Awards
USDA Food Nutrition Services School Meals Grab n' Go: Recognition for School Meals Programs
Assess Innovative Practices: Have you...
Identifying Trailblazing Efforts: Have you...
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Changed your school breakfast menus to reduce added sugars? Apply for the Breakfast Trailblazer Award or the Small and/or Rural SFA Breakfast Trailblazer Award!
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Reduced sodium by implementing new meal planning strategies and menu items? Apply for the Lunch Trailblazer Award or the Small and/or Rural SFA Lunch Trailblazer Award!
Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards Quarterly Webinar
On Tuesday, December 10, from 2:00pm to 3:00pm Eastern Time, Action for Healthy Kids will be holding an informational webinar that will provide information about eligibility, the application process, technical assistance, and more. Register today!
Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awardee Spotlight Webpage
The Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards recognize and celebrate school nutrition programs across the country! Visit the Awardee Spotlight webpage to discover a collection of best practices that support the implementation of the final rule including reducing added sugars and sodium in school meals.
On October 22, the Center for School and Community Partnerships at Boise State University released a Request for Applications (RFA), as part of the School Food System Transformation Challenge funded by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service Healthy Meals Incentives (HMI) Initiative.
Round two of Boise State’s Project Supporting Community Agriculture and Local Education System (Project SCALES) sub-grants is open nationwide to all School Food Authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program and food industry partners. Sub-grants up to $1,000,000 are available to support partnerships to improve school meals. Eligible applications must include at least three partners. Applications are due on December 13, 2024.
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 Resources
CHILD NUTRITION (CN) LABEL
The Child Nutrition (CN) Labeling Manual is now available online. The CN Labeling Manual provides food manufacturers with instructions on how to apply for and obtain approval for a Child Nutrition (CN) label. It also contains instructions for calculating the contribution that meats, meat alternates, poultry, and seafood products make toward the meal pattern requirements for Child Nutrition Programs (CNP). CN labels are approved by USDA and provide a way for a manufacturer to demonstrate how a processed food product contributes to the meal pattern requirements in CNP.
FOOD BUYING GUIDE (FBG)
Two features WERE added to the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG) Interactive Web-based Tool. Both features are available in the Tools menu on the toolbar:
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Interactive flow chart on using the preparation yield walks users through when to use the Preparation Yield factor in the Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW).
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An Ounces to Pounds Calculator allows users to easily convert ounces to pounds and pounds to ounces to make converting units a breeze!
- New yields are now available in the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs Interactive Web-based (FBG) Tool and FBG Mobile App! New yield data is available for: USDA Foods canned mixed fruit and canned beef, smoked salmon fillet, cactus fruit (prickly pear), purple rice, instant long grain brown rice, and quick cooking medium grain brown rice. Stay tuned for additional yield data releases coming soon.
School Nutrition Association
🍎 Best of ANC24: How You and Your School Nutrition Team Can Become Health Infused (Wednesday, December 4 @ 3:00 p.m. ET): Join wellness expert Fred “The Fit Food Dude” Schafer as he shares simple, effective wellness practices to reduce stress and improve overall health. To register, sign in and where it asks if you are already registered use the sign in link there to add to your calendar.
USDA POLICY MEMOS
Regulation requires sponsoring organizations and institutions to keep Bulletins, Instructions, and USDA Policy Memorandums for reference and to apply immediately the appropriate instruction to agency programs. Please call Child Nutrition Programs, if further clarification is needed.
USDA Food Nutrition Services has provided guidance that yes, SP 04-2025, Fees for Electronic Payment Services in the School Meal Programs, requires school food authorities (SFAs) to provide all families a free and accessible method of making deposits to student meal accounts. Accordingly, any school operating the school meal programs is required to provide families at least one free and accessible method of making deposits to their children’s school meal accounts, even if students’ school meal accounts are only used for purchasing a la carte foods, such as in a CEP school. In addition, schools must provide a method of making deposits to the student meal account that does not require computer access to meet the needs of families who do not have access to a computer, do not have a bank account, or who prefer to make their payments by other means, such as accepting cash/checks at the school office. Schools should use the best practices and strategies provided in SP 04-2025 to ensure families are aware of the free payment options for adding money to students’ school meal accounts.
All Policy Memos from USDA can be located here:
SP 05-2025 CACFP 04-2025, SFSP 02-2025 Guidance for Accepting Processed Product Documentation for Meal Pattern Requirements
SP 04-2025 Fees for Electronic Payment Services in the School Meal Programs
SP 03-2025 Substituting Vegetables for Grains in American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Tribal Communities
SP 02-2025 Substitution of Vegetables for Fruit Flexibility in the School Breakfast Program: Questions and Answers for Program Operators
SP 01-2025 Fluid Milk Requirements for School Meals
Contact Us
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
Division of Finance and Support Services
Child Nutrition Programs
P.O. Box 110500
Juneau, AK 99811
Disclaimer
This newsletter contains hyperlinks to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the reader’s convenience. DEED does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. Furthermore, the inclusion of links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed, or products or services offered, on these sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites.
Confidential Information
Confidential information should never be shared via email outside of the SFA’s email system. Since email can easily be transmitted to the wrong recipient or intercepted by a third party, it could lead to a breach of confidential information. When emailing Alaska Child Nutrition Programs, sponsors are encouraged to make arrangements with the recipient(s) to email documents with Zend To (https://drop.state.ak.us/drop/). Please contact DEED CNP for further information.
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement (English)
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
1. mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
2. fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
3. email: program.intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
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