Using “share tables” can encourage children to eat nutritious foods and help reduce food waste in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).
About Share Tables
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy memo SFSP 15-2016 provides information about share tables. This memo reviews food safety requirements program operators must follow when including share tables in their meal service.
Share tables allow food or beverage items to be reused in several ways, examples include:
- Children may take an additional helping of a food or beverage item from the share table at no cost;
- Items left on the share table may be served and claimed for reimbursement during another meal service. Example: During an afterschool program with leftovers from a school lunch; and/or
- Items may be donated to a non-profit organization, such as a community food bank, homeless shelter, or other non-profit charitable organization. See SP 11-2012, SFSP 07-2012: Guidance on the Food Donation Program in Child Nutrition Programs.
Adults are not allowed to eat food left at share tables, and share tables are not allowed to be used for programs outside of child nutrition, with the exception of food donation outlined in SP 11-2012, SFSP 07-2012.
SPSP Food Safety and Share Table Resources
Online Trainings and Other Resources
Questions? Please contact your local health department for any additional share table requirements.
OSPI Child Nutrition Service (CNS) received two waivers for SFSP and Seamless Summer Option (SSO). These waivers allow sponsors operating approved outdoor meal sites, without temperature-controlled or indoor alternative sites, to operate as non-congregate sites on days when the area is experiencing excessive heat and/or air quality advisories. These waivers will allow sponsors to continue meal service should these weather events occur.
Excessive Heat Waiver Criteria
- Non-congregate meal service may be offered only on days when the National Weather Service (NWS) issues a Heat Advisory, an Excessive Heat Warning, or an Excessive Heat Watch for the area in which an approved outdoor meal site is located.
- This waiver may only be used when high temperatures could not reasonably be planned for and may not be used to respond to high temperatures that are typical of the area in which the site is located.
- Approved outdoor sites must comply with congregate meal service requirements on all other days of operation.
- Outdoor sites with an available temperature-controlled alternative site may not use this waiver and should serve meals at the temperature-controlled alternative site if the area is experiencing excessive heat.
Utilizing the Excessive Heat Waiver
Submit a request in writing to the Summer Meals team inbox within 24 hours of providing non-congregate meals. Requests must include documentation from the NWS. Sponsors must receive written approval from OSPI CNS to claim non-congregate meals.
Air Quality Advisories Waiver Criteria
- Non-congregate meal service may be offered at outdoor meal sites with no alternative indoor site on days when the area is experiencing certain air quality advisories.
- The threshold for determining when non-congregate meal service is allowed will be based on metrics developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) .
- Sites may be approved for non-congregate meal service on days when the site's zip code has an Air Quality Index (AQI) "purple" flag or higher, as indicated on the AirNow.gov website.
- For days when air quality is a concern, but the purple flag threshold is not met, FNS recommends sponsors with outdoor sites consider the outdoor activity guidance developed by the EPA and the CDC.
- Outdoor sites with alternative indoor locations will not be permitted to serve non-congregate meals.
Utilizing the Air Quality Waiver
Submit a request in writing to the Summer Meals team inbox within 24 hours of providing non-congregate meals. Requests must include documentation from the EPA or CDC. Sponsors must receive written approval from OSPI CNS to claim non-congregate meals.
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals team.
Are your meals appetizing, appealing, and nutritious? The USDA wants to recognize you!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Turnip the Beet award recognizes outstanding summer meal program sponsors across the country who work to offer high quality meals to children that are appetizing, appealing, and nutritious.
Please see our Turnip the Beet webpage for eligibility criteria. Submit your nomination form and menu to the Summer Meals Team inbox by Friday, September 8.
Now that the application deadline has passed and some of you have started operating, there are some reminders we want to share!
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Claiming
Keep an eye on your participation to make sure you can adjust your Average Daily Attendance (ADA) in WINS prior to submitting your claim. Remember, sponsors who use an FSMC/Vendor must adjust ADAs before the claim goes into error status.
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Meal Service
- Any changes to mealtimes and/or service days must be approved by OSPI. Maintaining continuous communication with site staff is essential to ensuring all changes are reported in a timely manner.
- Make sure each meal service takes place within the approved WINS mealtime.
- If any of your sites are going on a field trip, please be sure to submit a Field Trip Notification no later than the day before the field trip.
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Food Safety is Everyone's Responsibility!
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Staff Changes
- All site supervisors, staff and volunteers must be trained before they assist with SFSP operations. If you have a new staff supervisor or staff member who is not listed in WINS, please update your site application(s) as soon as possible!
