Nutrition Edition The Official Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition Program Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 3 Spring 2012 Page 2 Nutrition Edition The Official Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition Program INSIDE THIS ISSUE Phillips Award 3 Named After Cafeteria Manager USDA Farm to 4 School Updates Handy Resources 5 USDA Rolls Out New 6 Meal Pattern for School Meals Awards, Contests, 9 and Grants Seamless Summer 10 PICTURED ON THE COVER: Millie Perry from Carrollton City High School Cafeteria preparing fresh salads for school lunch. Carrollton City Schools Director of School Food & Nutrition is Linette Dodson, MS LD RD Nutrition Edition Finishing Strong School Nutrition's Excellent Service in SY12 As the school year comes to a close, I reflect with pride upon the excellent service that school nutrition programs have provided statewide. Whether you are a small system or a large one, we know that it takes a lot of hard work and planning to get healthy meals on the trays of our students. Cumulatively, we serve more than 1.5 million meals each school day. We feed more children than any single organization in our state. This alone is proof that School Nutrition Programs are vital and necessary in combating childhood obesity as well as childhood hunger. As schools begin to close in May, I want to encourage you to finish the year strong and get ready for exciting things to come for the upcoming academic year. Carrollton City Schools -- HealthierUS Schools USDA Recognizes District for Gold Award for its Schools USDA Southeast Region Director Lanna Kirk congratulates Carrollton City Schools for setting a strong nutrition and wellness standard. Four of its five schools received the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) Gold Award, including its high school. Headed by the Carrollton City School Nutrition Program Director, Linette Dodson; each school nutrition staff, faculty, parents and students made the commitment to create a healthier school environment. As a HUSSC award recipient, each school implemented nutrition education, nutritious food and beverage choices, physical education and opportunities for physical activity. To qualify for an award, a school must submit a formal application and meet basic criteria set forth by the Food & Nutrition Service (FNS). The HUSSC criteria reflect the recommendations of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published recommendations (April 2007) for foods that should be served in schools, outside of the organized school lunch meals. HealthierUS Schools must also have a local school wellness policy, as mandated by Congress. Schools receiving a HUSSC award commit to meeting the criteria throughout their four year certification period. See Page 10 & 11 for HealthierUS School Challenge Resources. Volume 1, Issue 3 Page 3 Superintendent Barge Presents First Phillips Award Recognition named for Condyce Phillips, a cafeteria manager who helped Superintendent Barge write a better story for himself State School Superintendent Dr. John D. Barge presented the first Phillips Award to Condyce Phillips Thursday, April 19th. Mrs. Phillips was the cafeteria manager at Griffin Middle School in Cobb County when Superintendent Barge was a student. She helped Superintendent Barge and countless others write a better story for themselves. While bringing remarks at the Georgia School Nutrition Association's 57th Annual Conference, Superintendent Barge presented Mrs. Phillips with this new award that was created to recognize school support staff who have had a tremendous impact on the lives of others. "Condyce Phillips showed me great kindness and compassion, which helped me see that school was a safe and supportive place," said Superintendent Barge. "One of the first things I wanted to do after becoming Superintendent was to name an award for Mrs. Phillips and give others the opportunity to nominate a school staff member who helped shape their lives for the better." Nominating a school staff member Once each quarter, one support staff member will be selected for this award. The nomination form can be requested by emailing Keisha Ford-Jenrette at kford@gadoe.org (form is also attached and online at www.gadoe.org). Georgia School Nutrition Association 57th Annual Conference Highlights Page 4 USDA Announces New Farm to School Program to Improve the Health and Nutrition of Kids Receiving School Meals National Program to Provide New Economic Opportunities for Producers Of All Kinds HARWOOD, Md., April 17, 2012 Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced today that USDA will be investing in farm to school programs nationwide to help eligible schools improve the health and wellbeing of their students and connect with local agricultural producers. Merrigan joined students at Southern High School to announce the new program that will promote opportunities for nutrition and agriculture education while providing new economic opportunities for food producers of all kinds and communities nationwide. Students at the school displayed and highlighted their farm to school efforts with a tour of the school's greenhouse. "School cafeterias are great places to champion U.S. agriculture and to teach students where their food comes from," said Deputy Secretary Merrigan. "More and more, schools are connecting with their local farmers, ranchers and food businesses each day and these programs are a great way to bring more local offerings into school cafeterias and support U.S. producers as well. As we struggle with obesity and associated diet related diseases, farm to school programs give us one important tool to help our kids make lifelong healthy eating choices." The Farm to School Grant Program is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which authorized and