”, or “SDSFSA – Child Nutrition is our Business!” etc..   The buffet tables were decorated in a nautical theme with Grab N Go food items to carry out the 2004 School Breakfast theme.  Approximately 125 people stopped by for a quick chat and to pick up some breakfast.  Following the breakfast the SDSFSA executive team had a board meeting and all members were on their way back home by the noon hour.  The temperature was very cold those two days but it did not blizzard this year and the two days were considered a big success.

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Nutrition Bites

CONSIDERING A POPULAR DIET PLAN?  CHECK IT OUT                                  

Diet books routinely top the best-seller lists, and new plans seem to appear every day.  Do they work?  Will any of them be right for you?

If you are considering one or more popular diets or exercise plans, you owe it to yourself and your health to make sure the diet claims are valid.  Ask yourself:  Does the diet plan …

• Promise a quick fix?                                                                                                            
• Encourage or require you to stop eating certain foods, food groups, or products?
• Rely on a single study as the basis for its recommendations?
• Contradict recommendations of reputable health organizations?
• Identify “good” and “bad” foods?
• Just sound too good to be true?

If you answered yes to any of the questions, keep looking for a plan that is backed by solid science, lets you keep eating your favorite foods and allows for flexibility. 

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