Weekly School Nutrition Newsletter

10/10/2018

Dear Food Service Contact,

This email provides news for schools concerning the Child Nutrition Programs from USDA and the state. If you are the food service contact for your school or corporation, it is your responsibility to relay important information provided to you about the Child Nutrition Programs to other staff members.

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After School Snack Program Reminder

• Within the first four weeks of operating the After School Snack Program, sponsors must conduct an on-site review at all program locations. 
• This review must be conducted an additional time at some other point in the school year as well. 
• Completed on-site reviews must be kept on file for three years plus the current operating year. 
• To access the program review form for either self-prepped or vended snacks, click here. 
• Questions? Contact your field specialist.

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Non-Program Revenue Tool

• Don't forget the Non-Program Revenue Tool was due on September 1.
• The purpose of completing the revenue from nonprogram foods tool, is to ensure that revenues from the sales of nonprogram foods generate at least the same proportion of School Food Authority (SFA) revenues as they contribute to SFA food costs.
• What is considered a nonprogram food? Nonprogram food is a food (including beverages) that is sold in a participating school other than a reimbursable meal and is purchased using funds from the school food service account of the school. These include but are not limited to:
  • A la carte items sold in competition with school meals
  • Adult meals
  • Items purchased for fundraisers, vending machines, school stores, etc.
  • Items purchased for catering and vended meals
• What is considered revenue? Revenue is all money that is provided to the nonprofit school food service account. This includes but is not limited to:
  • Federal reimbursement
  • State or local funds, such as per meal subsidies and State revenue matching funds
  • Children’s payments for reimbursable meals and a la carte sales
  • Payments for items purchased for fundraisers, vending machines, etc.
  • Income from catering, adult meals, vended meals, etc.
• Click here to access the USDA memo regarding Non-Program Revenue
• Click here to open the Non-Program Revenue Tool.
• Questions? Contact the finance team at SCNFinance@doe.in.gov.

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Coffee Break Webinars

• Don't forget! This month we will be doing a whole new set of coffee break webinars. 
• Webinars this week include the webinar about Smart Snacks for grades K-5 on Wednesday, October 10 and the webinar on Food Safety Basics on Thursday, October 11.    
• For more information and to register for the webinars this week or the others coming up later this month, click here. 

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Direct Verification Issues

• The Direct Verification (DV) process in the STN Application Center is temporarily disabled.
• For those that have already used the DV process, check each DV print out to make sure it clearly states that the student was verified for free or reduced status.
  • If it does not, then verification is not considered complete and you must reach out to the household requesting verification documentation.
• Currently, the software company has not provided a timeline as to when the system will be accessible. To prevent a delay in your verification process, schools are recommended to move onto the normal verification process of directly contacting households for verification documentation.
• Once the system is available, we will notify schools via email and post a message on the main STN App Center log in screen.
• Questions? Contact Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov or call 317-232-0849.

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Indiana School Nutrition Association (ISNA) Annual Conference

• Mark your calendars! ISNA's 65th Annual Conference is November 8-10. 
• The theme this year is "In the Moment: Interact, Connect, Grow." 
• ISNA is also hosting a pre-conference event, "Nutriton 101: A Taste of Food and Fitness, Fourth Edition," starting at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 7.
  
  • This 8-hour course qualifies for SNA core course certification level 1.
  • This training provides a basic overview of nutrition with an emphasis on the importance of balance in daily food choices and the inclusion of physical activity as a key component to good health. The training incorporates a variety of learning activities including short physical activity boosters.
  • The $75 fee includes training, materials and lunch.
• Click here for more details and registration information. 

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Happy National Farm to School Month

• Don't forget, October is National Farm to School Month!  
• View the School Newsletter from Thursday, October 4, for more information and tools to celebrate at your school.
• *New* The 2019 Farm to School Grant Request for Applications (RFA) is now open for applications.
  • USDA will award up to $7.5 million in competitive grants to eligible entities through the Farm to School Grant Program in fiscal year (FY) 2019.
  • Each grant helps implement Farm to School programs that increase access to local food in eligible schools, providing students with quality meals at a reasonable cost while also supporting local producers.
  • The RFA includes three tracks—Implementation, Planning, and Training. These will support a variety of projects and implementation stages. Each track provides funding for a specific range of activities.
  • The Grant RFA can be found on grants.gov. Complete applications must be submitted on grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on December 4.
• Interested in learning more about Farm to School? Want to share what your school is doing? Contact Maggie Schabel at mschabel@doe.in.gov. 

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Missed a Weekly School Nutrition Newsletter? Click here to access previous newsletters!

Please do not reply directly to this email. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this email, please contact Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov, call (317) 232-0849, or toll-free at 1-800-537-1142 ext. 20849. You can also contact Sarah Kenworthy at skenworthy@doe.in.gov, call (317) 232-0857, or toll-free at 1-800-537-1142 ext. 20857.