funded USDA to assist eligible entities, through grants and technical assistance, in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools. The new investments will assist schools in procuring food from local Nutrition Edition Volume 1, Issue 3 Page 5 producers. Farm to school initiatives can also include agriculture and nutrition education efforts such as school gardens, field trips to local farms, and cooking classes. These grants, administered by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), will help schools respond to the growing demand for locally sourced foods and increase market opportunities for producers and food businesses, including food processors, manufacturers, distributors and other value-added operations. To fulfill the farm to school mandate in the HHFKA, effective October 1, 2012, $5 million will be provided to USDA on an annual basis to support grants, technical assistance, and the Federal administrative costs related to USDA's farm to school program. In this first funding cycle, FNS anticipates awarding up to $3.5 million in grants, while the remaining $1.5 million will support a combination of training and technical assistance, administrative costs, and/or additional farm to school grants. Letters of Intent are suggested but not required by May 18, 2012, while proposals are due June 15, 2012. To assist eligible entities in preparing proposals, USDA will host a webinar related to Implementation grants on May 15th at 1:00 pm EST and a webinar related to planning grants on May 17th at 1:00 pm EST. For more information on webinars, the farm to school grant program, or USDA's farm to school efforts in general, please visit the USDA Farm to School website. Reducing childhood obesity and improving the nutrition and health of all Americans is a top priority the Obama Administration and USDA is committed to promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles and ensuring that all Americans have access to safe, nutritious, and balanced meals. Championed by First Lady Michelle Obama as part of her Let's Move! initiative and signed by President Barack Obama, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 marked a great win for the nearly 32 million school children that participate in the National School Lunch and the 12 million school children that participate in the School Breakfast Programs each school day. USDA is working to implement historic reforms that will mark the most comprehensive change to food in schools in more than a generation, which include: updated school meals nutrition standards to increase fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy; science-based standards for all foods and beverages sold on the school campus; performance-based funding increases for schools the first real increase in 30 years; and training and technical assistance to help schools meet improved standards. USDA's Food and Nutrition Service administers 15 nutrition assistance programs that, in addition to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and National School Lunch Program, also include the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and the Summer Food Service Program. Taken together, these programs comprise America's nutrition safety net. *From the USDA Office of Communications. Here's The Scoop Resources You Can Use SNA Smart Brief Email subscription that gives child nutrition and school foodservice operations news that really matter to school nutrition. Knowledgeable editors handpick key articles from hundreds of publications, summarize them and provide direct links to the original sources. SNA Smart Brief does all the research and sends, to subscribers, the latest news in their inbox or handheld device, absolutely free. www.smartbrief.com/sna Action for Healthy Kids An organization committed to collaborating with schools to help kids learn to eat right and be active everyday so they're ready to learn. Action for Healthy Kids provides access to nutrition and physical activity programs for before, during and after school. Volunteers are available to help schools implement and measure the success of the program. www.actionforhealthykids.org Strong 4 Life Launched to fight childhood obesity crisis in Georgia. Provides resources for bringing together four essential building blocks every kid needs to be healthy--Eat Right, Be Active, Get Support and Have Fun. Strong 4 Life explains each of these building blocks into small, simple steps families can choose to take in each of these focus areas. www.strong 4life.com School Menu An online database of school lunch and breakfast menus nationwide. This website's goal is to educate parents about wellness and school nutrition programs, encourage informed dietary and fitness choices and empower users to enjoy a healthy, happy lifestyle. Also provides articles from additional sources such as: the USDA, CDC, Baylor University Child Nutrition Center, Tufts University, the Produce for Better Health Foundation; and children's activity sheets and more! www.schoolmenu.com Page 6 New Meal Pattern USDA Unveils Historic Improvements to Meals Served in America's Schools FAIRFAX, Va., Jan. 25. 