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Food Distribution Update
SY 2018 – 2019 Spring
Surveys
Spring surveys will be open March 2-April 3, 2018. The new
SY18-19 sponsor entitlement awards have been uploaded to CLiCS1. Access the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foods Available List SY18-19 on the USDA website.
The spring surveys will feature a number of new regular USDA
items for next year. They are:
- 110859 Mixed Berries, Cup Frz
- 110871 Mixed Vegetables, No Salt Frz
- 110921 Chicken, Fillet, Unbreaded Frz
- 110911 Turkey, Deli Ham, Smoked Frz
- 110931 Egg, Patty, Cooked Round Frz
Look for the Ready Set Survey 2019 available March 1 on the Food Distribution webpage. Review the spring bulletin for a complete
summary of the new and eliminated items for next year as well as other Food
Distribution Program news.
Butternut Squash (Item #110861)
Due to the quality and preparation concerns submitted regarding this product, USDA has agreed to reimburse the state for the SY17-18 ordered cases. Vendor changes have been made to ensure this product will not contain seeds, peel, or pith as described in the product information sheets. Sponsor reimbursement for the squash will be completed in June and added to your entitlement balance.
Net Off Invoice (NOI) and Fee-for-Service (FFS)
Remember the Minnesota Rebate Program will not be available for SY18-19. To help provide a clearer understanding of how the NOI and Fee-for Service diversion channels work, visit Net Off Invoice (NOI) and Fee-for-Service (FFS).
If you have any questions about any of the above information, contact MDE Food and Nutrition Service at 651-582-8526, 1-800-366-8922 (MN Toll-free) or email fns.fdp@state.mn.us.
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Training Opportunity
New this year! SFSP trainings will be available through
online training courses that will cover all of the basic SFSP topics. A civil
rights course and an SFSP refresher course will also be available.
Online courses will be interactive, approximately 10-15
minutes in length and available any time.
Instructions and online course information will be available
in early March. For a sneak peek, check out the first topic on SFSP Participant
Eligibility (10 minutes).
We will also offer a number of in-person workshops, but are
limiting the number of locations as we believe sponsors will find the online
courses both convenient and comprehensive. In-person workshops will be designed
to reinforce the information covered in the online courses so sponsors will need
to view the online courses prior to attending an in-person workshop.
In-person workshop dates and locations:
- April 10 (White Earth)
- April 18 (Mankato)
- April 23 (Roseville)
Watch this listserv for more information on the online
training courses and the in-person workshop registration.
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Deadline Extended for Comments on Food Crediting
USDA has extended the
deadline to April 23, 2018, for
program operators and others to submit comments on the previously issued Food Crediting in Child Nutrition Programs:
Request for Information. USDA would like to gather more ideas about
potential changes to how foods credit. To submit questions and comments or
review others’ comments, visit the Federal Register website.
Renewal of Food
Service Management Contracts and Contracts for Vended Meals
A
2017 state law revised Minnesota Statutes, section 123B.52, so that public schools could renew
food service management contracts and vended meal contracts up to four times
after the original contract year. This allowed the state law to match federal program regulations for all SFAs. This
means these types of contracts may be renewed for 2018-19 if the original
contract year was 2014-15 or later. Older contracts may not be renewed.
Prices
or fees in renewed contracts may be increased by no more than 1.9 percent from
2017-18 prices or fees. This is based on the Consumer Price Index – All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U), Midwest Region, Food Away from Home, for the 12 months
ending December 2017.
Before
renewing a contact, an SFA must determine that the company has met contractual
requirements during the current contract year. This includes the requirement
that the company has fully credited the SFA for the 2017-18 value of USDA
Foods. MDE will post a new form to the website to assist SFAs in reconciling
the total value of USDA Foods for a contract year to the total credits received
from the company.
These
documents will be posted on the MDE website by early March:
- Template for 2018-19 Renewal of a Food Service Management Contract
- Template for 2018-19 Renewal of a Contract for Vended Meals
-
A new form for SFA to reconcile the contract year’s value of USDA Foods to the contract year’s credits provided for USDA Foods.
Tuesdays @ 2 Webinars
A variety of topics will be offered during this year’s
Tuesdays@2 webinar series. All webinars begin at 2 p.m. and will be 30-60
minutes in length, unless otherwise noted. Registration and session information
will be posted on the Training: School Nutrition
Programs webpage.
Upcoming Webinars
February 27 – How
Much Should that Meal Cost?
Join us for a discussion on determining meal prices in
school nutrition programs. This session will review the requirements for
pricing of adult meals, breakfast, program adults and lunch.
Registration
– How Much Should that Meal Cost?
March 6 – Completing
the Paid Lunch Equity Tool
The Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) provision of the Healthy,
Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires school food authorities (SFAs) to ensure
that sufficient funds are paid to the school service account to cover the costs
of paid student lunches. This session will provide an overview of PLE and walk
participants through completing a PLE spreadsheet.
Registration
– Completing the Paid Lunch Equity Tool
March 13 – Meal Charge Policies
All School Food Authorities (SFA)
are required to have a written meal charge policy. An SFA may have a consistent
policy for all students in the school district or choose to apply the policy
differently based on student grade level. This session will review the
requirement for a meal charge policy and highlight resources available to
assist you in meeting this requirement.
Registration
– Meal Charge Policies
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