March is National Nutrition Month!
This years theme is “Celebrate a World of Flavors” – to celebrate flavors from cultures around the world. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics encourages finding ways to nourish yourself and others by appreciating diversity, knowing “we are all unique with different bodies, goals, backgrounds and tastes!”
For some printout activities, here:
To visit the website and use the social media tool kit available, visit: National Nutrition Month 2022 (thesocialpresskit.com)
2021-2022 Free and Reduced Price Eligibility numbers are now published on the NDDPI Child Nutrition website. A report containing the last three years has been provided in response to the Department of Education allowances.
A few takeaways from the Enrollment Reporting and Verification Collection process this year are:
- With the staff changes some districts have been experiencing, please ensure your application personnel and procedures are in place as we await decisions on handling Free and Reduced-Price Applications in the 2022-2023 school year.
- Meal Application determinations should be updated in PowerSchool on a timely basis. PowerSchool is one of the main programs that report student meal status to the state's information system.
- All Student meal applications need to be verified against the Direct Certification List provided in STARS for registered users. If applications contain student(s) on the Direct Certification list, the student(s) are counted as Directly Certified, and applications are labeled as such and maintained separately from active documents.
- The Last Day of October Enrollment numbers reported on your October claim for reimbursement should match the numbers you report on your Verification Collection Report.
- If you are ever in doubt, reach out; we are here to help!
Save the date to attend one of the NDDPI-Child Nutrition and Food Distribution workshops coming this fall. Each day will have the same content. Dates are:
- July 26, Tuesday at Fargo Hilton Garden Inn
- July 27, Wednesday at Fargo Hilton Garden Inn
- August 2, Tuesday at Bismarck’s Ramada Inn
- August 3, Wednesday at Bismarck’s Ramada Inn
- August 4, Thursday at The Grand International Inn in Minot
A block of rooms is reserved at each facility at the state rate.
Please plan to attend one of the workshop dates.
SAVE THE DATE! Registration for the 1-day conference will open soon.
The NDSNA Conference will be held in Fargo this year. Mark your calendar to attend June 8 & 9th, with preconference sessions on June 7th!
Registration & more information coming soon!
The Summer Food Service Program will be up and running at many schools and non-profit sites this summer across North Dakota. SFA’s are encouraged to help families find summer meal sites in their area by including these meal site finder options in the last newsletter to parents before summer break.
The Meals for Kids Site Finder was developed by USDA Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) to help children, parents, and others quickly and easily find summer meal sites near them. The site finder, available for use at no charge, is a web-based application that also works on tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices without the need to download. Go to www.fns.usda.gov/meals4kids to find meal sites in your area or text 914-342-7744.
No Kid Hungry has also developed a resource for children, parents and others to find summer meal sites near them. Go to www.nokidhungry.org/find-free-meals and enter in your address to find free, healthy meals being served by organizations in your community. Families can also find meal sites near them by texting the work FOOD to 877-877. Data and message rates may apply.
We are happy to provide, upon request, certificates for 10 years of service and for every 5-year interval after that. We also provide awards upon retirement at the request of the school district.
If you would like years of service certificates for eligible school foodservice employees, please complete the Years of Service Request form (Attached HERE) and return it to our office either by e-mail vlsilva@nd.gov or fax (328-9566) no later than Friday, April 8, 2022.
Certificates will be mailed out Monday, April 25th. Please check the certificates and immediately notify our office if there are any discrepancies. It is suggested the certificates be presented to your foodservice personnel on School Lunch Hero Day, Friday, May 6, 2022, or during School Nutrition Employee Week, May 2-6, 2022.
Should you have questions about the Years of Service Awards, please call Victoria Silva at 328-2294 or toll-free at 1-888-338-3663.
Kitchen Counter Conversations: Tuesday March 15th @ 2 PM CST
Topic: Universal Free Meals: Can they be extended next year?
School nutrition professionals and administration as well as parents have benefited from universal free meals for the last two years. The reduced paperwork from applications, eligibility lists, categorical claims and unpaid meal charges has helped offset the extra work dealing with supply chain disruption.
At the time of this publication, your State Agency has not heard that universal free meals have been extended for next school year. Our discussion will highlight the USDA programs that are already in place that allow universal free meals. Director Linda Schloer is the expert on these programs. She will focus on the advantages and disadvantages of participating in the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) and compare it with the other options – Provision 1, Provision 2 and Provision 3. She will answer the questions:
Is my school district eligible for the program?
When do I have to make the decision to participate?
How do I sign up?
Once we have a good grasp of these programs, Deb Egeland, Assistant Director will take over to update us on anything new that she heard on her recent trip to Washington D.C. The School Nutrition Association had a list of 5 topics in the 2022 position paper that were presented to law makers on Capitol Hill. Deb has her ear to the ground and will have a ‘feeling’ for what Congress will say “yay” or “nay” to.
One of the SNA position topics is “School Meals for All” which will fit right in with our discussion. For a list of the other 4 topics and ways to add your voice to the message going to our federal representatives, head to the Legislation & Policy page of SNA: SNA Legislation & Policy (schoolnutrition.org)
Please join the Teams channel below – Tuesday, March 15th, 2 p.m. CST
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Please share with us your activities or featured menu items you did to celebrate National School Breakfast Week! You can email us at dpicnfd@nd.gov or post to the Facebook page: North Dakota Kitchen Nutritional Staff |
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Tioga Public School is going to be a part of a call with our Regional Office in Denver – to show what activities they have planned. We look forward to hearing and seeing it. Thanks for taking part, Tioga!
We look forward to seeing the creative ways of celebrating School Breakfast. Thank you for nourishing the students of North Dakota so they can TAKE OFF with their day!
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