School Nutrition Bulletin 2122-10

Announcements from the WI DPI School Nutrition Team (SNT)

• Updates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Updates from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) School Nutrition Team (SNT)

Updates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

USDA Policy Memorandum SP 21-2021: Questions and Answers for Child Nutrition Program Reporting in School Year 2021-22

Five Ways to Add Meat and Meat Alternatives to Your Back-to-School Menu

1. Put Local Meats and Meat Alternates on the Menu: Include local meat in special events, such as back-to-school barbecues. Don’t forget to include local beans, peas, and lentils as vegetarian options. You can enhance the flavor of meats and meat alternates without added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium using spices! For example, try a smoky and savory barbeque blend. Learn more about Local Meat in Schools and get tips on incorporating new spices from the Institute of Child Nutrition’s iBite Videos.
2. Use Meats and Meat Alternates from USDA Foods: Try offering the top-rated Stir-Fry Fajita Chicken, Squash, and Corn recipe made with the USDA Foods in Schools Program frozen chicken fajita strips. If you’re looking for more variety, try USDA foods Pulled Pork and Chickpeas to make Savory Street Tacos with Fiesta Corn Salad similar to the ones shown in the photo from East Hampton Public Schools in Connecticut. See the full list of USDA Foods Available for School Year 2021-22.
3. Go Big with Beans: Beans can be a popular vegetarian or vegan menu item. They can be purchased ahead and stored for “back up” entrees. One type of cooked bean can often be substituted for another in recipes. Beans often hold up well in grab n’ go meals and can be an affordable protein source. Black Bean Patty with Crema Sauce, Refried Beans, Smokin’ Powerhouse Chili, Fiesta Wrap, Black Bean Hummus, and more recipes are available through the Child Nutrition Recipe Box.
4. Get Trendy with Meal Bowls: Colorado’s Greeley-Evans Weld County School District purchased an industrial packaging machine so they could offer scratch-made meal bowls. The district’s central production kitchen team does the cooking, portioning, sealing, and freezing before shipping them to the sites for reheating and final service. The bowls fit well into insulated totes for delivery to the classrooms. The district says that high school students have been choosing the bowls over pizza! Give USDA’s Bean Burrito Bowl recipe a try!
5. Offer Meats and Meat Alternates at Breakfast: Try different fruit and yogurt combinations to make colorful smoothies that are perfect for grab n’ go meal service. Learn more in Team Nutrition’s Offering Smoothies as Part of Reimbursable School Meals guide. Find more meats and meat alternates breakfast menu ideas in the Offering Meats and Meat Alternates at School Breakfast guide.

Five Ways to Add Milk to Your Back-to-School Menus

1. Source Local Milk: Milk is local, fresh, and always in season! Fluid milk is the second most frequently purchased local item by schools, according to the 2019 Farm to School Census. Thompson Public Schools in Connecticut partnered with Fort Hills Dairy Farm and other partners to expand their breakfast program offerings, and participation nearly doubled. Join the trend and support your local economy!
2. Make Sure Milk is Cold: Having the right equipment to ensure that milk is served cold is important for food safety. Kids prefer cold milk and are more likely to consume milk when it is nice and cold. Milk should be stored at 41 ⁰F or below. Schools in need of equipment, such as milk coolers and milk dispensers, can ask their State agency about competitively awarded Sub-Grants for schools to purchase equipment (>$1,000 per item).
3. Ensure Equitable Access to Milk's Nutrients: Students with lactose intolerance can experience discomfort when consuming regular milk and, as a result, not drink the milk offered at school. Certain racial and ethnic groups, including Hispanics/Latinxs, Blacks/African Americans, Asian, and American Indian populations, are more likely to be lactose intolerant. Schools may offer lactose-free and lactose-reduced low-fat and fat-free milk without the need of a written statement from a licensed medical authority or a parent or guardian. Lactose-free milk is milk without the lactose, so it provides the same 13 essential nutrients in each serving. Consider including information about the availability of lactose-free and lactose-reduced milk on your school nutrition website and menu in the languages that are spoken by parents and guardians of students at your school.
4. Encourage Milk: Schools are using innovative methods, such as “smoothie and hot chocolate days” to offer milk in fun ways, particularly for older students. Smoothies that include 1 cup of milk per serving meet the milk requirement for a school meal. Learn more in Team Nutrition's Offering Smoothies as Part of Reimbursable School Meals. Warming chocolate milk and offering it at breakfast is also popular in the fall. Los Nietos School District in California warms the milk in stainless steel containers at 300 degrees for 10 minutes and keeps them in a food warmer until serving. Even though flavored milk includes added sugars, schools can balance these offerings by limiting other foods containing added sugars during the week. The Fuel Up To Play 60 program created by the National Football League (NFL) and National Dairy Council (NDC) includes a number of milk educational resources for K-12 schools.
5. Plan for a Dynamic Food Environment: Schools facing milk supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 may use the regulatory authority found in Federal procurement regulations at 2 CFR 200.320(c)(3), which allows operators to use the emergency noncompetitive proposal procurement method to negotiate a new one-year contract for school year 2021-22. There are also State Waivers for Meal Pattern Flexibilities including low-fat flavored milk. Schools should continue to work with their State agencies if issues arise in their milk procurement process.

Get an A+ in Food Safety this School Year

1. Wet your hands with warm soapy water.
2. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails.
3. Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds.
4. Rinse your hands under clean water.
5. Dry your hands using a clean towel.

New Feature Alert for the Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool!

Updates from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) School Nutrition Team (SNT)

Update on the Emergency Operation Cost Reimbursement Program (EOCRP) Funds

Reminder to Complete the Survey: FY 21 P-EBT Local Level Administrative Cost Grants (LLACGs)

• Reporting student-level or school level learning models to the State;
• Designated staff to respond to parent requests and questions;
• Collecting and processing school meal applications specifically to establish eligibility for P-EBT; and
• Conducting Direct Certification runs.

• Not necessary or responsible for the administration of the FY 2021 P-EBT Program; and
• Expenses already reimbursed under another Federal award.

• Change coding in WUFAR; Source 717, Project 171 was assigned to this funding;
• Update fiscal ledger to reflect change of funding; and
• Have documentation available for actual time spent on the administration of P-EBT at the local level and be able to produce documentation if requested.

• P-EBT related expenses would need to be identified in private SFA’s internal accounting systems.
• Have documentation available for actual time spent on the administration of P-EBT and be able to produce documentation if requested.

SSO Site Monitoring Requirements