2012 First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today unveiled new standards for school meals that will result in healthier meals for kids across the nation. The new meal requirements will raise standards for the first time in more than fifteen years and improve the health and nutrition of nearly 32 million kids that participate in school meal programs every school day. The healthier meal requirements are a key component of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by the First Lady as part of her Let's Move! campaign and signed into law by President Obama. "Improving the quality of the school meals is a critical step in building a healthy future for our kids," said Vilsack. "When it comes to our children, we must do everything possible to provide them the nutrition they need to be healthy, active and ready to face the future today we take an important step towards that goal." The final standards make the same kinds of practical changes that many parents are already encouraging at home, including: Ensuring students are offered both fruits and vegetables every day of the week; Substantially increasing offerings of whole grain-rich foods; Offering only fat-free or low-fat milk varieties; Limiting calories based on the age of children being served to ensure proper portion size; and Increasing the focus on reducing the amounts of saturated fat, trans fats and sodium. USDA built the new rule around recommendations from a panel of experts convened by the Institute of Medicine --a gold standard for evidence-based health analysis. The standards were also updated with key changes from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans the Federal government's benchmark for nutrition. USDA received an unprecedented 132,000 public comments on its proposed standards (available on the web at www.regulations.gov) and made modifications to the proposed rule where appropriate. USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon said: "We know that robust public input is essential to developing successful standards and the final standards took a number of suggestions from stakeholders, school food service professions and parents to make important operational changes while maintaining nutritional integrity." Nutrition Edition Volume 1, Issue 3 Page 7 Healthy Meals Resource System Menu Planning healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/menuplanning Recipes healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/recipes HealthierUS School Challenge Resources healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/HUSSC Get Connected! healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/getconnected Coming Soon... New Meal Pattern Training Modules healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/ mealpattern State Sharing Database healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/ bestpractices The new standards are expected to cost $3.2 billion over the next five years -- less than half of the estimated cost of the proposed rule and are just one of five major components of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, now implemented or under development, that will work together to reform school nutrition. In addition to the updated meal standards, unprecedented improvements to come include: The ability to take nutrition standards beyond the lunch line for the first time ever, foods and beverages sold in vending machines and other venues on school campuses will also contribute to a healthy diet; Increased funding for schools an additional 6 cents a meal is the first real increase in 30 years tied to strong performance in serving improved meals; Common-sense pricing standards for schools to ensure that revenues from non-Federal sources keep pace with the Federal commitment to healthy school meals and properly align with costs; and Training and technical assistance to help schools achieve and monitor compliance. *From the USDA Office of Communications. Page 8 Nutrition Edition Volume 1, Issue 3 School Meals = Good Meals What's On Georgia School Lunch Trays District Highlight: Marietta City Schools Middle School Lunch Served January 17, 2012 Nachos or Tacos, with Beef & Cheese or Cheese Only Spinach & Cheese Fresh Grapes Beans Additional Choices: Broccoli, Diced Tomato & Shredded Lettuce, Peaches, Fresh Fruit in Season, Apple Sauce, Cinnamon Pretzel Available Daily: Entre Salads, 100% Juice, and a variety of Low Fat & Fat Free Milk Nutrition Analysis of Marietta City Schools' Meals are provided online at: http://www.marietta-city.org/files/foodservices/CSNutritionInformation.pdf Page 9 Pictures are from Marietta Middle School Awards, Contests and Grants Opportunities for School Nutrition Programs Rachael Ray's Yum-o! Healthy School used to buy gardening Meal Contest tools, seeds, or other The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the School needed supplies. Eligible Nutrition Association, and Rachael Ray's Yum-o! are applicants include K-12 joining efforts to spotlight creative meals from school schools and nutritional professionals across the country. Deadline: June 15, 2012 tinyurl.com/rachaelray-schoolmealscontest nonprofits. Deadline: June 30, 2012 www.annies.com/ Fruit Tree 101 growinggoodness A program that brings fruit tree orchards to Operation Green Plant schoolyards so students can improve the quality of the air and water while creating a source of tasty snacks for decades to come. Rolling Deadline www.ftpf.org/apply.htm Free Seeds America the Beautiful Fund is offering grants of FREE SEEDS! to community groups striving to better our world through gardening. Annie's Homegrown Grants for Gardens Rolling Deadline Offers up to $250 to community gardens, school www.america-the- gardens, and other educational programs that con- beautiful.org/ nect children directly to gardening. Funds may be free_seeds Page 10 Seamless Summer Option School Systems Provide Free Meals to Children in the Summer During the academic year, School Nutrition Programs in Georgia cumulatively serve approximately .5 million breakfasts and 1.1 million lunches daily. More than 65% of these meals are provided at a free and reduced price through the National School Breakfast (SBP) and National School Lunch Programs (NSLP). These national programs are a necessity which ensure that all children have access to nutritious meals daily. USDA recognizes the importance of school meals as a key to combat childhood hunger; and has implemented the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) for