Good Afternoon! And welcome to the November 2017 National School Lunch Program Webinar. My name is Heather Blume and I am a coordinator with the Child Nutrition Programs. I work with the National School Lunch Team to conduct trainings through an Administrative Review and Training Grant, and I work on a wellness grant through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to promote school wellness and healthy nutrition environments. 

Please remember to track the time spent viewing this webinar towards professional development hours to meet USDA Professional Standards requirements. We will discuss topics that fall under the key areas of Nutrition (1000), Operations (2000), and Administration (3000) and the relevant learning code is written on the bottom of the slide to which it pertains.

We will start today’s webinar discussing the policy memos that were released recently and then move on to program reminders. We will end the webinar with success stories and time to ask questions. 

The policy memos that were recently released are:
SP01-2018, which gives updated information on the preschool meal pattern in the National School Lunch Program, 
FD-107, which updates guidelines on food storage, distribution, and product dates for donated foods, and
The Interim Final Rule for the flexibilities for milk, whole grains, and sodium requirements. 

We will now discuss the policy memos.

The purpose of SP01-2018 is to provide all provisions of the Rule for the infant and preschool meal patterns that apply to schools in one document for easy reference. Schools serving meals to infants and children ages 1 through 4 years old (preschoolers) must comply with these updated meal pattern requirements no later than October 1, 2017. This memorandum supersedes SP 35-2011, and CACFP 23-2011, Clarification on the Use of Offer Versus Serve and Family Style Meal Service, May 17, 2011, as it applies to the School Meal Programs.

While many of the changes in the infant and preschool meal patterns make them more consistent with the requirements for older grade groups (K through 12th grade), some of the meal pattern requirements for infants and preschoolers are different. The infant and preschool meal patterns are specifically designed for this younger age group and their nutritional needs. Taste preferences are formed early in a child’s life and meals served to infants and preschoolers are a critical part of establishing healthy habits that will last a lifetime. With this in mind, the updated infant and preschool meal patterns ensure the meals provided in the School Meal Programs contribute to the child’s wellness, healthy growth, and development. To assist schools in the transition to the updated meal patterns, FNS compiled a chart that highlights the primary differences between the preschool meal patterns and older grade meal patterns in Attachment A. This chart is attached as a PDF to this webinar for your reference. Please feel free to download it if you serve infants or children in pre-school programs. 

Memo FD-107 replaces the previous FD-107, which was dated June 9, 2010. Follow proper ordering, inventory management, and storage practices to ensure that donated foods are distributed quickly and in good condition. Factors that affect food quality include storage length and temperature, food characteristics, and the type of packaging. Child Nutrition Programs should not order more food than they would use in 6 months as outlined in 7 CFR 250.12(c). Anticipate demand based on historical data and incorporate factors such as changing food preferences, seasonality, and distribution logistics. 

As a general rule, use a first-in-first-out (FIFO) system of inventory management by marking food cases or other containers with the date of receipt at the storage facility. However, make note of food product dates provided by the manufacturer. Products marked with the earliest end date, such as “best-if-used-by” or “best-if-used-before”,  should be distributed first, even if those items were received after a similar item in inventory. Make sure to manage inventory to ensure that those getting the food can eat it before product end dates pass. 

In order to ensure the best quality, do not donate foods that have passed best-if-used-by, use-by, or sell-by dates. Program recipients should be able to eat all donated foods before product end dates have passed. Packing or manufacturing dates should not be interpreted the same as best-if-used-by or best-if-used-before dates. 

Another important note relates to “Out-of-condition” foods, which are foods that are no longer fit to eat due to spoilage, contamination, infestation, adulteration, or damage, per 7 CFR 250.2. Out-of-condition donated foods should not be eaten nor distributed regardless of product dates or when the foods were received. Certain types of donated foods such as dried fruits, grain products, and string cheese are more sensitive to storage conditions. If handled improperly, they may go out-of-condition before the dates marked on cases or containers. These types of foods should be stored in a cool, dry place at refrigerator or freezer temperatures, in line with proper storage guidelines, and should be distributed to program recipients as soon as possible. 

Please read FD-107 if you have questions on this topic, then contact the Idaho Child Nutrition Programs if further clarification is needed.

The interim Final Rule for milk, sodium, and whole grain flexibilities extends through school year 2018-2019. Right now, there are three menu planning flexibilities child nutrition program operators can request. These include requesting a waiver to offer flavored, low-fat (1 percent fat) milk in the Child Nutrition Programs; to request a waiver for grains that are not whole grain-rich; and to continue using menus that meet Sodium Target 1 in the NSLP and SBP. This interim Final Rule addresses significant challenges faced by local operators regarding milk, whole grains and sodium requirements and their impact on food development and reformulation, menu planning, and school food service procurement and contract decisions. The comments from the public on the long-term availability of these three flexibilities will help inform the development of a Final Rule, which is expected to be published in fall 2018 and implemented in school year 2019-2020. 

The USDA, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) invites those who are interested in these waivers to submit written comments on this interim final rule. Comments may be submitted in writing by one of the following methods: 
The Federal eRulemaking Portal
Regular U.S. mail OR
Overnight, courier, or hand delivery to the School Programs Branch, Policy and Program Development Division, Food and Nutrition Service. 
All written comments submitted in response to this interim final rule will be included in the record and will be made available to the public. Please be advised that comments and the identity of the people or groups submitting comments will be subject to public disclosure. FNS will make the written comments publicly available via http://www.regulations.gov.

