Child Nutrition Update - November 2020 |
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November 3rd… National Sandwich Day – think outside the box for the bread and the stuff sandwiched between, such as USDA’s Hashbrown Stacker (recipe in ICN’s Child Nutrition Recipe Box). We have heard of schools serving ‘The Elvis’ (grilled pb with bananas and bacon) and a ‘Monte Cristo’ (toasted turkey with raspberry jam). Send us pictures of your students’ favorites.
November 6th … National Nacho Day – Nachos already are on just about every school menu; wear your sombreros and celebrate.
November 13th… This Friday the 13th is World Kindness Day. School Nutrition Professional practice this everyday but many schools do activities throughout the week as Random Acts of Kindness. Remember to be kind to yourself as well your students, staff and community. Edible markers are commonly used to write notes of encouragement or smiley faces on bananas, applesauce cups and mandarin oranges.
November 16-20th – American Education Week – A great way to honor education for the week is to ask administration, teachers and the rest of the school staff what their favorite school meal is. Pick 5 out of a hat to feature for the week: Monday: Mrs. Johnson’s Chicken Filet on a homemade bun with lettuce salad and mandarin oranges.
Check out their “13 Terrific Thanksgiving Recipes” as well, at Healthy School Recipes – your mouth will water as you view the pictures of school food!
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Connect with other North Dakota School Nutrition Staff on Facebook! |
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During our New Kitchen Manager Training that was held on October 22nd, 2020, those in the meeting thought it would be beneficial to have an opportunity to collaborate. We in Child Nutrition are excited to let you know that Falicia (Hettinger, ND) created a Facebook Group for this to come to life! This group can be used to share ideas, recipes, success stories – whatever you feel would benefit your colleagues from other schools in North Dakota. Thank you Falicia for setting this up!
How to join this group:
- Sign into Facebook
- Search: North Dakota Kitchen Nutritional Staff
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Select the group and press JOIN and a request will be sent.
- Once accepted, you will be able to:
- Share your ideas with the group
- Invite others you think may be interested
- Network!
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Thankful for North Dakota School Nutrition Professionals! |
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NDDPI Child Nutrition and Food Distribution staff would like to thank you for putting your health and safety on the line each day to feed your students nutritious and delicious meals. We appreciate your creativity, your courage and your kindness; all important qualities of a school nutrition professional. Have a wonderful November! |
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Make Sure You Are Using The Correct Meal Pattern |
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Differences Between NSLP Meal Pattern and SFSP Meal Pattern:
- No vegetable subgroups requirement in SFSP.
- NSLP has separate components of fruit and vegetables. SFSP is ¾ cup of any combination.
- SFSP has smaller servings of fruits and vegetables.
- NSLP requires every student to take a fruit or vegetable.
- SFSP does not double credit dried fruit like raisins and cranberries. NSLP ¼ cup credits as ½ cup.
- SFSP does not require double the amount of lettuce to credit. NSLP 1 cup credits as ½ cup.
- NSLP requires offering water and two milk types.
- SFSP only requires one ounce of grain for all ages.
- NSLP requires half of the grains be whole grain rich.
- SFSP has only one serving size group, not split into 3 age groups.
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SFSP requires two ounces of meat/meat alternate at lunch for all grades, not just high school.
Differences between NSLP Meal Pattern and CACFP Meal Pattern:
- Grain-based desserts do not credit as grain in any CACFP reimbursable meals.
- This means granola/breakfast bars, breakfast rounds, donuts, toaster pastries and long johns.
- Allowable items are muffins, quick breads, cereal, pancakes, waffles, toast, bagels.
- A whole grain rich item must be served at one CACFP meal per day.
- Cereal must have 6 grams or less of sugar per dry ounce.
- Cold cereal does not credit for lunch or supper, only breakfast or snack; hot cereal does credit for all.
- Yogurt must have 23 grams or less of sugar per 6 ounces.
- Juice can be served at only one meal per day.
- Flavored milk is not allowed for pre-k children.
- Pre-K meals served in the classroom must follow the CACFP Pre-K Meal Pattern if on NSLP, not if on SFSP.
