Weekly School Nutrition Newsletter

Indiana Department of Education sent this bulletin at 11/21/2019 01:41 PM EST

11/21/2019

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.

Local Wellness Policy (LWP) Assessment

Reminder! SFAs are required to complete their first LWP triennial assessment by June 30, 2020.
Every three years, sponsors must evaluate their LWP with an evaluation tool and notify the public of the results.
This assessment will determine:
- Compliance with the wellness policy,
- How the wellness policy compares to model wellness policies, and
- Progress made in attaining the goals of the wellness policy.
USDA recommends the WellSat Tool as a resource to conduct the LWP triennial assessment. There are also a variety of other assessment tools that can be used to assess all or part of the LWP requirements.
For more information and resources, visit the IDOE School Wellness Policy Webpage.
Questions? Contact Maggie Schabel at mschabel@doe.in.gov.

Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable (Fresh) Program Updates

2020-2021 DoD Fresh Commitments

Schools are now able to make their school year 2020-2021 commitments toward the DoD Fresh Program.
This is the program in which schools allocate a portion of their Planned Assistance Level (PAL) dollars, also known as entitlement, toward the DoD Fresh Program.
Diverting a portion of the school’s entitlement dollars is optional.
If your school wishes to participate and divert funds toward the program, please click this link.
Questions about DOD Fresh? Contact Cheryl Moore at cmoore@doe.in.gov.

Submitting a Quality Complaint

Recently, there have been some concerns regarding the procedures for submitting a quality issue complaint and requesting a credit for poor quality DoD Fresh Program products.
When there is a quality issue for DoD Fresh Program products, please follow these steps:

Do NOT discard the product(s) until told to do so by the vendor, Creation Gardens.
Report the issue to the DLA representative, vendor, and the State Distributing Agency.
Provide a picture, if possible.
The vendor may opt to pick up the items in some situations.

Questions about DOD Fresh? Contact Cheryl Moore at cmoore@doe.in.gov.

Food Distribution Program Delivery Update

Please note! The 2019 delivery schedule during the holidays:
Dilgard Foods - Not delivering the entire week of Thanksgiving (November 25 - 29), Christmas (December 23 - 27), and New Years (December 30 - January 3).
McFarling – Will be delivering the week of Thanksgiving, except for Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 28), as well as delivering the week of Christmas, except for Christmas Day (Wednesday December 25).
Stanz Foodservice - Not delivering the entire week of Thanksgiving (November 25 - 29), Christmas (December 23 - 27), and New Years (December 30 - January 3).
Wabash Foodservice - Not delivering the entire week of Thanksgiving (November 25 - 29), Christmas (December 23 - 27), and New Years (December 30 - January 3).

Community Meals Served at School During the School Day

Inviting the community into schools during this holiday period is a great way to showcase all of the improvements being made in school lunches. However, it should be noted that providing community meals for free is not an allowable expenditure from the nonprofit school food service account.
The value of the meals, equivalent to the adult meal price or greater, must be collected and deposited into the food service account from a non-federal source.
School personnel are to be reminded that the school nutrition program is funded to serve enrolled students. All other expenditures related to serving meals must be funded through other outside sources, such as the general fund, community organizations, or donations.
Questions? Contact your field specialist.

Pre-Approved Kitchen Equipment Purchase List for Child Nutrition Programs

Don't forget about IDOE’s Pre-Approved Kitchen Equipment Purchase List for Child Nutrition Programs!
The list consists of commonly purchased, non-expendable, tangible equipment items that exceed the $5,000 threshold.
School Food Authorities (SFAs) will no longer need to receive prior state agency approval, as long as the item is included on the pre-approved list.
For all other kitchen equipment purchases not included on the pre-approved list or for large renovation projects, SFAs must submit IDOE's Equipment Approval Form to the state agency for prior approval.
Please note! Proper procurement practices must be followed for all kitchen equipment purchases, and SFAs must maintain a copy of all receipts and invoices for a minimum of three years, plus the current year.
Click here to visit the Procurement Resources webpage, which has the pre-approved equipment purchase list, as well as, information on the equipment purchase process and other procurement fact sheets.
Questions? Contact the finance team at SCNFinance@doe.in.gov.

eLearning Days

Sponsors wanting to offer and claim meals to students on eLearning days must remember that meal services must meet all of the "normal" meal pattern requirements.
This includes:

Full servings of all components
Having it accessible to all students
Being served and consumed at school during the normal meal service time
Recording at the point of sale

Meals cannot be picked up, transported home, and then claimed for reimbursement, nor would this be an allowable expenditure from the food service account.
Questions? Contact your field specialist.

Grow and Tell

IDOE wants to thank you for celebrating Indiana Food Day during Farm to School Month!
IDOE and the American Dairy Association Indiana want to hear how you celebrated in your schools.
- Click here to share.

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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.

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