Often
consultants visiting schools find many of the same issues arising. The
following is an accumulation of common questions and concerns that often come
up during a review.
What
types of cost can be charged to the lunch fund?
Inside this issue:
Commonly Asked Review Questions
2004 Summer Food Service Program
Kids and Messages in the Media
v
Media
Messages About Physical Activity
Reminder
–
Verification
2003-2004
The
Power of Choice
Diabetes
Resource
Today’s
Portions Are Out of Proportion
Claim Submission and Commodity Ordering
Session
Tidbits
from Julia
2004
Best Practices Awards
Preventing
“The Flu” in Your School
Commodity
News
v
Food
Irradiation: The Facts and The Fears
Are
You Willing to Combat Childhood Obesity?
Team
Nutrition Spring 2004 Workshop Registration
Commonly Asked
Questions (continued from Page 1)
How
much should adults pay for meals?
Adults
should always pay at least the full cost of preparing and serving the meal
including the value of the commodities used. Reimbursement is received only for
student meals and consequently the adult price should be significantly higher.
In schools where adults eat at the student charge or slightly higher, students
are subsidizing adult meals. Meals may be served at no charge only to those
adults who are directly involved in the preparation and service of the meals.
This could include food service staff, meal service/dining supervisory staff,
collection/count personnel or custodians who help with cleaning, unloading of
commodities, etc.
How
long should financial and other records be retained by the school?
The
Bureau of Food and Nutrition requires all records including menus, production
records, daily participation sheets, monthly claim reports, financial
documentation and free and reduced applications to be kept on file for three
years plus the current operating year. Some school auditors require that
records of major equipment purchases be retained until the item is no longer
used. Check with your school auditor before destroying old records.
Why
does USDA require a “medium of exchange”?
While
most districts feel they are getting an accurate meal count, frequent
violations are cited because the system does not provide an appropriate medium
of exchange. “Medium of exchange” is defined as cash or any type of ticket,
token, ID, name or number which eligible students exchange to obtain a meal. A
“medium of exchange” is necessary also for all counting system, even those
using checklists. In this situation, it would simply be the child giving his or
her name.
While
computerized counting systems are frequently recommended to provide quick
accurate counts, they can be problematic. Many schools are taking short cuts to
reduce costs by eliminating the coded ID cards to increase line speed, but are
failing to meet Federal guidelines. A computerized meal count based on visual
identification of students with no “medium of exchange” is not acceptable. The
student must provide the cashier with his/her name and account number, the
medium of exchange. Per FNS-270 Meal Counting and Claiming Manual, page 29,
when students carry no tickets, “Students would need some form of verbal
identifier or other identification.”
The
school’s counting system must be a method authorized and approved by the State
Agency in the Policy Statement. The counting system, as implemented must yield
the actual number of reimbursable free, reduced price, and paid lunches served
each day. In addition, it should provide accurate counts of ala carte sales,
second lunches and adult meals, all of which are non-reimbursable. All counts
must be verifiable.
Why
do we need to have a meal count at the “point of service” and how do we insure
that reimbursable meals are taken?
Meals
must be counted at the point of service where it can be determined that a
reimbursable meal is served to each student counted. Before students leave the
service area, trays must be examined to be sure the student has the required
meal components on the tray. If the point of service is at the beginning of the
line, the last person serving or another monitor should observe all trays. If
the school has a food bar and students are obtaining all or part of a
reimbursable meal at the bar, someone must monitor the trays at the food bar.
It
is essential that the person monitoring the meals for components be adequately
trained on how to recognize a reimbursable meal based on the menu items and the
school’s selected menu planning method. Teachers or principals who are not
trained and are often distracted with discipline problems should not be
responsible for monitoring meals.
Each
SFA must declare their counting system on the Policy Statement. Schools should
regularly check to see that this system provides an accurate count and that the
method they are using to obtain the count is the same method authorized by the
State Agency. SFA’s are required to complete the Self Monitoring Form for On-Site
Reviews by February 1 each year. Completed forms are to be kept on file by the
SFA. For additional information about counting systems, refer to Program Aid
FNS-270 Meal Counting and Claiming Manual.
If
you can answer yes to any of the following questions, your counting system is
not acceptable and must be revised.
·
Are
claims based only on meal counts taken in the morning in the classroom, or at
any other location outside the cafeteria before the meal is served?
·
Are
claims based on attendance records?
·
Are
meal counts based on the number of tickets/tokens sold and distributed, or the
number of meals paid for in advance?
·
Is
the number of free and reduced price meals claimed based on the number of
students eligible to receive such meals?
·
Are
meal counts by category taken at the beginning of the serving line without
checking that the meals served are reimbursable?
