Welcome to the operational training of the Summer Food Service Program. This training will discuss some of the basic operational requirement of the program, which will be referred to as the SFSP or food program throughout the presentation.
This presentation will be broken up into several different sections that will cover a variety of topics. These topics will include: meal pattern components, crediting handbook, and what needs to be done to accomodate special dietary needs. Meal pattern serving sizes, CN Labels, and how to credit recepies. We will also look at menu planning considerations and how to use the USDA Food Buying Guide to make sure that you are purchasing enough food to support a reimburseable meal. Lastly, we will cover how to record it all through production records, detailed menu records, and meal counting and claiming.
First we will discuss the meal pattern. This section of the training will only cover the requirements of the SFSP meal pattern for children. Sponsors that only operate the SFSP will typically use the SFSP meal pattern, but may be approved to use the CACFP meal pattern for children under 6 and infants. CACFP or NSLP sponsors may choose to follow the SFSP meal pattern or continue to use the same meal pattern that they use during the school year during the summer. State agencies may approve sponsors to serve infants as well as older children. If you would like to receive training on feeding infants in the SFSP contact our office. The USDA’s Summer Nutrition Guide is a great resource and contains all of the information we will be discussing regarding the SFSP meal pattern as well as many other helpful tips and resources and is available on the USDA Summer Food Service Program Website.
Attachment 3 in the USDA Administrator’s Guide contains the meal pattern chart or food chart for the SFSP. The goal of SFSP is to serve nutritious meals that are appetizing to children. Meal pattern requirements assure well-balanced meals that supply the kinds and amounts of foods that children require to help meet their nutrient and energy needs. Meal patterns establish the minimum portions of the various meal components that MUST be served in order to receive reimbursement. Also referred to as the “Reimbursable Meal”. Next we will cover the basic requirements for each meal type.
The SFSP Meal Pattern is comprised of 4 Components, made up of at least 5 items. The first component listed here is Meat or Meat Alternate. The second component is the Fruit/Vegetable Component which is comprised of 2 items. Which means to meet this component you must serve either two fruits, two vegetables, or a fruit and a vegetable. The third component is the Grain or Bread component. And the fourth and last component is Milk. Next we will look at which components must be offered at each meal as well as discuss the minimum portion size for each of the components.
For breakfast you must serve one serving of milk, which should be 8 oz. One serving of a fruit or vegetable or full strength juice. A serving is 1/2 cup or if you're serving juice, four fluid ounces. If you are serving juice at breakfast you must still offer at least 1/4 cup of a different fruit or vegetable. One serving of grain. Servings for grains vary by the type of grain being offered. In order to determine how much grain you need to serve, see the USDA Food Buying Guide Exhibit A. You may also serve an optional serving of meat or meat alternate that would be in the amount of 1 oz or whatever is equivalent.
Let's look at what components are required to be served at lunch or supper. First, you must again serve one serving of milk. Two or more servings of fruits or vegetables or full strength juice. You can see here that the amount required has been increased to 3/4 of a cup compared to breakfast. You can meet this requirement by serving two fruits two vegetables or a fruit and vegetable. If you were serving juice, remember that you can only meet half of the fruit or vegetable component by serving juice. You'll need to serve one serving of grain and one serving of a meat or meat alternate. The minimum portion size is 2 ounces or equivalent.
Next, let's look at what components are required at snack. For snack to be reimbursable, it must contain two of the four components. Those are either one serving of milk or one serving of fruit or vegetable or a hundred percent juice equaling 3/4 of a cup. Juice cannot be served when milk is the only other component as part of the snack. Once serving of grain and one serving of meat or meat alternate. With the portion size of at least 1 oz or equivalent.
Now we’ll go into more detail on each of the components.
Some examples of meat/meat alternates on the program are beef, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, yogurt, beans, peanut butter, etc. If you decide to serve hotdogs on your cycle menus, these items should be labeled 100% meat or beef or have an accompanying Child Nutrition Label or Product Formulation Statement. We highly recommend switching off between meat and meat alternates (for example: chicken vs. beans). It is best to use the leanest sources of meat/meat alternates on menus. Sponsors that adopt this practice will typically notice that they save on their monthly food costs as well.
Dry beans and peas cannot be credited as both a vegetable and meat/meat alternate within the same meal. Nuts and seeds may fulfill the entire meat/meat alternate requirement for snack, and up to half of the required meat/meat alternate requirement for lunch or supper. When combining nuts and seeds with another meat/meat alternate to fulfill the lunch or supper requirement, 1 oz. of nuts or seeds is equal to 1 oz. of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish. Children under 4 years old are at the highest risk of choking; USDA recommends that nuts and seeds only be served to young children ground or finely chopped in a prepared food, and nut butters should be spread thinly on bread or crackers. For breakfast and snack, 4 oz. or ½ cup of plain, sweetened, or flavored yogurt may be served to equal 1 oz. of meat/meat alternate. For lunch and supper, 8 oz. or 1 cup of plain, sweetened, or flavored yogurt may be served to equal 2 oz. of meat/meat alternate. Homemade yogurt, frozen yogurt, or other yogurt-flavored products (e.g. yogurt bars, yogurt covered fruit or nuts, etc.) are not creditable.