So that's all we had for policy updates.  We will now move on to program reminders. 

As the State agency conducts Administrative Reviews, we have noticed some common review findings. The first is the “Buy American Provision” per (7 CFR 210.21 (d)). In school meal programs, it's a requirement to purchase food from the United States unless the food is unavailable from the U.S. or has a significantly higher cost. If you purchase foods from outside the U.S. you will need to have documentation showing why it was not available or it was more expensive to buy American. Make sure to include the Buy American Provision in your bid documents and check deliveries when they arrive to make sure that your vendors are delivering products from the U.S.

Another common area for review findings is in the Afterschool Snack Program. This program must be reviewed twice a year to make sure that Afterschool Program Coordinator is correctly counting and claiming snacks. Offer versus Serve is not allowed in the Afterschool Snack Program and two full components must be selected to count toward a reimbursable meal. The fruit component must be a full ¾ of a cup and grain components must be a full ounce equivalent in order to count. 

Another review finding is related to food safety training. The USDA Professional Standards require that Food Service Directors must have had at least eight hours of food safety training within the last 5 years. If you have not been trained on food safety recently, make sure that you receive the necessary training to keep food safe for children to eat.

Please keep in mind that food safety certification requirements are changing.  By July 1, 2018, The Idaho Food Code will require a Person in Charge to be present at all times of food service and preparation and who can demonstrate knowledge of food safety practices. Completion of one of the approved examinations and courses will meet the demonstration of knowledge requirements in Section 2-102.11 of the Idaho Food Code. Some courses will result in a fee, so the user should review the course before deciding whether to use it or not. The State of Idaho does not endorse any one particular course, but provides a list of adequate courses on the Food Protection page of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare website.

Remember to use the CNP Training Portal! There are many trainings available, covering a wide range of school meal topics listed under the Professional Development Catalog. Please register for courses on the CNP Training Portal - https://cnp.idiglearning.net/. 

As we move toward the end of the semester, make sure you are thinking about completing the School Food Authority On-Site Review Checklist. According to 7 CFR 210.8(a)(1) and 7 CFR 220.11(d)(1), each School Food Authority (SFA) with two or more feeding sites must perform no less than one on-site review of the meal counting and claiming system and the readily observable general areas of review identified under 7 CFR 210.18(h) in each school operating the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and 50% of the schools operating the School Breakfast Program (SBP) under its jurisdiction prior to February 1, every school year.

A new School Food Authority On-site Review Form, previously called the Point of Service Counting Review Form, has been enhanced by USDA and must by used starting November 2016 forward.  This form can be located in Download Forms under section 10 NSLP Resources.

The USDA would like to recognize SFAs and individuals schools on their accomplishments in operating the School Breakfast Program through the 2018 Breakfast of Champion awards.  If you have a breakfast success story, please send nominations to the Idaho National School Lunch Team for following 3 categories:  1) Successful startup of a new school breakfast program; 2) Implementation of an innovative school breakfast model; and 3) Boosting breakfast meal quality. and the deadline for submitting these nominations to the State Agency is January 19, 2018.  The Western Regional Office (WRO) will notify winners in time for National School Breakfast Week, which is March 5 - 9, 2018.  Selected nominees and category winners may be featured in regional or statewide publications and/or invited to participate in a webinar promoting School Breakfast best practices.  Please be aware there is no monetary compensation for these awards.

That is all we had for program reminders, so we will now end with school success stories.

Thank you to the Idaho Falls Child Nutrition staff for all their preparation for the Administrative Review! The team did a great job preparing and serving food and keeping on top of the administrative tasks the program requires. One tool they used which was especially helpful was the forecasting document used to determine the number of entrees to make from their cycle menu.  So thank you again, Idaho Falls Child Nutrition Staff.

The Summer Sunshine Awards recognize the outstanding achievements of individuals and groups who provide nutritious meals to children during the summer months through the Summer Food Service Program. These awards are regional for the USDA Western Regional states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.  Payette School District was a recipient in the category of Innovative and Impactful Enrichment Activities. They were awarded based on their successes in utilizing community partnerships to provide enrichment activities at summer sites while incentivizing children to attend with weekly raffle prizes.
 
The Hunger Coalition, in partnership with the Blaine County School District, was a recipient in the category of Excellence in Community Partnerships. They were awarded based on their work with local organizations to engage children in enrichment activities throughout the summer in coordination with summer meals.

Those are the success stories we have this month. Does anyone have any questions at this time? Go ahead and use the text box on your screen to type your questions and I will answer them now. 

Since it does not look like we have any questions at this time, I would like to thank everyone for attending today’s webinar.  Please contact Child Nutrition Programs at 208-332-6820 if any additional questions arise regarding the information in this webinar.

Please remember that the accuracy of the information shared today is guaranteed only as of the recording date.  USDA may issue more guidance or further clarification regarding items discussed in today’s webinar.

Please note the Civil Rights statement shown here. This statement was issued December 2015, and ends with “This institution is an equal opportunity provider”. You must have this non-discrimination statement on program documents.

Well, this concludes today’s webinar. Thank you all and I hope you all have a wonderful day.