School Nutrition Bulletin 2021-28

USDA Food and Nutrition Service released a fourth Q&A on January 5, which is intended to provide clarifications. Please review this important information and contact the School Nutrition or Community Nutrition Teams if you have questions or concerns through the dpifns@dpi.wi.gov mailbox.

 

As authorized by section 2202(a) of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the Act) (P.L. 116-127), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) extends the waiver of 7 CFR 210.16(d) and 7 CFR 225.6(h)(7) to permit school food authorities (SFAs) and summer food service program (SFSP) sponsors to extend existing food service management company (FSMC) contracts that would not otherwise be eligible for extension through school year (SY) 2021-2022 or June 30, 2022.

 

This waiver extension is available to all FSMC contracts; meaning a FSMC contract that expired on June 30, 2020 can now be extended two years and a contract set to expire on June 30, 2021 can be extended one year (or until June 30, 2022).

 

It is not a requirement to extend current FSMC contracts. Those school food authorities choosing to do so may use the emergency noncompetitive proposal procurement method to negotiate a new one-year FSMC contract for SY 2021-22. To ensure program integrity moving forward, contracts resulting from such noncompetitive proposals may not exercise renewal options.

 

As authorized by section 2202(a) of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the Act) (P.L.116-127) FNS is cancelling the collection of selected administrative data reporting requirements for state agencies administering and local educational agencies (LEAs) operating the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program; specifically two elements on the FNS-10 Report of School Program Operations - Part B, FNS-640 Administrative Review Report Form, FNS-828 School Food Authority Paid Lunch Price Report, FNS-874 Local Educational Agency Second Review of Applications, Ameliorative Action Plans for Verification Results, State Agency Food Safety Inspection Report, and Performance-Based Reimbursement (7 Cents) Quarterly Report.

 

We have not received a waiver for the Verification Collection Report at this time. More information will be forthcoming.

 

On February 10, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. CST, USDA’s Team Nutrition initiative will host a Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Trainers’ Circle Webinar on “Training Program Operators to Use Grains Ounce Equivalents.” This webinar will help state agencies, CACFP sponsoring organizations, and independent centers provide training on using ounce equivalents instead of “servings” to determine amounts of grains. CACFP operators are required to use ounce equivalents for grains by October 1, 2021 (“Delayed Implementation of Grains Ounce Equivalents in the Child and Adult Care Food Program Final Rule”).

 

Registration for this free webinar is now available via the Team Nutrition website.

 

Webinar participants will learn about existing training tools and strategies available on grains ounce equivalents. Additionally, Oregon’s Department of Education will share how they used virtual training techniques to provide training for CACFP operators.

 

Team Nutrition will provide certificates of participation to individuals who attend the entire webinar. The National CACFP Sponsors Association (NCA) is also offering webinar participants the opportunity to submit and track continuing education credits. Also, Continuing Professional Educations Units (CPEUs) have been approved from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Commission on Dietetic Registration.

 

Wisconsin Team Nutrition is pleased to announce the ninth annual Whipping Up Wellness, Wisconsin Student Chef Competition. The goal of the competition is to provide middle and high school students with hands-on cooking experience that will give them knowledge and skills necessary to prepare healthy meals. Students will compete to develop a nutritious, student-friendly recipe featuring local foods that can be incorporated easily into the school food service program. The competition consists of a Recipe Contest only. Due to the continued concern for public health and safety, the cook-off portion of the competition will not be held.

 

Application materials are available on the Wisconsin Team Nutrition webpage. Application packets (team application, nutritional analysis, and photo of the dish) must be submitted electronically by Friday, April 16, 2021. Application packets submitted after that date WILL NOT be considered for the competition. Submit applications to DPIFNSTeamNutrition@dpi.wi.gov. Please share this information with family and consumer science teachers and other educators who may be interested in this opportunity. Questions regarding this opportunity can be directed to Alicia Dill at 608-266-2741 or alicia.dill@dpi.wi.gov or Kelly Williams at 608-267-9120 or kelly.williams@dpi.wi.gov.

 

We’re sharing easy-to-access Educational and Enrichment Activities you can share directly with students to go along with their Afterschool snack. Most of these activities work for in-person students or for virtual, at-home learners. There are a variety of activities for different ages. You can share the links with families, print out the activity sheets and slide into a snack sack, or play the videos during snack time, as you wish. We hope this is helpful to those of you providing afterschool snack!

This week’s list:

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This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

 

This is a communication from the WI Department of Public Instruction, School Nutrition Team.

You can contact the School Nutrition Team at dpifns@dpi.wi.gov. To subscribe to schoolmealsnews, please send an email to dpifns@dpi.wi.gov.

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