Articles in the January 2006 Issue

From Sandra’s Desk:

Here we are heading into the New Year with a bright outlook for new things to try, new steps to take, exercise, diet…  Remember to start over each day and you will eventually develop a new habit.

Staff members in Child & Adult Nutrition Services are planning for certification institute.  Mark your calendars now for Sunday June 16 through Friday June 23. 

I hear that folks have learned a lot and some new good things are happening as a result of participation in the wellness policy workshops and the food safety workshops.  I’ve seen some policies, heard some activity taking place for changing the extra sales and the students make the healthy choice when it’s available, listened to a student tell good things about changes in her school lunch program (from someone who had no clue who I was), and heard how the HACCP principles learned in the food safety class helped after the storm which knocked out electricity at the school for a week.  Good work, everyone!  It’s so much easier to make changes when you hear that changes from other folks are successful.

Research continues to show that children need physical activity and good nutrition choices, nutrition education, and examples.  The implementation of wellness policies should help schools look at their goals and ensure the health of children and their academic success.

Articles touted as “Research” have to be read carefully. 

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Celebrate School Breakfast Week in March

National School Breakfast Week will be observed March 6-10, 2006. Child and Adult Nutrition Services (CANS) encourages food service directors to work with the teaching staff to plan activities that promote the importance of the breakfast meal, whether it is eaten at home or school.

According to the latest research, children who eat school breakfast achieve higher scores on standardized tests, make fewer trips to the nurse’s and principal’s offices and get better grades.  Eating breakfast also helps to reduce obesity and increases nutritional intake.

This year’s theme – “Go Places With School Breakfast” – provides the perfect opportunity for teachers, administrators and parents to fuel your student’s dreams by encouraging them to eat a nutritious breakfast each morning. 

Please watch for the arrival of an activity packet from Child and Adult Nutrition Services to be mailed out the first part of February. The packet will contain information and activity sheets that can be duplicated for classroom use.

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School Lunch Program Professional Development Opportunities via the Dakota Digital Network

Sponsored by: Child and Adult Nutrition Service/DOE

Take advantage of this opportunity to obtain professional development for food service staff with no charge to your school/agency!  Your school/agency can participate in eight hours of education via the Dakota Digital Network.  Four sessions will be broadcast on four different topics.  Schools that would like to be a hosting site for the broadcasts need to fax an application to Child and Adult Nutrition Services by January 10, 2006. 

The topics with a brief description and date of presentation are listed below.

January 24, 2006 - Special Diets

Learn more about special diets including food allergies and intolerances and diabetes from Marcie Kemnitz, a registered dietitian and former food service director.  Learn what the requirements are in South Dakota for serving students with special diets from Sandra Kangas, Director of CANS.

February 21, 2006 - HACCP/Food Safety

This session is for agencies already working on implementing/developing a food safety program.  It will provide an update to new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) now available.  A large portion of the training will be a question and answer format.  Participants will be able to ask specific questions to gain clarification as they are developing/implementing their food safety program.  This is not the initial food safety training.  This will be presented by Janelle Peterson, CANS Program Specialist.

March 21, 2006 - Standardized Recipes and Calculating Component Contributions

Whether you are new to the topic or wanting a review, school food service staff will find this to be helpful information.  Learn how recipes can be standardized and the importance of calculating component contributions in recipes to document meal pattern requirements.  Janelle Peterson, CANS Program Specialist will teach this session.

April 25, 2006 - Whole Grains and HealthierUS School Challenge 

Learn new ways to incorporate whole grains, baking tips for working with whole grains and review how to properly count grains and breads for the school lunch program.  Also, learn how your school can go for the gold or silver by applying for the HealthierUS School Challenge.  CANS Program Specialists Jean Schuurmans and Amy Richards, RD and consultant Kris Sands, RD will present on this day

Up to 20 sites may register to be a hosting site.  Schools interested in hosting the sessions must submit the attached application by January 10, 2006.  Sites will be selected based upon geographic location and/or the capacity of your DDN facility.  You will be notified by January 16, 2006 if your school is selected to be a host site.  

