Menu Planning & Production (for School Meals)
(Note for Editor: INSERT Menu Planning overview/intro text here.)
Resources
- K-12 Culinary Institute Recipes
- Menu Planner for School Meals (USDA website)
- Menu Planning Guidance for New SFAs
- Vegetable Sub-Group Chart
- What's for Breakfast? (PowerPoint) *Revision TBD*
- What’s for Lunch? (PowerPoint) *Revision TBD*
Commercial Kitchen
TEMPLATE Daily Meal Production Record – BREAKFAST
Includes: Production Record Template, Condiments page, Page 2 (of the Production Record template), Leftovers page, Sample Breakfast Production Record and Instructions (rev. May 2016)
TEMPLATE Daily Meal Production Record – LUNCH
File Includes: Production Record Template, Condiments page, Page 2 (of the Production Record template), Leftovers Page, Substitutions page, Sample Lunch Production Record and Instructions (rev. May 2016)
- Checklist for Reviewing Food Based Daily Meal Production Records
- Completing the Commercial Kitchen Daily Meal Production Record (PowerPoint)
Homestyle/Cottage Meals
- Production Record TEMPLATE – Breakfast
- Production Record SAMPLE – Breakfast
- Production Record TEMPLATE – Lunch
- Production Record SAMPLE – Lunch
- INSTRUCTIONS for the Homestyle Meal Daily Meal Production Record
- Completing the Homestyle Kitchen Daily Meal Production Record
Transported Meals
- TEMPLATE Daily Meal Production Record – Breakfast
- SAMPLE Daily Meal Production Record – Breakfast
- TEMPLATE Daily Meal Production Record – Lunch
- SAMPLE Daily Meal Production Record – Lunch
- INSTRUCTIONS for the Transported Meals Daily Meal Production Record
- MEAL DELIVERY TICKET w/Instructions
- SAMPLE Meal Delivery Ticket
- CHECKLIST for Reviewing Transported Meals Daily Meal Production Record
- Completing the Transported Meals Daily Meal Production Record (PowerPoint)
USDA Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs
- Introduction
- Appendixes
- Section 1: Meats
- Section 2: Vegetables
- Section 3: Fruits
- Section 4: Grains
- Section 5: Milk
- Section 6: Other
- Appendices
- Yield Tables
FBG Tools & Guidance
Final Rule - Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
- NC Summary - Final Rule for Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (pdf)
- (Print version)
Federal Register Notice | RIN 0584-AE88 Final Rule - Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (pdf)
- (USDA website) Federal Register Notice | RIN 0584-AE88 Final Rule - Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (April 25, 2024)
Learning Resources
Menu Certification Process
Continuing Education
- WEBINAR: Introduction to the Menu Certification Worksheet - Transition from MCQW (August 21, 2024)
(Presenters: Trip Warren and Jennifer Brown)- VIEW/DOWNLOAD Recorded Webinar Video
- PowerPoint Slides (PDF)
- USDA Approved Certification of Compliance Tools and Software (USDA Food and Nutrition Service)
Offer versus Serve (OVS) is a provision in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) that allows students to decline some of the food offered. The goals of OVS are to reduce food waste in the school meals programs while permitting students to decline foods they do not intend to eat.
OVS is only required under NSLP/SBP for high school students in grades 9-12 unless the School Food Authority has an approved waiver for this requirement.
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) school sponsors that decide to use the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP) meal patterns must follow the OVS requirements for NSLP and SBP.
Seamless Summer Option (SSO) sponsors must follow the OVS requirements for NSLP and SBP.
All non-school sponsors and schools electing to follow the SFSP meal pattern that choose to use OVS must follow the SFSP requirements for the meal to be reimbursable.
Policy and Regulatory Guidance
National School Lunch Program (NSLP) | School Breakfast Program (SBP)
Offer vs. Serve Guidance for NSLP and SBP:
SP41-2015a - Offer versus Serve Guidance for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program Effective Beginning School Year 2015-2016USDA Policy Memo SP41-2015os - Updated Offer versus Serve Guidance for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program Effective Beginning School Year 2015-2016
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
USDA Policy Memo SP10 SFSP06-2017 – Meal Service Requirements in the Summer Meal Programs, with Questions and Answers – Revised
SFSP Nutrition Guide for Sponsors – Refer to OVS guidance on pages 44-45
USDA Summer Meals Toolkit: How to Do Offer Versus Serve (OVS) – meal service best practices for implementing OVS under SFSP
Training and Educational Resources
NSLP/SBP
I Decline!: Offer vs. Serve for Lunch and Breakfast [INSERT LINK FOR PPT FILE “idecline_8_16_21.pptx”; Link text = I Decline!: Offer vs. Serve for Lunch and Breakfast] - NCDPI presentation explaining Offer Versus Serve and how to identify a reimbursable meal at lunch and breakfast