Goals and objectives:

1. Menu Planning Guidelines for Child Nutrition ProgramsNancy Dill, RD, LDArea SpecialistArkansas Dept. of Education

2. Goals and objectives: • To determine meal planning requirements based upon USDA’s Traditional meal planning principles • To describe the requirements for reimbursable breakfast and lunch • To implement guidelines using all of the required meal components for breakfast and lunch • To incorporate healthy menu planning into your Child Nutrition Program • To provide menus that are appealing to your students

3. Menu Planner for Healthy School Meals Food Buying Guide

4. USDA’s Menu Planner for Healthy School Meals The Menu Planner for Healthy School Meals provides recommendations from the 2005 Dietary Guidelines that can be implemented in menu planning: serving more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables serving lower amounts of sugar, saturated and trans fats, and sodium in school menus. It includes valuable information on the different menu planning options, nutrient analysis, keeping menu planning records, and marketing the School Meal Programs in schools. Printed: August 1998 Revised: 2008

5. Food Buying Guide • Provides ideas for adding new foods or new forms of familiar foods to your menus. • It will help you buy the right amount of food and buy it economically.

6. Traditional Food-Based Menu Planning • Provides 1/3 of the 1989 RDA for key nutrients for a specific age/grade group for lunch • Provides ¼ of the 1989 RDA for key nutrients for breakfast

7. Traditional Food-Based Menu Planning • Must provide the required number of food components and items for each meal and per week • Menus must meet the nutrient standards for the age/grade group you are serving (when averaged over a school week)

8. Why do we have nutrient standards? • Nutrient standards are the required minimum levels of calories and key nutrients to meet the nutritional goals for a specific age of grade groups of children for breakfast and lunch menus.

9. Lunch required nutrient standards for Traditional meal pattern Age/grade Group_Pre-K K-3 4-12 7-12 (optional) Calories 517 633 785 825 Protein 7 gm 9 gm 15 gm 16 gm Calcium 267 mg 267 mg 370 mg 400 mg Iron 3.3 mg 3.3 mg 4.2mg 4.5 mg Vitamin A 150 RE 200 RE 285 RE 300RE Vitamin C 14 mg 15 mg 17 mg 18 mg Total fat: no more than 30% of total calories should come from fat Saturated fat: less than 10% of total calories should come from saturated fat

10. Nutrient standards • These standards may change over time to reflect new nutrition knowledge or updated Dietary Guidelines. • As they are revised, USDA will notify the Child Nutrition Unit.

11. Criteria for Reimbursable Lunch • Five required items for daily lunch: • One serving of Meat/Meat alternate • One serving of Grains/Breads • Two servings of Vegetables/Fruits (must be two different vegetables, or two servings of Fruits (must be two different fruits) or 1 each • One serving of Milk

12. Lunch Food components: Meat/Meat Alternate • The serving of Meat/Meat alternate may be contained only in the main dish plus one other menu item • Dry beans and peas may count as a Vegetable or a Meat Alternate, but not as both in the same meal • A serving of cooked meat is lean meat without the bone

13. Food components: Meat/Meat Alternate • A serving of cooked fresh or frozen chicken or turkey includes meat and skin as normally served • Two “alternate” foods may count as part of the Meat/Meat Alternate as long as they are used according to USDA directions. These foods are : vegetable protein products and enriched macaroni products with fortified protein

14. Food components: Grains/Breads • The minimum allowable serving size that may count toward meeting the required serving is ¼ of a serving • The item must be whole grain, enriched, or made from whole-grain or enriched meal or flour, or bran or germ. Cereals must be whole grain, enriched, or fortified. • If it is enriched, the item must meet the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations Standards of Identity for enriched bread, macaroni and noodle products, rice, or cornmeal. • See the Food Buying Guide section on creditable grains • (section 3-7)

15. Food components-Vegetables/Fruits • May not count any single fruit or vegetable as a serving unless it provides at least 1/8 cup • For lunch you may use full-strength juice as no more than ½ of the total requirement.

16. Food components-Milk • Fluid milk must be offered at lunch as a beverage • You must offer two different varieties of fat content • For example: 1% white milk and Fat free chocolate

17. Criteria for reimbursable breakfast • Meat/meat alternate AND/OR Grains/Breads • Grades K-12: • Two servings of: • Meat/meat alternate • OR two servings of • Grains/Breads • OR one serving of each • Juice/fruit/vegetable: Grades K-12: ½ cup • Milk: 8 oz fluid milk as a beverage OR on cereal OR both

18. Breakfast nutrient standards for traditional meal pattern Age/grade groupPre-KGrades K-12 Calories 388 554 Protein 5 gm 10 gm Calcium 200 mg 257 mg Iron 2.5 mg 3.0 mg Vitamin A 113 RE 197 RE Vitamin C 11 mg 13 mg Total fat: no more than 30% of total calories should come from fat Saturated fat: Less than 10% of total calories should come from saturated fat.

19. Planning menus USDA Recipes for Schools http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources/usda_recipes.html

20. Three Steps to Healthy Meals Meal planning system that includes: • (1) planning pre-analyzed menus • (2) purchasing food using food descriptions • (3) producing and presenting food to students.  These steps ensure that meals meet nutritional standards and provide good quality food to students

21. Three Steps Third Edition • Menu Cards • Rev. 08/07 • Production Records • Elementary and High School • Recipes • Instructions on using CD • Introduction and explanation of system

22. Menu planning practices for Healthy School Meals • Increase the variety of entrees offered • Cook more on-site • Choose more low-fat, low-sodium products • Use low-fat cheeses, dairy products, and meats • Limit processed meats to once a week

23. Healthy School Meals • Plan at least one fresh fruit or vegetable on your menu each day • Plan at least one menu item containing a whole grain each day • Increase the variety of cooked and ready-to-eat cereals at breakfast.

24. Healthy School Meals • Plan at least one serving of cooked dried beans or peas each week • Offer low fat/fat free salad dressings • Use only 1% low fat milk or lower

25. Meal service ideas • Meals need to incorporate the principles of good menu planning: • Variety • Balance of colors • Shapes • Textures • Temperatures • Flavors

26. How do your trays compare?

37. Resources Arkansas Dept. of Education Child Nutrition Web site • www.childnutrition.org USDA Child Nutrition • www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/

38. Don’t forget to fax sign-in sheets FAX: 501-324-9505 to Debi Branscum