Cheese served on the food program should be natural or processed to ensure children are receiving the best nutrition possible. This is also to ensure that the cheese you are buying does not contain fillers. It’s not recommended to serve “cheese spread” or “cheese food” to children on the food program because these items must be doubled in order to meet the meal pattern requirements. “Imitation cheese” or “cheese product” are not able to be credited on the food program. If you serve canned cheese sauce, it would require a child nutrition label to determine how much actual cheese is in the sauce. Be sure to check the ingredients on the packages of cheese before you purchase and serve them.
Vegetables can be purchased fresh, frozen or canned. Cooked vegetables means a serving of drained cooked vegetables. Dry beans and peas cannot be credited as both a vegetable and meat/meat alternate within the same meal. Small amounts (less than 1/8 cup) of onions, pickles, relish, ketchup, jams or jellies, or other condiments may be added as additional foods for flavor or garnish. However, these do not count towards the fruit and vegetable requirement. Do not serve two forms of the same vegetable in the same meal (for example you could not serve a mixture of tater tots and French fries). Mixed vegetables such as peas and carrots only count as 1 item if served together.
Fruit may be fresh, frozen or canned. Cooked or canned fruit means a serving of fruit and the juice it’s packed in; thawed frozen fruit includes fruit and the thawed juice. Juice or syrup from canned fruit does not count as fruit juice. Dried fruits may be used to meet program requirements. Fruit within yogurt, whether blended, mixed, or on top, cannot be credited toward the fruit requirement. Mixed fruit (fruit cocktail) credits as 1 item.
Grains and breads must be whole-grain or enriched or made from whole-grain or enriched flour or meal; ready-to-eat cereals must be whole-grain, enriched or fortified. Enriched macaroni products that have been fortified with protein may count towards either the grains component or the meat/meat alternate component, but not as both in the same meal. Bran and germ are credited the same as whole-grain or enriched meal or flour. Piecrust used as part of the main dish (i.e., for meat turnovers or meat pies) is allowed as a grain item. Non-sweet snack foods such as hard pretzels, hard bread sticks, and chips made from wholegrain or enriched meal or flour can be used to meet the grain requirement. Sweet grain-based foods should not be served as part of a snack more than twice a week. Grain based desserts are not creditable at lunch or supper. For more information on what constitutes a grain-based dessert see the Exhibit A in the USDA Food Buying Guide. Choose whole grains and whole-grain products when possible to provide additional vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Let's look at some ways to identify whole grain, or whole grain rich products.
Here is a chart listing common grain ingredients. In the first column you can see a list of ingredients that are whole grain. In the second column are grain ingredients that must be enriched in order to be credited. In the last column you can see ingredients that are considered non-creditable.
A whole grain rich product is one where 50% of the grain ingredients are whole grain. In many of the other child nutrition programs serving WGR items is a requirement. This first example is of some whole wheat hamburger buns. Let’s look at the ingredient list. The very first ingredient is whole wheat flour, which is good! We’re halfway there. Next, we would look to see if there are any other grain ingredients. You can see that it does say wheat bran as well. This is just fine because wheat bran would credit as enriched and whole grains. We know that this product qualifies as whole grain rich. In fact, this product is 100% whole grain which is the healthiest option. Try to get 100% whole grain options whenever you can.
This is an example of a mini pita. We’ll enlarge the ingredient list so that we can get a good look at it. Something to note first off is that ingredient lists are listed by weight. So the first ingredient listed is the largest ingredient by weight in the product. The next ingredient listed is the 2nd largest ingredient by weight, and so on. This will come in handy in a bit, so keep this in mind. The first ingredient in this product is “stoneground whole wheat flour”. Stoneground just refers to how the wheat was made into a flour, it doesn’t affect whether it’s whole grain or not. The word “whole” is what you’re looking for. So far, we’re on track, lets keep looking. The very next ingredient is enriched flour and there aren’t any other grain products in this pita. Because the first ingredient is a whole grain and the other grain ingredients are enriched, this product qualifies as a whole grain rich product. How do we know this? Think back to when we mentioned that ingredient lists are listed by weight. Because the whole grain is listed BEFORE the enriched grain, we know that it is at least 50% whole grain. If the two grain ingredients were swapped, it would not qualify.
Let’s look at this example of whole-wheat pasta. The first ingredient is Whole grain wheat flour. That’s great! So far we’re on the right track. The next ingredients are wheat flour and oat fiber. This is not as great. Remember that any grains that aren’t whole need to be enriched.
This is an ingredient list from a honey wheat bread product. The first ingredient is enriched wheat flour. Notice that it’s missing the word “whole”, so this would not qualify as a whole grain rich item. Notice that a little bit further down in the ingredient list it has whole wheat flour. So this bread would probably look like “brown” bread, but it wouldn’t qualify as a whole grain rich item. You have to look at the ingredient list to know for sure.