The list of selected sites will be provided to all agencies and others that work with school nutrition programs so that those who wish to participate at the sites may do so.  Host sites should expect that other personnel will attend the broadcast, also.  Handouts will be provided on the CANS website so that each participant can obtain the materials.

A certificate of completion will be provided for those who attend and an application for continuing education will be sent to School Nutrition Association.  Dietitians may want to use this training as part of their portfolio process.

This is a great professional development opportunity!  Apply today!

Questions can be referred to Amy Richards at amy.richards@state.sd.us or 605-773-3413.

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On-Site Monitoring Requirement for National School Lunch

Does your school or agency have more than one serving site?  If so, circle your calendar for February 1st.  Each school food authority (SFA) that has more than one site where lunch is served is required to perform an on-site review of each serving location to ensure the accuracy of meal counts and daily procedures each year by February 1st.  At the present time on-site monitoring is not a breakfast program requirement but is encouraged as a good business practice.

The Authorized Representative should refer to NSLP Memo number 52 for the instructions and worksheet to be used for each serving site visit.  If the review discloses any problems with a site’s meal counting or claiming procedure, the SFA shall ensure that the site will implement corrective action.  If corrective action is needed, the SFA is required to conduct a follow-up review within 45 days of the first review to determine that the corrective action resolved the problems.  The on-site monitoring review worksheet needs to be kept on file for the program year.  During a Coordinated Review Effort (CRE) review the worksheets will be verified for completion.

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Best Practices Awards Criteria

Child and Adult Nutrition Services (CANS) is pleased to announce another year of “Best Practices Awards” in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP).  In order to encourage and reward outstanding practices in school food service, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will recognize outstanding practices in three categories in schools and School Food Authorities (SFA’s) participating in the NSLP and /or SBP.

Nominations must be submitted on an official nomination form and received in the CANS office by 5:00 p.m. April 3, 2006.  Child and Adult Nutrition Services (CANS) encourages nominations from local communities, school boards, school food authorities, superintendents, business managers, school food service directors, and school food service inspectors from the South Dakota Department of Commerce and Regulations.  There is no limit to the number of nominations CANS may submit to USDA for each category; however, nominations will be screened by CANS to be sure nominations come from schools and SFAs that have an “overall” well-administered program.

To view ideas given for each of the three categories, click on CANS web site at http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/index.asp . The ideas shown are not intended as limitations.  Nominations of creative or innovative ideas in all areas are encouraged.  The three categories to be considered for nominating schools and SFAs for outstanding and/or innovative practices include:  1) Reaching Needy Children in the Summer, 2) Increasing School Breakfast Program Access, 3) Healthy School Nutrition Environment.

The official nomination form is available at the above web site.  If further information is needed, contact Marlyce Micklos, child nutrition program specialist, Department of Education, 800 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD  57501, (605)773-3610.

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Go for the Silver or Gold - Apply for the HealthierUS School Challenge

Obesity is a growing concern for school children in the United States.  The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) believes that schools should be taking a leadership role in helping students learn to make healthy eating and active lifestyle choices.  Many schools have already made changes to their school nutrition environments, improved the quality of the foods served, and now provide students with more nutritious, healthy choices.  The HealthierUS School Challenge certification recognizes your school’s commitment to the health and well being of your students.

Elementary schools that meet the HealthierUS School Challenge criteria may apply for either a Silver or Gold award.  The award is for the current school year (the year of approval) plus the following two school years.  Schools are encouraged to continue their commitment and reapply at the end of their award period.

Elementary schools wishing to participate in the challenge must complete an assessment demonstrating that they meet the criteria for either Silver or Gold recognition.  The first criterion is that the school must be enrolled as a Team Nutrition School.  Team Nutrition is USDA’s comprehensive plan for promoting the nutritional health of the Nation’s school children and supports schools’ efforts to improve their nutrition environment.  Other challenge criteria include offering school lunches that meet USDA nutrition standards, a participation rate in the NSLP that is higher than the national average participation rate, the inclusion of nutrition education and physical activities during the school day and adherence to guidelines established by USDA for food offered or sold in schools outside the school meal programs.  Once a school successfully meets the challenge it will be awarded a plaque celebrating its accomplishment. In addition, the school will be further recognized on the USDA Team Nutrition website and may be chosen to participate in special media events.