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Many Sponsors are asking what to expect for program monitoring this school year. CNFD has developed the following plan:
- School Nutrition Programs – Sponsors that were scheduled to receive an Administrative Review of their School Nutrition Programs will not be reviewed during SY 2021 if they have chosen to operate the Emergency Summer Food Service Program (ESFP). These reviews will be postponed to SY 21-22 or later. Additional training and technical assistance for new foodservice personnel will be provided throughout SY 2021. Sponsors scheduled for an Administrative Review in SY 20-21 and are continuing to operate SNP will be reviewed.
- ·Emergency Summer Food Service Program (ESFP) – All new Sponsors operating the ESFP in SY 20-21 will be reviewed. Additional Sponsors will be reviewed based on operational or administrative concerns and USDA monitoring requirements.
- Child and Adult Care Food program – Sponsors will be reviewed as normally scheduled.
- At-Risk CACFP – All new Sponsors with multiple sites will be reviewed within the first 90 days of operations.
In most situations CNFD staff will conduct a desk audit in lieu of an on-site review. Where needed and/or requested on-site reviews may be completed. In all situations review staff will work with Sponsors to ensure proper safety and social distancing procedures are followed.
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Grant Opportunity: Promising Practices to End Rural Child Hunger |
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Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign
is soliciting applications from rural school districts, food banks, Tribal communities, faith-based organizations, and other community-based providers seeking support in their efforts to alleviate child hunger and food insecurity. Applications can come from a single organization or any lead organization representing a partnership effort.
Through this project, Share Our Strength seeks to identify, document, and better understand promising practices within rural communities that achieve the following outcomes:
- Increased food security among children
- Increased participation in one or more federal Child Nutrition Programs
- Decreased stigma associated with accessing federal Child Nutrition Programs and/or additional food assistance resources
- Broad-based community engagement to understand and address community needs related to child food security, as well as sustained partnerships to enable meaningful interventions over time
Share Our Strength will prioritize grant funds to organizations located within and projects serving Communities of Color and historically marginalized populations, including Tribal communities and immigrant populations.* Additionally, funding will be prioritized to rural communities located within nonmetro counties designated as persistently poor, according to Census and/or American Community Survey data.
Education Leaders Grant Opportunity
No Kid Hungry is excited to announce a grant opportunity to support the efforts of school district administrators, including school boards, superintendents, chief financial officers, school business officials, etc., in working to increase district-wide food access to their student body via collaboration with neighboring school districts, community organizations, non-profit partners, and local government agencies. Grants of up to $75,000 will be given to facilitate partnerships with partner organizations in supporting joint efforts to ensure kids in their community have access to the federal meals programs, backpack programs and food pantries. This grant will also support the needs of school districts to run these programs. Deadline to apply is November 20, 2020.
Details
- Eligibility Criteria: School districts that are currently working with community partners, or intend to work with community partners, to provide children in their communities with access to the federal meals programs, backpack programs or food pantries during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Length of Grant: December 1, 2020 – December 1, 2021
- Grant Amount: up to $75,000 awarded to school districts
- Proposals Due November 20, 2020 by 11:59 p.m. ET
Farm to School Grants Available:
Due January 8, 2021
USDA has simplified the application process. There are Turnkey tracks for smaller amounts than previous years. The turnkey grants can be used for Action Planning, Agriculture Education Curriculums, and Edible Gardens.
Click on: fy2021-RFA-final
Request for Applications
Register Now! FY 2021 Farm to School RFA Webinars
Join USDA OCFS for two webinars in November to review the important details of the FY 2021 Farm to School Grant RFA and review key characteristics of competitive Farm to School Grant applications.
To register, click each hyperlinked webinar. After clicking the link, select “register” next to the event status. You will be required to provide your name and email address. You should receive a calendar invite for the webinar with the WebEx link, once you have registered.
If you are unable to attend, both webinars will be recorded and made available on the:
This webinar will provide an overview of the FY 2021 Farm to School Grant Program RFA, including updates to eligibility, new turnkey programs and more. Get familiar with the requirements of the RFA and how to submit your completed application on grants.gov.
During this webinar, we will explore the key characteristics of a competitive Farm to School Grant application. We will review the required components and provide technical assistance on how to submit a complete application. Attendees will learn tips and tricks for writing a succinct application that clearly outlines your farm to school project.