- Staff must be trained on topics based on their role in the SFSP. OSPI CNS created several short, topic-based SFSP trainings available in Moodle that sponsors can incorporate into staff trainings. There are several different training topics such as Monitoring, Menu Planning, Offer Vs. Serve, Point of Service Meal Counting, and more!
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals team.
Civil Rights Requirements
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated their nondiscrimination statement in May 2022 to clarify prohibitions against discrimination based on sex in all USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs.
Translations Update
The USDA posted additional translations of the updated statement to their Nondiscrimination Statement webpage. When utilizing these materials, be sure to use the document listed under the "All Other Programs NDS" column.
Requirements
Child Nutrition Program sponsors have requirements to notify potential participants of their civil rights as part of operating the programs. Please review the 7/10 Nondiscrimination Statement update for details regarding public notification, steps to complete, and resources.
Questions? Contact your OSPI CNS Program Specialist.
It's important to communicate with families now that we have transitioned to normal SFSP operational requirements. We understand this may be challenging, as families have been able to grab meals and leave during the height of the pandemic. Two key changes from operations during the pandemic include:
- Requiring all meals to be consumed on site.
- Parents or guardians are no longer able to pick up meals for their children.
Best Practices
- If a child asks for additional meals for siblings/friends who are not present, remind them you must be able to see the child who is receiving the meal.
- Put up clear signage reminding participants meals must be eaten on site.
- Set up a visible perimeter, such as cones or yard signs, and make a rule that meals cannot be taken past the established perimeter.
- Provide enrichment activities that entice participants to stay. Examples include: bubble blowers, coloring sheets, books, and other types of entertainment—get creative!
Resources
OSPI has the following resources to assist with this transition, which can be found on our SFSP Requirements and Materials page! We encourage sponsors to print up these resources and provide them to sites.
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals Team.
The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides healthy meals to all children ages 18 & under, and students ages 21 and under enrolled in a Washington school district.
SFSP sponsors must promote meal access to all children. This includes providing accommodations for children with disabilities who have special dietary needs.
Typically, accommodations can be made within the meal pattern requirements. If this is the case, a medical statement is not required. Examples of this may include modifying the texture of meals (pureed, chopped, etc.) and substituting food items from the same component.
Potential Substitutions
Gluten Free Grains
- Corn Products, such as tortillas, tortilla chips, popcorn, corn-based cereals
- Rice Products, such as rice crackers, enriched white or brown rice, rice cereals
- Oat Products, such as gluten-free oatmeal or oat-based granola bars
Allowable Milk Alternatives*
- Lactose-free milk
- Lactose-reduced milk
*Please note that non-dairy milk substitutes are not creditable in SFSP without a note signed by a state-recognized medical authority.
Meat Alternates
- Yogurt, flavored or unflavored and nonfat, low-fat, or whole
- Cheese, such as cheddar, mozzarella, American, or Swiss
- Beans or Peas, such as black beans, refried beans, chickpeas, or hummus
- Nuts/Seeds, such as almonds, cashews, or sunflower seeds
- Please note that Nuts/Seeds may only comprise 50% of the M/MA component at lunch/supper.
- Nut/Seed Butters, such as almond butter, peanut butter, or sunflower butter
- Eggs
Important Note: Tofu is not creditable under the SFSP.
Substitutions Outside the Meal Pattern
If an accommodation cannot be made within the meal pattern requirements, a statement signed by a state-recognized medical authority must be submitted. The statement must detail:
- Food(s) to be avoided
- How the food impacts the participant
- Food(s) to be substituted
OSPI has developed the Special Dietary Accommodations Form, available in both English & Spanish, as a resource. When supported by a signature from a state-recognized medical authority, meal modifications that do not meet meal pattern requirements can be claimed for reimbursement.
Resources on Special Dietary Accommodations
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals Team.
If you did not receive promotional materials at one of our in-person trainings, you may place your order for materials using the link below from our partner, the United Way of King County. They will process and ship materials to you directly.
Order SFSP Promo Materials
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals Team.
Thank you for participating in OSPI Farm to Summer Celebration Week!
Did you participate in Farm to Summer Week? We want to hear from you! Please take five minutes to provide information on your summer program.
Complete the WA Farm to Summer Week Survey here!
This survey will provide us with information on how many sponsors participated in Farm to Summer Celebration Week. The survey will give us a better understanding of sponsor’s successes, challenges, and needs in conducting Farm to Summer activities.
Unable to participate in Farm to Summer Celebration Week as planned? We want to hear from you, too! Please email our Farm to Program Team inbox.
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