You may access more information along with the application and instructions for applying on the Team Nutrition website at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/HealthierUS/index.html.  Feel free to contact Jean Schuurmans at 773-6026 or Amy Richards at 773-4718 if you have questions.

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Feeding the Future for a Healthy Tomorrow

June 18-23, 2006

Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

We hope to see you at this year’s Child Nutrition Certification Institute in June.  The theme this year is Feeding the Future for a Healthy Tomorrow.  Janelle Peterson and Amy Richards will be co-directing the institute again this year.  Registration information will be posted on the CANS website and mailed in March to all schools and childcare agencies that participate in USDA programs. 

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HACCP Update

Upcoming training for Implementing a Food Safety Program:

The following DDN sessions have been scheduled:

February 21, 2006  3:00pm-5:00pm—this training is part of the School Lunch Program Professional Development Opportunities training that is being offered once a month in January, February, March & April.  The training offered during February is a session for agencies already working on implementing/developing a food safety program.  Participants will be able to ask specific questions to gain clarification as they are developing/implementing their food safety program.  Initial training on developing a food safety program will NOT be covered during this learning opportunity.  The session will consist of a question/answer format for those of you who are working on your plans and have questions. 

March 13, 2006 3:30pm-5:00pm—training will be two-fold.  The first part of the program will be food safety education.  The second half will be a question and answer period.  There is no cost for this and this is one time training.  Sites that have been secured at this point are:  Mitchell, Aberdeen, Watertown, Vermillion, Brookings, Pierre, and Spearfish. 

April 10, 2006 3:30pm-5:00pm—training will follow the format of the March training.  Training will be in two parts.  The first portion of the training will be food safety education.  The second half will be a question and answer period.  There is no cost for this and this is one time training.  Sites that have been secured at this point are:  Mitchell, Aberdeen, Watertown, Vermillion, Brookings, Pierre, and Spearfish. 

The training offered in March and April is separate from the training being offered in February.  The training in February is part of a 4 part series.  The training in March and April are one time only.  You can attend one or both (or none!).  None of the food safety training is mandatory.  However, if you are interested in attending mark this on your calendar now and more information will be coming soon.

SOP Updates

There are now a total of 20 SOPs available to you.  The National Food Service Management Institute has now finished a total of 20 sample SOPs.  Use these as a starting place and then “tweak” each procedure so that it fits your particular situation.  The SOPs are available as either a Word document or as an Adobe Acrobat file.  You can access the SOPs at the CANS website:  http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/index.asp.  Scroll down the page until you see the heading “Training and Technical Assistance”. Scroll down a little further until you see NEW! Food Safety Training Information.  You will see the link for HACCP based Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) samples.  Click on that and you will see the list of sample SOPs available. 

Also available under the Food Safety Training Information area is a link for the 2005 Food Code, SDSU Cooperative Extension Service website and USDA recipes (HACCP ready).  For those of you who attended training during October and November, the “Your Plan” section from the training material is available on the SDSU Cooperative Extension Service website.  

As a reminder, the deadline for Developing/Implementing a School Food Safety Program Based on the Process Approach to HACCP Principles is the end of the 05-06 school year.

If you have questions please don’t hesitate to call our office at 773-3413 or Janelle at 280-4278.

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Looking for Resources to teach nutrition?  Lending Libraries may be the answer

Are you looking for nutrition education resources for your school or childcare setting, but short on money to purchase resources?  Borrowing curriculum, teaching aides, children’s books, and other resources can be a great way to provide some of the materials you need. 

USDA has a lending library, which contains a large number of resources including food models, nutrition curriculum for preschool through high school on topics from food safety to cultural foods and teaching aides such as the Healthquest Nutrition trivia game and food models.  Schools and childcare sites that participate in USDA programs are eligible to borrow materials from the Food and Nutrition Information Center.  To access the website go to the following URL:  http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/pubs_and_db.html.