communities to continue feeding children through the summer break. Currently, Georgia school systems will facilitate more than 2200 locations statewide to provide free meals to children and youth in their communities. While the local school nutrition program is the Food Service Authority, meals may be served at various locations including: schools, camps, churches, community centers, housing projects, institutions, migrant centers, parks, playgrounds, pools; and any other public site where children may gather during the summer. As a resource to SSO locations, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) School Nutrition Program (SNP) serves as a support for schools that are currently, or are interested in, participating in SSO. Each year, the state staff conducts training to cover important and current information about facilitating a program. In addition, this year, Georgia's SNP is set to roll out a massive marketing campaign to spread the word about SSO and to brand the program statewide. The goal is to do as much as possible to increase district participation so that more children are fed daily. Application Deadline Approaching. Congratulations to the 26 HealthierUS School Challenge Award Recipients in Georgia. To apply, go to www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus Nutrition Edition Volume 1, Issue 3 Food Distribution Unit Update WBSCM is Up and Running Page 11 The Food Distribution Unit would like to thank everyone for making the SY13 ordering process successful. It has been a relatively smooth transition from ECOS into WBSCM, but the system is still a work in progress! We will conduct refresher training sessions this coming fall (dates to be announced). Please contact your assigned Administrative Specialist for any questions. Feel free to also contact our newest member, Westley Roberson, for technical assistance at: wroberson@doe.k12.ga.us Focus On Success We Want to Highlight YOU Do you have a School Nutrition Program Success Story that you want us to highlight? If so, please submit a small paragraph detailing your school or school system's accomplishments, campaigns, new ideas, awards and upcoming events... YOU could be highlighted in our next Nutrition Edition Newsletter. Please email: Sommer Delgado at: sdelgado@doe.k12.ga.us Farm to School In Georgia Share Your Farm to School Efforts With Others Schools throughout Georgia participate in the Farm to School Program; while others are in the beginning stages of implementation. We would like to hear about your experience, success, and outcomes of the program at your school so that we may highlight you and share your Farm to School efforts with others. Send pictures and stories of your Farm to School activities to Laura Tanase at ltanase@doe.k12.ga.us HealthierUS Schools Resources HUSSC Website www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus HUSSC Application healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/HUSSC/ National Food Service Management Institute HUSSC Training Webinar tinyurl.com/nfsmi-hussc-webinar HUSSC Application Guide teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/ healthierchallengeapplicationkit.html USDA Updates for School Wellness Policy www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Healthy/wellnesspolicy.html SNA LAC Presentation: Challenges and Success in Achieving HUSSC tinyurl.com/sna-lac-presentations Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition Program Building Healthy Minds and Bodies Nancy Rice, M.Ed., RD, LD, SNS 1662 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, SE Atlanta, GA 30334 SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM MISSION: The mission of the School Nutrition Program is to provide leadership, training and technical assistance, and resources so that local program personnel may deliver quality meals and education that contribute to the nutritional well-being of Georgians and their performance at work and school. SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM VISION: GaDOE leads the nation in improving student achievement including: Nutrition integrity of programs reflected by children who are well nourished, ready to learn and have healthy eating habits High quality food service programs as evidenced by compliance with quality standards Nutrition education that enhances positive behavioral changes for a lifetime Creative links to the nutrition related needs of the community as a whole Local, state and national public policy which strengthens programs and recognizes them as an integral part of the education of students Financially sound and accountable programs operated consistent with the program purposes Image that draws customers and support from the general public. Nutrition Edition Newsletter is a quarterly publication intended for School Nutrition Program Directors and Managers. Questions or comments should be directed to: Sommer Delgado School Nutrition Program Communications Project Manager 404-656-2470 sdelgado@doe.k12.ga.us . GaDOE Non-Discriminatory Statement: In accordance with State and Federal law, the Georgia Department of Education prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its educational and employment activities. Inquiries regarding the application of these practices may be addressed to the General Counsel of the Georgia Department of Education, 2052 Twin Towers East, Atlanta, Georgia, 30334, (404) 656-2800. USDA Non-Discriminatory Statement: "In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination write: USDA, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S. W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call toll free (866) 632-9992 (Voice). Individuals who are hearing impaired or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339 or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer."