Weekly School Nutrition Newsletter
Indiana Department of Education sent this bulletin at 12/19/2019 12:09 PM EST12/19/2019
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.
Happy Holidays from the IDOE SCN Staff
- We would like to wish everyone happy holidays from IDOE's SCN team!
- Due to the holidays, there will not be a weekly newsletter on December 26 or January 2.
- Weekly newsletters will resume with a fun, new look for the brand new year on Thursday, January 9!
New! Offer Versus Serve (OVS) Materials and Trainings
- IDOE has created new materials for schools that implement OVS at lunch and/or breakfast.
- New Resources include:
- IDOE also has new online trainings available on inTEAM, including OVS trainings on breakfast, lunch, and best practices.
- Be sure to check out the newly, updated Breakfast OVS and Lunch OVS webpages for access to all of these great resources and more.
- Questions about OVS? Contact your field specialist or Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov.
IDOE Resource Request Form
- Want a laminated copy of the Calendar of Due Dates? Or a spiral bound version of one of IDOE's manuals, such as the Special Dietary Needs Handbook or School Nutrition Programs Manual?
- Sponsors can now request School Nutrition Program materials to be mailed directly to them through IDOE's Resource Request Form.
- Click here to access the form and start requesting materials today!
Nutrition Newsletter
- The latest edition of the Indiana Nutrition Newsletter is now available.
- Articles in this newsletter include:
- IDOE's School Food Service Employee of the Year
- IDOE's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) School of the Year
- Indiana Food Day
- National School Breakfast Week
- and more!
- Click here to access the newsletter.
- Want your school featured in the next newsletter? Contact Suzette Hartmann at shartman@doe.in.gov.
Save the Date! Indiana School Nutrition Association (ISNA) Winter Seminar
- ISNA will be holding their annual Winter Seminar on Thursday, February 6 at the Willows on Westfield.
- Based on feedback from ISNA members, Winter Seminar will have two sharing sessions as part of the day to increase networking and encourage sharing of ideas and best practices. The sessions will include all four USDA key areas.
- Dynamic keynote speaker Martha Bryan will present Dealing with Difficult People and Coaching and Mentoring.
- Other sessions will include:
- Digital Food Production Records
- 21 Rules for Food Presentation
- Breakfast: More than Cereal and Milk
- Social Media
- Leveraging Community Partnerships for Improved Health and Nutrition
- Join ISNA for a wonderful day full of professional development and networking!
- More details and registration will be available here soon!
- Questions? Contact Sheri Shipp at sheri@indianasna.org.
Verification Summary Report (VSR) Reminders
- Don't forget! The VSR is due Wednesday, January 15.
- Sponsors can access the VSR once their Annual Financial Report (AFR) and October claim have been submitted and approved.
- Locate the VSR in the CNPweb, under the Claims/AFR tab in Program Year 2020.
- In-depth instructions, a sample worksheet, PowerPoint, and fact sheets can be found here.
- A recorded webinar on the VSR can be found on inTEAM.
- Questions? Contact Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov or your field specialist.
Food Distribution Program Updates
- Winter is here, and so are school delays and closings!
- Make sure that school staff is available to inspect, verify, and accept all USDA Foods deliveries in order to avoid drop fees for missed deliveries.
- 2020-2021 DoD Fresh commitment requests are due December 31.
- DoD Fresh allows sponsors to allocate a portion of the Planned Assistance Level (PAL) dollars, also known as entitlement dollars.
- This program is optional.
- Sponsors that would like to participate, click here.
- The deadline to provide feedback regarding the USDA Foods bonus products is December 31.
- Click here to complete the short survey.
- The 2020-2021 Annual Pre-Order Survey will be opening soon!
- Remember that sponsors that contract with Food Service Management Companies (FSMC), are still ultimately responsible for managing the USDA foods designated for the sponsor.
- Please be sure that school food staff are involved in the process of selecting, managing, and ordering items.
- Do you receive direct delivered product (aka brown box) deliveries by one of our four state contracted warehouses - Dilgard, McFarling, Stanz, or Wabash?
- If so, IDOE needs your feedback! IDOE is in the midst of procuring new contracted warehouses and wants to hear from you.
- Please click here to complete a short survey and share what you think.
- Did you know that the Food Distribution Program publishes a newsletter? Click here to read the latest edition.
- Questions? Contact Cheryl Moore at cmoore@doe.in.gov.
Miss a Weekly School Nutrition Newsletter? Click here to access previous newsletters!
Was the newsletter forwarded to you? Want to add other employees to receive the newsletter? Click here to be added to the contact list.
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.