The SD State Library has a large number of nutrition related books, reference books and nutrition curriculum available.  To find out what is available from the State Library, go to the South Dakota Team Nutrition website to view a list of nutrition education related books as well as a list of children’s fiction books with a food or nutrition message.  The call number of the book is listed to make it easier to borrow through your local library.  Please visit the curriculum portion of the Team Nutrition website at:  http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/nutrition/curriculum.asp.  New books are being purchased for the State Library with Team Nutrition funds and when they arrive, the new books will be featured on the website above.

Child and Adult Nutrition Services also has a few resources available for schools and childcare sites to borrow including food models and fat, sugar and sodium test tubes as well as videos and training materials for food service staff.  In addition, a few new items have been ordered, but have not arrived yet.  To request materials to borrow from the CANS library, please contact Shar Venjohn at 605-773-3413.

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Nutrition Tidbits

January is the month that many of us make a New Year resolution to lose weight and get in better physical shape.  Small steps and small changes are more likely to be successful than making too many changes at once.  Consider adding one healthy food to your diet each day and reducing the portion size of higher calorie foods gradually.  This way you can gradually get used to eating less of higher calorie foods and you will not miss them as much if you fill up on healthy foods that help you feel satisfied and full.  Did you know that foods that are high in fiber tend to make you feel full?  Legumes (e.g. Pinto, navy, and garbanzo beans), fruits and vegetables and whole grains that help fill you up with less calories than most other foods.  For more tips on weight loss and maintenance, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

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Building for the Future with the CACFP

Mark your calendars now for either March 1, 2006 or April 18, 2006.  Two “Basic Training” sessions will be provided in Pierre.  For more information please contact Melissa Halling at (605) 773-3566 or by email at melissa.halling@state.sd.us.

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Kids on the Move

Fun with catching

From Physical Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children; Team Nutrition Iowa;

Fun with Catching

  • 1 bean bag

  • 8.5 inch foam ball

  • 8.5 inch playground ball

Arrange the children in one line facing long open area.

The objective of this activity is to practice and develop catching skills.  Catching progresses in the following order:

  1.  sitting with legs spread, stop a rolled ball

  2. while standing, stop a rolled ball (roll the ball slowly, directed to the child)

  3. while standing with arms extended, palms up, capture a foam ball tossed (in an arch) directly to the hands from a distance of about ten feet.

  4. repeat above using a bean bag

  5. standing watching a spot on the floor, catch a bounced ball (toss the ball so it bounces on the spot the child is watching)

  6. catch a foam ball tossed in the general direction of the child (progress to bean bag)

Practice each skill, once that skill is mastered move on to the next skill.

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Kids in the Kitchen

From American School Food Service website.  Recipe courtesy of National Pasta Association; as published in Physical Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children; Team Nutrition Iowa;

Pasta Vegetable Soup with Croutons - Serves 8

  • 8 oz. small uncooked pasta shapes (e.g. orzo or shells)

  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

  • 4 cups water

  • 4 medium carrots peeled and diced, about 2 cups

  • 1 cup celery, diced

  • 1 cup onion, peeled and diced

  • ½ cup croutons

  • ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped

  • ¼ tsp. ground black pepper

  • ½ cup parmesan cheese

1.        Combine chicken broth, water, carrots, celery, and onion in pot.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to simmer and cover pot.  Simmer for 15 minutes.

2.        Stir pasta into broth mixture.  Increase heat to boiling.  Cook 5 minutes, stirring often.  Stir in parsley and pepper.  Continue boiling until pasta is done, about 8 minutes more.

3.        Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with croutons and parmesan cheese.

Snack Idea (1-5 year olds):

¾ cup Pasta Vegetable Soup provides one vegetable and one grain/bread snack serving.

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EXERCISE PROGRAM

This is an exercise program for those of us getting on in years (and weight). Here is a little exercise found for food service personnel for building arm and shoulder muscles. You might wish to adopt this regimen - 3 days a week works well.

Start by standing in the storeroom with a 5-pound potato sack in each hand.  Extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. After a few weeks, move up to 10-pound potato sacks, then 50-pound potato sacks, and eventually you should be able to lift a 100-pound potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight out for more than a full minute!

Next, start putting a few potatoes in the sacks, but be careful not to overdo it at this level.

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