Sheldon Gordon Branch Chief, NTAB Team Nutrition Resources Sheldon Gordon Branch Chief, NTAB

Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs http://www. fns. usda Updating New Releases: Separation of Vegetables & Fruits Updated Meats/Meat Alternates Section Updated Milk Section Food Yield Study - in progress We are updating The Food Buying Guide in stages. So far we have: Separated the fruits and vegetables section into two different components with all vegetables listed first followed by fruits. Additionally, we created separate lists for each of the vegetable subgroups to make it easier to determine crediting for SFAs when planning their meals to meet the meal pattern requirements as well as for manufacturers when developing foods for the school meals programs. We have also updated the meat/meat alternate section to include new items such as tofu and edamame. And lastly we also completed the milk section. These revised sections are available on the team nutrition website. FNS is currently in the process of working with the Agriculture Research Service to complete a yield study for additional items that will be added to the revision including many whole grain-rich options. SFAs and manufactures also have the flexibility to search just for fruits using the link provided on the Revised Sections for School Meal Programs website. All lists are alphabetical and where necessary, crediting information has been updated. For example, the crediting for raw leafy vegetables has been changed to count as half the volume served. Therefore 1 cup of raw bok choy, credit as ½ cup of raw dark green vegetable. Whereas, dried fruit credits as double the volume served as part of a reimbursable meal. For example, ¼ cup of raisins credits as ½ cup of fruit.

http://teamnutrition.usda.gov www.teamnutrition.usda.gov Team Nutrition has published The Recipes for Healthy Kids (R4HK) Cookbooks for Homes and for Schools. These cookbooks are the culmination of the R4HK Competition that USDA launched in September 2010 in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative. The R4HK competition challenged teams of school nutrition professionals, chefs, students, parents, and community members to develop creative, nutritious, tasty and kid-approved recipes that schools can easily incorporate into their National School Lunch menus. The 30 winning recipes were standardized and put into cookbooks for homes, child care centers, and schools. The recipes in the cookbooks feature foods both children and adults should consume more of: dark green and orange vegetables, dry beans and peas, and whole grains. All of these healthy recipes are low in total fat, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium. Louise Easterly, LD, SNS, the School Nutrition Professional, on the winning team from Van Buren Middle School, Kettering Schools, Kettering, Ohio who created the whole grain recipe Chicken Alfredo With A Twist still serves her schools’ winning recipe. Sandy Helsel, the School Nutrition Professional on the Joshua Cowell Elementary School R4HK team from Manteca, California, serves her school’s award winning Central Valley Harvest Bake during the fall as a red/orange vegetable side dish, which is when the butternut squash, grown in their school district’s garden, is ready to harvest. She also serves other R4HK wraps and pasta dish recipes. If your school is interested in hosting a recipe competition (large or small), we have included it as an event idea in the TN Popular Events Idea Booklet. From January through April almost 100,000 cookbooks were ordered. www.teamnutrition.usda.gov

http://www.whatscooking.fns.usda.gov The What’s Cooking? USDA Mixing Bowl tool is a new interactive recipe and menu building tool. You can use it to Find household recipes, large quantity recipes for schools, SNAP recipes, and recipes in Spanish. You can submit recipes, provide star ratings and review recipes, and share on social media networks. It has access various USDA cookbooks – including A Harvest of Recipes with USDA Foods, Recipes for Healthy Kids cookbook, etc. It has Recipe Tools – to save, create, and print your own cookbook and you can browse recipes by “nutrition themed” filters

Farm to School Connections 9/19/2018 Farm to School Connections Visit the Farm to School Web site: www.fns.usda.gov/farmtoschool Sign up for the bi-weekly e-letter. Marketing fruits and vegetables to kids. Local products on menus.

Whole Grain Resource for NSLP/SBP NEW If you have not already viewed it, please check out the whole grain resource for school lunch and breakfast. This publication includes an overview of the Grains criteria for school meals, exercises using sample grain products, calculation examples, and other related content. It also includes tips on how to purchase and store whole grain items and provides suggestions on how to serve whole grain-rich foods that children will enjoy. It is currently available for download on the team nutrition website and the healthy meals resource system. There was also a webinar completed on this publication which is archived on the healthy meals resource system that provides a 1 hour completion credit. www.teamnutrition.usda.gov

Healthy Meals Resource System Best Practices Sharing Center State and SFA Developed Resources Healthy Meals Resource System Best Practices Sharing Center http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/ Menus Recipes Training Materials Signage Success Stories Our Healthy Meals Resource System houses the Best Practices Sharing Center which is a collection of materials and resources developed by States and SFAs as part of their efforts to serve healthy menus that meet school meal regulations. There are already several popular resources located here, and I encourage you to check it out if you haven’t already. You can search this site by topic, format or audience to find menus, recipes, checklists, training materials, success stories, and other tools. It’s a great way to build upon the efforts of your peers and get innovative solutions to common issues.

Healthy Meals Resource System http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov HMRS also has a number of menu planning tools and resources to incorporate what’s in season into school menus… resources for marketing, promoting, serving and preparing F&V; selection and cooking tips for whole grains, and even materials to help you link the excitement for school meals and school food to what’s happening in the classrooms.

Contact Information Team Nutrition Resources (grants, materials, etc): teamnutrition@fns.usda.gov Food Buying Guide/Crediting/Training (Team Up): cnpntab@fns.usda.gov