Commonly Asked
Questions (continued from Page 2)
·
Are
meal counts by category based on visual identification of students with no
backup system available for persons not familiar with students’ benefit level?
·
Are
meal counts based on tray or plate counts?
·
Are
back-out systems used which subtract one
number (e.g. number of free and reduced meals) from the total count to
get another number (e.g. number of paid meals?)
·
Are
the identities of students eligible for meal benefits NOT protected?
·
Is
this a system that does NOT yield a reliable, accurate count of meals served by
category?
What
does Offer vs. Serve mean for those schools using the Food Based Menu Planning
System?
Offer
vs. Serve refers to the fact that the children may select which components they
will take. The component groups refer to the food groups: meat/meat alternate,
milk, bread/grain, fruit and vegetable. For lunch, children must select three
components from the five components offered. For breakfast, children must
select at least three food components from the four food components offered.
In
Offer vs. Serve, can I make students take the milk or main dish?
No.
The child gets to select which three components he/she will take. Sometimes
others within the school make a rule that children must take certain
components. This is not acceptable. While teachers may teach the children the
value of drinking milk, in Offer vs. Serve, the children choose whether or not
they will select the milk.
Item
for Sale
2/3 Jacketed
Steam Kettle
40 Gallon
Vulcan
Model VDMT 40
Direct Connect
Stainless Steel
Like New!!
Hardly Used!!
Contact: Nancy McLaughlin
Food Service Director
Mediapolis Community School
(319) 394-3101 Ext. 435
7:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
2004 Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
Since winter is still here (Brrrrr), it's fun to
dream pleasant thoughts about summer, such as sunshine, lazy days, picnics,
warm evenings, more free time and so forth. Those summer thoughts make winter
seem less dreary for many people as they look forward to the perceived
relaxation of summer-time living.
But all is not well for everyone during the
summer, especially for needy children. For them, summer means school is out
(they may like that idea), but summer also means regular meals through the
school food service are not available to them. Their lives are more uncertain
and more stressed, because many of them are hungry.
Childhood hunger during the summer is unfair and
immoral, but it is easily preventable through feeding programs such as the
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Your school food service has most or all of
the qualities needed to be a successful and effective SFSP Sponsor, or be a
support for other SFSP Sponsors in your area. We need your involvement in SFSP.
To learn more about becoming a new 2004 SFSP
Sponsor, plan to attend an SFSP Type 2 (new sponsors) Workshop or SFSP Type 3
(returning sponsors) Workshop conducted by the Bureau of Food and Nutrition on
the Iowa Communication Network (ICN).
SFSP Type 2 Workshops (March 4, 2004 and March
10, 2004) and SFSP Type 3 Workshops (January 8, 2004 and April 12, 2004) will
show you how to complete and submit your application for being a 2004 SFSP
Sponsor.
For additional information visit the USDA web
site http:www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Summer/default.htm, or contact Rod Bakken, SFSP
Consultant at 515-281-4760 or rod.bakken@ed.state.ia.us.
Workshops are free but pre-registration is
required so workshop material can be sent to you prior to the workshop. To
register, contact Janelle Loney at 515-281-5356 or Janelle.Loney@ed.state.ia.us.
Many of you may have watched ABC News anchor Peter
Jennings’ report, “How to Get Fat Without Trying” which aired on December 8,
2003. In his report, Mr. Jennings indicated that he felt that the media has
much work to do in ethically advertising food to young children. A responsible
“age” target for children was discussed by some of the major food company
executives. Many acknowledged that children as young as 5 are marketed to. How
do these food advertisements affect children’s eating habits? Young children do
not understand the nature of advertising; that product benefits are often
exaggerated, that the food items are made especially appealing through
enhancing their appearance and showing their use as a “popular” choice among
other kids, and that as a young consumer, you will be left out of the fun if
you don’t also use the product.
On November 12, Iowa Public Television and the
Iowa Department of Education through a TEAM Nutrition Grant co-sponsored an ICN
teleconference directed at upper elementary and middle school teachers and
school health professionals. The major aim of this teleconference was to
provide skills and resources to help students become critical consumers of mass
media messages regarding nutrition. Susan Borra of the International Food
Information Council (IFIC) presented research regarding the types of nutrition
issues the media covers and how the information is portrayed by the news media,
tips to increase student’s awareness of the variety of media messages, and
strategies teachers can use to encourage students to critically examine media
messages, to promote informed student decisions, and to motivate kids to make
healthy choices. She also shared some good resources for further information –
websites for parents as well as teachers. www.kidnetic.com
emphasizes healthy eating and active living for kids and parents. In January
2004, www.ific.org
will be releasing a new study named “Food for Thought” that will discuss
obesity as a lens to other disease, functional foods, biotechnology in the food
industry, and the latest on dietary fats. An organization operating under the
auspices of the Better Business Bureau www.caru.org
reviews children’s advertising and has guidelines for parents to use in helping
kids make informed choices.
