Your meal claims for breakfast and lunch will not open up until an application for the Seamless Summer Option has been completed and approved. If you have not done so, please submit your application in ND Foods as soon as possible so it can be processed.
A quick tutorial on how to fill out this NEW application for both the Sponsor and the Site is available at: https://youtu.be/i8nhk8BZhUg
Afterschool Snacks must also be renewed if your school district is offering that program. The Snack program is under the School Nutrition Program in ND Foods. Breakfast and Lunch participation must be set to ‘NO’ in the site portion of that application and Snack participation set to ‘YES’.
Let one of your Child Nutrition team know if you need help with either of these in ND Foods.
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Now that school is back in session and most sponsors are done serving summer meals, it’s time to provide feedback on program operations. To evaluate program operations, we are asking that each SFSP sponsor, that provided meals over the summer months, complete the SFSP Program Operations Survey 2021. It is important to evaluate SFSP operations each summer to determine which practices were the most effective and which should be continued next summer. Your feedback will also allow our office to provide suggestions and comments to USDA regarding the utilization of waivers during the summer 2021. Click on this link to access the survey here: https://forms.office.com/g/mrFg04Gpi3 (or found below). Answer all of the questions and provide comments and additional feedback where necessary. Please complete the survey by October 31, 2021. THANK YOU!
The Emergency Summer Food Program allowed 2% of the second meals to be claimed for reimbursement. Since SEAMLESS SUMMER OPTION (SSO) is an extension of the National School Lunch program, no second meals may claimed for reimbursement.
You may charge for second items though.
If you are allowing students to receive second items for free, these must be tracked and then money to cover these second items must be received into the 05 Foodservice account from somewhere other than federal reimbursement dollars.
Annually, Civil Rights training is required for each staff member and volunteer working with school meals programs. This session will fulfill the annual Civil Rights training requirement. The session will be recorded, and training materials will be provided for Sponsors to train staff who are unable to attend a session.
Training will be held during the September 21st Kitchen Counter Conversation at 2:00 pm (CST). The Teams Meeting link for the trainings is listed below.
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting
Join with a video conferencing device
teams@join.nd.gov
Video Conference ID: 115 372 266 8
Alternate VTC dialing instructions
Or call in (audio only)
+1 701-328-0950,,282939126# United States, Fargo
Phone Conference ID: 282 939 126#
Find a local number | Reset PIN
Click here to access the sign up information for the Mountain Plains Crunch Off between September 16-October 15. Let's win it! Get your school involved by offering something crunchy during lunch or snack. You could even take a picture of the CRUNCH for posting on your schools social media! Have fun & good luck!
This is a post on a school food service website from another state which is intriguing and may be something schools in North Dakota wish to implement. But there is a caution to this scenario. Please read on….
 In this instance, the school must be implementing offer vs serve. “Offer versus Serve” is a strategy that allows students to decline some food components and select the foods they intend to eat. In order for the student to decline some of the food components, they must first have them offered!
In the scenario above, the school is only allowing the student to choose a milk (from a variety, hopefully). After that, the student is “given a fruit and graham crackers” … This is not allowing the student to choose from the other two components that are part of a reimbursable meal.
This is the caution then – to be able to CLAIM a meal for reimbursement, a child only needs to have ½ cup fruit or vegetable plus two other full components BUT they must be able to choose from all 5 components. Please give one of the Child Nutrition team a call if you would like to discuss offering “Lunch box Helpers”, “Sidekicks” or “Buddy’s” further.
Here is a possible sign for lunch that expresses the “Pick 3, but all 5 are available” concept. Make sure any signage says “at least 3” and all staff know that a cold lunch customer could take all 5 components if they want.
Back to School Workshop Recordings
Back to school workshop trainings were held July 27 & 28 along with August 2, 4, and 5. The speaker, Janelle Peterson, was recorded for anyone who missed her and/or would like to go back and watch.
The opening with Deb Egeland, message from Superintendent Baesler, and Janelle’s presentation on meal patterns can be found here: https://cloud.swivl.com/v/36760cc889dfe3a77d5a33e48f1bcfcc
Janelle’s presentation on finances in the kitchen can be found here: https://cloud.swivl.com/v/8dd589843360b28a2a742baea7008804
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Need more ideas for you school nutrition program? If you are on Facebook, there are two sites that you will want to follow AND take part in.
- The first is our own ‘North Dakota Kitchen Nutritional Staff’ page (search for the group, and request to join) where you can network with your peers around the state. Your Child Nutrition team also posts pertinent information there to help you stay up to speed on all the changes in your school meal programs.
- The second one is “Tips for School Meals that Rock” – the brainchild of our favorite Montana former food service director and now school nutrition consultant. Following is a recent post from that site:
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Check out all the kid-winning recipes along with spreadsheets coming out of kitchens around the nation to help you be more efficient. Also chime in with your own thoughts and experiences to the various posts. We love seeing pictures of the creative kitchen culture and cute kid crafts along with fabulous food and terrific trays! Enjoy.
National School Lunch Week 2021 is October 11-15, 2021
This is a nationally celebrated week to promote school lunch, and all that YOU do to provide delicious, nutritious (and reimbursable) meals & friendly smiles to the students you serve! What great timing, as you begin the school year, promote National School Lunch Week, and then go out with a BANG October 11-15 including some fun and WILD menu items.
The School Nutrition Association (SNA) provides tools to help increase participation, engage and excite students and staff, educate parents on school meals, connect with school administration and teachers as well as the potential for media coverage (if desired!) The SNA toolkit has NOT been released yet, however check back to their website to get the latest information. Toolkit & Handouts (schoolnutrition.org)
As you prepare: you might want to include some fun items for staff – or support your local party décor store to jazz up the serving line while you celebrate!
National School Breakfast Week Gifts and Promotional Items National School Lunch Week 2021 - Products National School Breakfast Week Online Store (jimcolemanstore.com)
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