Weekly School Nutrition Newsletter

Indiana Department of Education sent this bulletin at 04/11/2019 02:58 PM EDT

04/11/2019

Dear Food Service Contact,

This email provides news for schools concerning the Child Nutrition Programs from the USDA and the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). 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.

Save the Date! Back to School Event

  • IDOE will be hosting the first annual Back to School Event on Thursday, July 25 at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center in Indianapolis, IN.
  • This free training event will help schools have the most up-to-date and thorough information from different areas within school nutrition to ensure a successful school year. 
  • The day will kick-off with a speaker followed by multiple break-out sessions on a wide variety of topics.
  • The day before the event, Wednesday, July 24, the American Dairy Association Indiana will be hosting a tour of a dairy farm followed by dinner.
    • Participants will be taken via bus to Milco Dairy Farm in Lewisville, IN for both the tour and dinner.
    • This event will be from 4:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
      • Buses begin boarding at 4:15 p.m. and will return by 8:30 p.m. 
    • This event is free for those attending the Back to School Event. 
    • To view the save the date, click here.
  • Click here for more information and to register
  • Questions? Contact Maggie Schabel at mschabel@doe.in.gov or Ashley Heller at aheller@doe.in.gov.

Winning on Reducing Food Waste Month

  • USDA, EPA, and FDA recognize April as Winning on Reducing Food Waste Month.
  • In the U.S., more than one-third of all available food goes uneaten through loss or waste.
  • Want to learn methods to reduce waste in schools?
  • This Food Waste Prevention Fact Sheet outlines methods to reduce waste from planning and purchasing, to receiving and storing, in meal service, and even through marketing.
  • If schools do plan to implement a sharing table or food recovery, IDOE and the Indiana State Department of Health collaborated on guidance for schools.
    • Find those fact sheets here.
  • Questions about reducing food waste in your school? Contact your field specialist.

Coffee Break Webinars

Webinars Posted on inTEAM

  • The webinars from the Coffee Break Webinar series in January are now available on inTEAM.
  • These include webinars on:
    • Buy American
    • Organizing Your School Nutrition Program with the New Calendar of Due Dates
    • Unpaid Meal Charges Updates, Best Practices, and State Board of Accounts Recommendations
  • Want more information on Buy American? Click here to access the Buy American checklist, memo, and standard operating procedures for storage.
  • Want more information on Charging Procedures? Click here to view communication strategies, talking points for SFAs, excess balance letter and donation form, and more.
  • Also, an inTEAM Verification for Directors Course is now available.
    • This course reviews the requirements with practice exercises to help understand the overall verification process. 
  • Don't forget! inTEAM now has learning paths to help guide participants through courses most applicable for each position and topic.
  • Questions about inTEAM? Contact Rachel Beach at rachel@e-inteam.com.

Coffee Break Webinars for Administrators

  • The webinars from the Coffee Break Webinars for Administrators series in February are now available online.
  • These webinars were each 30 minutes or less and covered important topics about the School Nutrition Program that pertain to school administrators.
  • To view or share the recorded webinars, click on the title of the webinar below:
  • Don't forget to send these along to administrators at your school! 
  • Questions? Contact Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov.

Food Distribution Program

  • Direct Delivered (aka Brown Box) allocations will end for SY 2018-2019 on Tuesday, April 30, 2019.
    • State contracted warehouse deliveries will continue through the RA’s last delivery period in June.
  • The end of school year 2018-2019 is rapidly approaching. Entitlement funds for the Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program must be spent by Sunday, June 30.
    • Reminder - DoD Fresh is a use it or lose it program.
  • Questions? Contact Cheryl Moore at cmoore@doe.in.gov.

Food Buying Guide (FBG) Calculator is now on the FBG App!

  • The FBG Calculator is now also on the FBG Mobile App!
  • The FBG Calculator is designed to assist sponsors with creating a shopping list to streamline food ordering needs for programs.
  • The FBG Mobile App is currently available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store
  • For more information, click here.

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

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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, or contact Ashley Heller at aheller@doe.in.gov, call (317) 232-0544, or toll-free at 1-800-537-1142 ext. 20544.