Media
Messages About
Physical
Activity
A
second session focusing on the media messages about physical activity will be
held over the ICN on January 28, 2004, 3:30-5:00 PM. Even if you did not attend
the first session, you are welcome to attend the second. Although it is
targeted to upper elementary middle school teachers, all of us who influence
the lives of children each day can benefit from the information shared. To
register for this free workshop, go to http://www3.iptv.org/iowa_database/cal-default.cfm
and click on January 28, 2004. (In the IPTV address above, there is an
underscore between “iowa” and “database”.)
Reminder
Verification 2003-2004
Verification is confirmation of eligibility for
free and reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Program and School
Breakfast Program. Verification must include either confirmation of income
eligibility or confirmation that the child(ren) is included in a household
currently certified to receive Food Stamps or TANF benefits, and may include
confirmation of any other information required on the application.
A copy of the “Random Sample Procedure-Reporting
Form or the Focused Sample Procedure-Reporting Form” that summarizes
verification results was due in the State Agency by December 31, 2003. If
the SFA has not sent or faxed in the verification summary reporting form for
Round 1, please do so by January 13, 2004. If a copy of Round 1 is not received
by January 13, 2004, December reimbursement and all future reimbursement will
be withheld. The SFA was to return Round 1 by December 31, 2003, even if it
was required to complete Round 2 of verification.
If Round 2 of verification was required, it must
be completed by January 30, 2004 and the results sent to the State Agency by
February 13, 2004. Information on
verification and the reporting forms are on the Bureau of food and Nutrition
web site at: http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/fn/school_lunch/vi.html.
Please direct questions to Patti Harding at
515-281-4754.
Helping Youth Make Healthy Eating and Fitness Decisions
“The Power of Choice” is a Leader's Guide for
afterschool activities designed to guide young adolescents toward a healthier
lifestyle. “The Power of Choice” helps build decision-making skills that
promote healthier eating and activity choices in real-life settings. A key goal
is to empower preteens (ages 11-13) to make smarter choices for weight
management and being more active. Using an approach that encourages fun,
preteens get involved in activities that let them explore healthy eating, food
safety and fitness.
“The Power of Choice” offers kids practice in
learning-by-doing. Examples include
making different drinks then looking at their nutrient content with Nutrition
Facts labels and scooping fat (shortening) into a plastic bag and comparing how
much of it is in a favorite food. The Leader's Guide is full of quick, simple
things to do, including easy recipes, and dancing to salsa music, most of which
requires little or no pre-planning.
In all, the Leader's Guide has:
·
10 interactive, sequenced sessions
·
Four posters (an educational Nutrition Facts
label, the Food Guide Pyramid, Fight Bac, and a Move-It Pyramid)
·
Easy snack recipes and a recipe booklet
·
A parent letter
·
170 Nutrition Facts Label cards
·
A computer disk that contains all the
information in the Leader’s Guide
·
A self-training video for the adult leader
·
Supplemental hands-on activities
·
Tips for improved communication with adolescents
·
Support for community involvement.
“The Power of Choice” seeks to motivate both the
preteen and the leader by focusing on positive behavioral changes that promote
their personal development and improved lifestyles related to food and activity
choices.
A copy of “The Power of Choice” has been mailed
to the National School Lunch Program authorized representative at each school
in Iowa. In addition, all components of
“The Power of Choice” are available to download from the web, without charge,
at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources/power_of_choice.html.
While supplies last, additional copies can also
be ordered online at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources/POCform.htm (one per site.)
The Food and Drug Administration/DHHS and the
Food and Nutrition Service/USDA jointly developed this resource.
Looking for a great
resource to help you understand the needs of diabetic students? The American
Diabetes Association (ADA) website provides a wealth of information on diabetes
to individuals, families, schools and others.
A brochure from the ADA, “Children with Diabetes: Information for School
and Child Care Providers” covers diabetes basics for people who don’t live with
it every day including topics on: What is Diabetes, Treating Diabetes, Meals
and Snacks, Teamwork and more. This is
a resource that can also be shared with others on the educational team. It can be downloaded from the ADA website at
http://www.diabetes.org/wizdom/download/school_parent.asp
or call 1-800-DIABETES (342-2383) and request a copy.
Today’s Portions Are Out of Proportion!
Looking for a simplified way to teach portion
sizes? Looking for something a little different for the school lunch or
classroom? Back by popular demand is the ‘portion proportion’ placemats from
the Iowa State Fair! They are now available for purchase through Iowa State
University Extension
Portion
Proportion Placemat Ordering Information.