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Verification / 30 Day Carry Over |
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We asked USDA:
Q: Is there any guidance on verification for the schools that remain on SNP as well as those that switched to SFSP? Most schools are putting that process on hold.
Answer: FNS is extending the verification dealline to February 28, 2021. All LEAs that collected school meal applications during SY 2020-2021 are required to conduct verification. Although schools may have transitioned to SFSP/SSO operations, because school meal applications were used to establish eligibiity for P-EBT, verification is still necessary and required. LEA's have discretion to complete verification ahead of this deadline, if they have the administrative capability to do so.
How Does the SFSP Extension impact the 30-day eligibility carryover period?
The eligibility carryover is paused during SFSP operations. Eligibility carryover allows children to maintain their prior school year eligibility status for up to 30 operating days into the subsequent school year (7 CFR 245.6 (c) 1 and 2). “Operating day” is defined as a day that reimbursable meals are offered to eligible students under the NSLP or SBP (7 CFR 245.2). Schools that did not have any NSLP/SBP operating days at the start of SY 2020-2021 may begin the 30-day carryover if they transition back to NSLP/SBP. This includes schools that had been operating NSLP/SBP at the start of the school year, but retroactively claimed any NSLP/SBP meals as SFSP meals. Schools that had a limited number of NSLP/SBP operating days at the start of SY 2020-2021 must deduct any days that were claimed under NSLP/SBP from the 30-day carryover. However, these schools may resume the remainder of the carryover period if they transition back to NSLP.
We think USDA wrote the response above before the SFSP was extended through the entire 20-21 school year. We, and many other states, have asked this question: We would like clarification, if the school still has days left in their 30-day carryover of free/reduced eligibility and intend to operate SFSP for the entire SY 20-21, can that remaining 30-day carryover run into SY 21-22? USDA is working on an answer.
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Needing Snack Inspiration? |
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Are you providing At Risk Afterschool Snack Program as a part of CACFP at your facility? Are you needing some inspiration for ideas? The Child Nutrition Team put together a listing of snack ideas from each food component. Although this is not an all-inclusive list, there are some great ideas for getting started or a new perspective for swapping out some of your current snack items.
Keep in mind, when offering At Risk Afterschool Snack Program, this must be accompanied by an enrichment activity! Here is a link to 6 weeks of virtual activities that can be sent home for the students to do remotely.
To be eligible for a reimbursable snack, it must include 2 of the 5 components and only 1 of 2 components can be a beverage.
This listing is outlined by the food item and its serving size requirements. Some food items have a case size or pack size listed, to help you identify appropriate serving sizes.
This list could also be used as a resource for other programs – just keep in mind the specific serving sizes you need for your program!
**DPI does not specifically endorse specific products or brands.
If you are offering an afterschool snack program and not receiving reimbursement, contact Stacie Morowski at 701-788-8901 or smorowski@nd.gov to see how your school can participate. |
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ESFP - Claim for Reimbursement and Handbooks |
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ESFP Claims for Reimbursement
October claims for the Emergency Summer Food Service Program (ESFP) should be available in NDFoods the first week of November 2020. The claims collect meal counts for both congregate and non-congregate meals. Second (full) meals served in a congregate setting may be claimed up to 2% of the first congregate meals served.
ESPF Handbooks
One handbook was mailed out to each school district during the week of October 19th. The handbook contains program guidance, required forms, meal pattern guidance and production record worksheets for the Summer Food Service Program meal pattern. If you need additional handbooks, please email: dpicnfd@nd.gov Include your first and last name, school district name, and number of books needed.
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Professional Development Opportunities |
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Put a circle on every third Tuesday of the month and join us on Microsoft TEAMS at 2 p.m. to participate in discussion, training and networking opportunities about the school meals program details that you are wondering about. We hope to help you understand the reason for the topic and how to most efficiently and effectively navigate it. We also want to hear about it from your point of view; what’s working, what’s not. The first Conversation will be Tuesday, November 17th at 2 p.m. A link to the TEAMS meeting will be sent a week before and a reminder again on Monday. You can log these meetings for annual professional development.