If reading through ingredient lists doesn't sound like much fun, there are a future short cuts that you can look for on packaging that would also indicate that the product is whole grain or whole grain rich. If the product includes one of the following FDA approved whole grain health claims on its package you know it would count as a whole grain-rich option. "Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers." Or "Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may help reduce the risk of heart disease." Lastly, FNS discourages the use of whole grain foods that contain high amounts of starches (tapioca starch, modified food starch, potato starch, and legume flowers).
Next, let’s discuss the milk component. Milk must be pasteurized, unflavored or flavored whole milk, reduced-fat milk, low-fat milk, fat-free milk, buttermilk, lactose-reduced milk, or acidophilus milk. Milk is required to be served at breakfast and can be served as a beverage or on cereal, or in a combination of both. Milk is required to be served as a beverage at both lunch and supper. Milk and juice cannot be credited to meet the two-component snack requirement.
The USDA Food Buying Guide is used for determining which foods can be served to meet the Food Program requirements. This tool should be used to help develop your cycle menus. If the food item is NOT listed in the food buying guide it is likely not creditable towards the meal pattern. Which means if you served this it you couldn’t count it toward meeting one of the meal components. You could serve it as an extra, but keep in mind that serving a lot of “extras” isn’t great for your expenses and possibly the children’s health. If you are unsure if a food item is creditable on the food program, it’s always best practice to contact our office before a new food item is served. The food buying guide is available in hard copy from our office and also available on-line.
There are different types of meal service that you may be able to use depending on the type of site you are operating. Camps and closed enrolled sites can offer meals family style. A Pre-plated meal service is when all components are on the child’s plate or placed in a bag in the required portion sizes. Once this occurs then staff would take the point of service for all children who are served a reimbursable meal. Point of service counts should always be completed as the child receives the meal. Family style meal service is when all the components are on the table for the children to take full portion sizes. Children should be encouraged but never forced to try all the food items on the table. This style of meal service helps children learn important skills and can help them be more willing to try new foods. With family style, once each child has been offered a full portion size of all the food items on the table, the staff would take the point of service. It’s important to train your staff on the serving size requirements regardless of whether you do pre-plated or family style meal service. While in family style meal service, the children don’t need to take the full serving size, the full serving size for all of the children at the table needs to be present and the child should be encouraged to take the full serving size.
Offer versus serve (OVS) is a concept that applies to menu planning and meal service which allows children to decline some of the food offered in a reimbursable breakfast, lunch, or supper. OVS is not allowed at snack (see SFSP Memorandum 5-2016: Meal Service Requirements in the Summer Food Service Program, with Questions and Answers, November 12, 2015). The goals of OVS are to simplify Program administration and reduce food waste and costs while maintaining the nutritional integrity of the SFSP meal that is served. All SFSP sites, regardless of location or type of sponsorship, may use OVS. Although SFSP regulations indicate that OVS is available only to school sponsors, FNS extended this option to non-school sponsors in October 2011. Utilizing OVS does not preclude the sponsor from maintaining a non-profit operation. Please remember that OVS is not required. It is a meal planning and service option the sponsor may choose to implement.
For a meal to be eligible for reimbursement, all food components in the required minimum serving sizes must be offered. A food component is one of the food groups that comprise a reimbursable meal. Sites must always offer all the food components that comprise a reimbursable meal in at least the minimum required amounts. A food item is a specific food offered within the components comprising the reimbursable meal. For example, separate ½ cup servings of peaches and pears are two food items that comprise one component, the fruit and vegetable component It is important to note that the OVS requirements in SFSP are different from the OVS requirements in NSLP. All non-school sponsors electing to use OVS and schools participating in SFSP and electing to follow the SFSP meal patterns are required to follow the SFSP OVS requirements. In order to ensure that children are receiving enough food to meet their nutritional needs, OVS requirements in SFSP are as follows:
For breakfast, the following four food items must be offered: One serving of fruit/vegetable, One serving of grains, One serving of fluid milk, One additional serving of fruit/vegetable, grains, or a serving of a meat/meat alternate, All the food items offered must be different from each other, A child must take at least three of any of the four food items offered.
For lunch or supper, the following four food components must be offered through at least five different food items: One serving of meat/meat alternate, Two servings of fruit and/or vegetables (two different food items), One serving of grains, and, One serving of fluid milk. Lunch or supper requirements differ from breakfast in that a child must take at least three of the food components, rather than items, listed above from the five food items offered. Three food components are required for an adequate, nutritious meal for children.
Offering two servings of the same food item is not permissible under OVS in SFSP. All food items offered must be different from each other. For example, a breakfast menu that includes a serving of milk, a serving of fruit, and two servings of toast is not a reimbursable meal under OVS in SFSP because the toast is two of the same food item. Additionally, a larger food item that is worth two servings in weight, such as a two ounce muffin, counts as only one food item under OVS in SFSP, not two. Offering different food items supports and encourages the practice of offering a variety of food choices for children, which increases the likelihood that children will select foods they prefer and reduces waste.
If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this section please contact our office.