The portion proportion placemat is 11 x 14
inches, full color, with information on both sides. It is available in
laminated or coated paper and is appropriate for home use, as well as with
child care programs, school programs, and business wellness programs. The
placemat can be used as part of the school breakfast or lunch program in
conjunction with National School Breakfast or Lunch Week or National Nutrition
Month, or in the health/family and consumer sciences classroom. Note that
the portion sizes depicted on the placemat reflect the current Food Guide
Pyramid recommendations that may or may not correspond directly with the USDA
meal pattern guidelines.
Claim Submission and Commodity Ordering Session
The training is for those currently not
utilizing the web-based system. A Claim Submission Manual and Commodity
Ordering Manual will be mailed to participants who register for the workshop by
January 21, 2004.
Utilizing the web-based system will maximize
technology, reduce paper and the handling of paper, and reduce the costs associated
with bulk mailings and facsimiles. Private school districts/ institutions that
do not have web access within the organization are encouraged to locate public
Internet access via the public library or special arrangements with the local
public school district.
An advantage to filing electronically is that
districts/organizations have until the 15th of each month to submit
the claims compared to the 5th of the month for paper claims. Filing
electronically reduces the expenses incurred by the Bureau for the printing and
mailing of the CNP-1 claim forms, sorting the claims, manually entering the
data into the system, and conducting follow-up calls on errors.
Districts currently faxing in commodity requests
are to complete the ordering process via the web-based system. Both the State
agency and the program participant can realize reductions in costs for the fax
machine when the web is used.
·
Did you know
a revised and expanded web based school program system is under development? It
is anticipated this will be completed in time for schools to complete the
annual renewal process on line and begin submitting claims into the new system
starting with the 2004 school program year.
·
Did you know
that the NFSMI in conjunction with USDA has developed and /or distributed a
number of new resources in the past year and more are under development? One of
these is called the “Power of Choice” refer to the article in this issue for
more information. Check the BFN web site for a new posting giving a brief
summary of additional resources as well as other activities under way by the
NFSMI.
·
Did you know
you could win a USDA Regional Award for the work you do in your school
district? Refer to the enclosed article in this issue to learn more about the
categories and how to apply! BFN hopes to submit at least one application in
each category to the Regional Office. Remember, “You can't win if you don't
enter!” A brief summary of the activities done by the Regional winners from
last year is posted on the BFN web site http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/fn/index.html
. We know many of you are doing things just as great as last year's winners -
you just didn't apply! So take advantage of this opportunity to tell your
story!
·
Did you know
the Bureau of Food and Nutrition in collaboration with the Partners for Healthy
Kids and the Iowa School Food Service Association as one of those Partners is
sponsoring Team Nutrition Regional Workshops in five (5) areas of the state
this spring? Registration information and program details are included in this
issue of the Lunch Line register now!
·
Did you know
attendance at TN workshops makes your school eligible to apply for a Team
Nutrition mini-grant?
·
Did you know
plans for the 2004 Summer Short Courses are in the process of being finalized?
Ideas and suggestions for course offerings should be communicated to your area
consultant or e-mailed to Sandra.Fiegen@ed.state.ia.us as soon as possible.
·
Did you know
the Child Nutrition Program reauthorization process was delayed at least 6
months? Hopefully in the spring Congress will begin addressing numerous issues
related to the Child Nutrition Programs. It is important that each of you
continue or begin conversations with your respective Representative and the
Iowa Senators about needed or desired changes and how these would impact the
children you serve.
2004 Best Practices Awards
The United State
Department of Agriculture is pleased to announce the 2004 “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 Department will recognize outstanding practices in four
categories in schools and School Food Authorities (SFAs) participating in the
NSLP and/or SBP.
Nominations for USDA’s
Best Practices Award are due into the State Agency by Monday, March 24, 2004. This year, schools and institutions may
submit nominations in the following areas:
¨
Reaching Needy Children in the Summertime
¨
School Breakfast Program Access
¨
Increasing Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables
by Participants
¨
Healthy School Nutrition Environment
A nomination should
consist of:
v
A complete and accurate description of the
practice (at least 250 but not to exceed 300 words);
v
Appropriate numbers, such as: dollars saved or
increased participation;
v
Relevant history, impact, and/or cost
effectiveness;
v
Documenting photographs or newspaper articles;
v
One copy of any coloring books, posters or
videos that have been developed;
v
Name and telephone number of a contact person (these
should be printed or typewritten to alleviate any question of spelling);
v
Mailing address;
v
Size or average daily participation of school or
SFA; and
v
The category for the nomination.
Preventing “The
Flu” in Your School