November 17th: Production records: Summer Food service is Simple
December 15th: Got Recipes? Menu ideas from your Freezer
January 19th: Getting started on procurement for 2021-22 school year
Virtual Instructor Led Trainings at ICN – These are Zoom meetings with school nutrition professionals and ICN staff who really know their stuff! Find trainings on food allergies, food safety basics, norovirus, basic culinary math and more. Sessions are repeated on multiple days and various times so you should be able to find one or more to fit your schedule in November or December. Find more information about each course and registration at: https://theicn.org/vilt/
Understanding Whole Grain Processing and Impacts on Nutrition
November 19, 2020 – 2 pm. CTS
Whole grains are an important part of a balanced diet, yet many Americans are still falling short of dietary recommendations for whole grain consumption. In this session, Dr. Caleigh Sawicki from the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, will share updates on the health benefits of whole grains and why whole grains were an especially important part of the report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Scientific Advisory Committee. Additionally, Dr. Eric Decker, Professor and Head of the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts, will share research on how various processing methods impact the health of whole grains. The session will close with practical tips on how to help students meet the dietary recommendations for whole grains. (Thanks to General Mills Bell Institute for Health and Nutrition for sponsoring this session!)
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Fresh Fruits and Vegetable |
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Winter Squash and its relative Pumpkin are associated with fall. Squash come in all the beautiful colors of fall. The picture to the left show the yellow and orange with touches of green ‘Sweet Dumpling’ variety, then the classic orange pumpkin and finally the blue grey ‘Sweet Meat’ Kabocha The skins are hard and usually not eaten but once removed, the flesh will also be revealed as yellow to orange to even red in some varieties. The hard work needed to prep fresh winter squash keeps many cooks from using this nutritious vegetable. Squash is a great source of Vitamins A and C, Beta-carotene and Fiber. Fortunately, produce growers are now making value added product and chefs can find butternut cubes, delicata smiles and canned or frozen puree to make recipe prep quick and simple.
Squash can be sampled as a raw fruit/vegetable for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program but remember you can serve one cooked vegetable during the month as long as you add a nutrition education component. So, roast some cubes and serve alongside the fresh ones and send the following action poem along with the snack to the K-6 classrooms.
Pumpkin Trees Song and Fingerplay
Source: California Farm to Preschool
It’s harvest time and what do I see?
(Put hand to forehead, look around)
Pumpkins! Pumpkins in a tree!
(Point upward)
In a tree? That can’t be!
(Place hands on cheeks.)
Where, oh where, should pumpkins be?
(Throw hands outward)
On the ground? Yes, on the ground!
(Point to ground)
That’s where pumpkins should be found!
(Place hands on hips)
For the remaining squash in your inventory, try this suggestion:
Many kitchens will order pumpkin puree for the Thanksgiving holiday to use in pumpkin bars. The #10 cans come 6 to a case so what will you do with the leftover cans of pumpkin? Here are some quick ideas to use up the rest of that case.
Easy pumpkin puree stir ins:
- Oatmeal – ¼ c puree into 1 cup prepared oatmeal, top with cinnamon and sugar
- Yogurt – ¼ c puree into 1 cup vanilla yogurt, top with granola
- Pumpkin spread for toast – 1 cup puree with 1/8 cup maple syrup and 1/8 tsp cinnamon.
- Alternate pumpkin spread – Stir in ¼ c. puree and ½ tsp pumpkin spice into 1 cup of cream cheese.
- Pancakes, spice cake, bars – Add ½ cup puree and ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice to your favorite batters.
- Pumpkin puree can be substituted for the oil in most batters.
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Whipped cream frosting for cake and bars – 1 cup puree and 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice folded into 2 cups whipped cream.
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NDDPI Child Nutrition and Food Distribution
Main Office:
600 E. Boulevard Ave, Dept 201
Bismarck, ND 58505
PHONE: 701-328-2294 or 888-338-3663
FAX: 701-328-9566
Mayville Office:
14 Main St E, Mayville, ND 58257
PHONE: 701-877-8901 or 888-788-8901
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Non Discrimination Statement
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
(1) Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
(2) Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
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