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Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
August - 2022
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Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
Division of Finance and Support Services
Child Nutrition Programs
P.O. Box 110500
Juneau, AK 99811 |
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USDA Policy, Information, and Implementation Memos |
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Sponsoring organizations and institutions are required by regulation to keep Bulletins, Instructions, and USDA Policy Memorandums for reference and to apply them immediately to the appropriate agency programs. Call Child Nutrition Programs if you need further clarification.
To view the USDA SFSP policy memos, visit: DEED Child Nutrition Programs website or the USDA Policy Memorandum webpage by clicking on the links provided.
Waivers:
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Food Safety for Summer Meals
4 Basic Steps for Food Safety
Each year millions of people get sick from food illnesses which can cause you to feel like you have the flu. Food illnesses can also cause serious health problems, even death. Follow these four steps to help keep you and your family safe.
1. Clean
Always wash your food, hands, counters, and cooking tools.
- Wash hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds. Do this before and after touching food.
- Wash your cutting boards, dishes, forks, spoons, knives, and counter tops with hot soapy water. Do this after working with each food item.
- Rinse fruits and veggies.
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Do not wash meat, poultry, fish, or eggs. If water splashes from the sink in the process of washing, it can spread bacteria.
- Clean the lids on canned goods before opening.
2. Separate (Keep Apart)
Keep raw foods to themselves. Germs can spread from one food to another.
- Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs away from other foods. Do this in your shopping cart, bags, and fridge.
- Do not reuse marinades used on raw foods unless you bring them to a boil first.
- Use a special cutting board or plate for raw foods only.
3. Cook
Foods need to get hot and stay hot. Heat kills germs.
- Cook to safe temperatures:
- Research the recommended temperatures for all heated food items.
- Use a food thermometer to make sure that food is done. You can’t always tell by looking.
4. Chill
Put food in the fridge right away.
- 2-Hour Rule: Put foods in the fridge or freezer within 2 hours after cooking or buying from the store. Do this within 1 hour if it is 90 degrees or hotter outside.
- Never thaw food by simply taking it out of the fridge. Thaw food:
- In the fridge
- Under cold water
- In the microwave
- Marinate foods in the fridge.
Keep Food Safe
Remember, healthy eating means more than managing calories or choosing a balanced diet of nutrient-rich foods. The best healthy eating plans also involve safe food handling, cooking, and storage practices that help prevent food poisoning and food-borne illness.
This year, an estimated 1 in 6 Americans will get sick from food poisoning. Find out what you can do to keep you and your family safe on the Food Safety website for:
- For following four simple steps, i.e., Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill, to help protect your family from food poisoning at home.
- To get the latest tips and techniques to keep specific foods safe and prevent food poisoning.
- How to Keep Food Safe by Type of Events and Seasons; and
- How to keep Food Safe during a Disaster or Emergency.
The importance of play
Play is central to a child’s learning and development. When children play, it gives them many different ways and times to learn.
Play also helps a child:
- build confidence
- feel loved, happy and safe
- understand more about how the world works
- develop social skills, language and communication
- learn about caring for others and the environment
- develop physical skills.
In Alaska about 1 out of 3 Alaska children is overweight or obese. This is concerning because having an unhealthy weight increases the chances of developing serious diseases that can last a lifetime. Children growing up at an unhealthy weight are developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol at young ages.
For more information check out the Play Every Day webpage from the State of Alaska Division of Public Health page on the Play Every Day Campaign.
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Promote Access to Voting at SFSP Sites
USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) encourages all local sponsoring agencies administering the Child Nutrition Programs to post promotional materials, including voter registration and non-partisan, non-campaign election information, to be disseminated among voting-age program participants and their families.
SFSP operators are encouraged to post flyers with voter registration and election information to reach parents and/or guardians of young participants. Sponsors posting information on their website and social media channels are encouraged to include a link to relevant resources, including the vote.gov website.
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10 Tips for Kids and Food
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Control the supply lines. Adults decide which foods to buy and when to serve them. Though kids will pester you for less nutritious foods, adults should be in charge when deciding which foods are regularly stocked in the house, kitchen, etc. Kids won't go hungry. They'll eat what's available. If their favorite snack isn't all that nutritious, you can still buy it once in a while so they don't feel deprived.
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From the foods you offer, kids get to choose what they will eat or whether to eat at all. Kids need to have some say in the matter. Schedule regular meal and snack times. From the selections you offer, let them choose what to eat and how much of it they want. This may seem like a little too much freedom. But if you follow step 1, kids will be choosing only from the foods you buy and serve.
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Quit the "clean-plate club." Let kids stop eating when they feel they've had enough. Lots of adults grew up under the clean-plate rule, but that approach doesn't help kids listen to their own bodies when they feel full. When kids notice and respond to feelings of fullness, they're less likely to overeat.
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Start them young. Food preferences are developed early in life, so offer variety. Likes and dislikes begin forming even when kids are babies. You may need to serve a new food a few different times for a child to accept it. Don't force a child to eat, but offer a few bites. With older kids, ask them to try one bite.
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Rewrite the kids' menu. Who says kids only want to eat hot dogs, pizza, burgers, and macaroni and cheese? Let kids try new foods and they might surprise you with their willingness to experiment.
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Drink calories count. Soda and other sweetened drinks add extra calories and get in the way of good nutrition. Water and milk are the best drinks for kids. Juice is fine when it's 100%.
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Put sweets in their place. Occasional sweets are fine, but don't turn dessert into the main reason for eating dinner. When dessert is the prize for eating dinner, kids naturally place more value on the cupcake than the broccoli. Try to stay neutral about foods.
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Food is not love. When foods are used to reward kids and show affection, they may start using food to cope with stress or other emotions. Offer praise, and attention instead of food treats.
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Kids do as you do. Be a role model and eat healthy yourself. When trying to teach good eating habits, try to set the best example possible. Choose nutritious snacks, eat at the table, and don't skip meals.
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Limit TV and computer time. When you do, you'll avoid mindless snacking and encourage activity. Research has shown that kids who cut down on media time also reduced their percentage of body fat. When TV and computer time are limited, they'll find more active things to do. And limiting "screen time" means you'll have more time to be active together.
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Summer Food Program Resources
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Food Buying Guide There is a new feature available on the FBG Interactive Web-based Tool. Under the Food Item Details Page users can select the desired Serving Size per Meal Contribution for fruits and vegetables using a drop-down menu to auto-calculate the amount to purchase based on the serving size. You can download the Food Buying Guide. |
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Listserv- Did You Know? Alaska Child Nutrition Programs has a listserv. The purpose of the listserv is to provide information and updates on the USDA Child Nutrition Programs, including the National School Lunch Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program.
To receive all of the hottest news and updates from Alaska Child Nutrition Programs, Subscribe to ak_child_nutrition_programs by filling out the form found here: Alaska Child Nutrition Programs ListServ.
You will receive a confirmation link via email which you should click to complete your subscription.
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Contact Us
- Program Coordinator (USDA Foods, TEFAP, FFVP)
- Program Coordinator (NSLP)
- Program Coordinator (CACFP)
- Program Specialist (SFSP)
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- Program Specialist (School Wellness)
- Education Program Associate II (Special Milk Program)
- Education Program Assistant (USDA Foods, TEFAP)
- Education Program Assistant (CACFP & SFSP)
- Pandemic EBT Specialist
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