Served Digizine™ - Leading and Loving It

Issue No. 13 Jan-Feb 2022

Walk the Talk Leadership in Action Ethics Hit List A Crash Course in Ethical Leadership

Leading Legislation 7 Reasons Why Universal School Meals are Worth the Investment

Contents

Upcoming Episodes

Cup of Joe

ETHICS HIT LIST

In this episode, wew dove into the USFA. Who are they? What are they all about? Tune in to find out... Recorded LIVE on January 28

Sodium Reduction Tips In a Pinch:

Reasons Why Universal School Meals are Worth the Investment

February 18, 2022 | 1PM EST Register Now!

FROM THE BLOG

Changing the Perception of Child Nutrition with Tyson, LINQ, and Alachua County Public Schools

with Dr. Katie Wilson, SNS

Looking Ahead

Enhancing the Learning and Dining Experiences with AmTab

Next Up Premiere Episode: Urban School Food Alliance with Lora Gilbert

From our Partners

Pre-Register Now!

2 | Next Up

18 | Titan a LINQ Solution: From the Show Floor 19 | Tyson: From the Show Floor

with USFA 12 | MyFUNDamentals

About Next Up

include a live in person audience or a live virtual audience to engage with in real time. The concept of the show revolves around “breaking bread” while building relationships, building each other up, and solving problems through collaboration to create a better tomorrow.

Next Up is a talk show featuring some of the most successful leaders, educators, and influencers from around the world serving in different sectors. Guests will be chosen by NxtGen Network and can also be suggested by sponsors. All episodes will be filmed in a studio with a multi-camera setup, be converted to podcast, and can

There’s More

Page by Page

Contents

Edible Education - Harvest Your Students’ Hunger for Fresh & Seasonal Food with Pisanick Partners by Maureen Pisanick, RDN-LDN & Tina Hastings From the Show Floor at SNIC with Titan, a LINQ Solution, and Tyson 7 Reasons Why Universal School Meals are Worth the Investment by Lindsey Hill, RD, SNS Podcast Spotlight with LINQ’D UP, USFA and Next Up From the Blog: USFA with Dr. Katie Wilson The MOMologue with Stacy Cardinale The Last Bite with Chef Sharon Schaefer

Edible Education:

02 06 08 09 10 13 14

Next Up Letter from the Editors & Served Highlights Cup of Joe with Joe Pettit

Harvest Your Students’ Hunger for Fresh and Seasonal Food.

ICN Resource of the Month

26 28 30 31

Walk the Talk by Stefanie Giannini, MA, SNS Ready-to-Use Tips - In a Pinch: Sodium Reduction Tips with Annelise McAuliffe Soares Ethics Hit List by Beverly Girard, PhD, MBA, RD,SNS

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NxtGenNetwork.com

| Sarah@NxtGenNetwork.com | Digital Editor Sarah Kolcheck

| Amanda@NxtGenNetwork.com | Co-Creator Co-Editor Amanda Venezia

| Marlon@NxtGenNetwork.com | Co-Creator Co-Editor Marlon Gordon

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| Breanna@NxtGenNetwork.com | Assistant Editor Breanna Gustafson

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Welcome to the age of the Digizine! Here are your January & February Highlights.

This is a shameless plug for my mother, Dr. Leslene Gordon, MS, RD, LD who has been nominated for the Director-at-Large position on the Board of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. If you are a registered dietitian AND a member of the Academy please support her with your vote. Polls open on February 1st and close on February 15th. Mark your calendar and don’t forget to vote. Learn more about her HERE.

Co-Creators & Co-Editors Amanda & Marlon Say

Firstly, I greatly dislike the person who started the meme that this year is 2020 too. That’s just wrong! It’s a new year, a new day and hopefully we are done with that despicable C-word. I hate New Year’s resolutions. No, thanks. If life’s a game, then I am making a playbook. I am the QB, running back and the water-boy. Let’s go!

and spreading joy in this world. Folks have been through the ringer and we all need to proceed through life with compassion and care to our friends, family, neighbors, and most of all enemies. No, I don’t have an arch nemesis but I do have an opportunity to practice grace with those whom I find fault with. Route #4 I am enough. No. Two letters that hold an exceptional amount of power. I need to use them more often. Here we go… No. No. No. I don’t need to

Marlon’s Mom

Marlon

Route #1 I am done with busy. My time is valuable and I refuse to waste it in places where my talents do not lie or in pursuit of something that does not fulfill me. If I neither have confidence nor find joy in a project or task it is at the end of my to do list, most always pushed to tomorrow and then tomorrow’s tomorrow. I am done with it. I must ask myself what person or resource can I use to take this off of my list.

Have a story that needs to be told? Click HERE to request our contributor spec sheet! Upcoming Editions Calling All Contributors! Project (Big & Small!) Planning Sustain the Earth & Your Programs Special Needs Nutrition & Summer Feeding Innovation Required & ANC Coverage Back to School - Not just for kids! (Personal Development) Farm to School Feed the World (Cultures, Diversity, & Giving Back)

Monthly Newsletter!

• Item 1: Non director necessary administrative tasks. Do I need to do this? Is there someone I can train who has the skills, intelligence, and drive to do this? Who can I empower? Who might use this opportunity to grow? • Item 2: How would the “person I want to be” schedule their time? Route #2 Caring for myself is not selfish. I am forever feeling guilty for resting. I constantly say that I don’t have time to go to the gym. Guess what? I do have time. I have all the time in the world but I am choosing to spend it on other priorities as opposed to caring for my body and mind. Sacrificing my own health to “do” for others (work, those two people I made, that nice man I married, etc.) is draining my energy. Thus, I am triggered toward caffeine to increase my productivity and wine to counter all that caffeine! Please note: I love wine. Yum! Yum! Yum!

do this or accomplish that to be worthy of respect, care, or love. I don’t need to answer that email right this second. I have nothing to prove by working late or on the weekend. My child does not NEED a play-date. Actually, can someone please explain this to my eight year old daughter? She’s the worst! So, there you have it: my 2022 playbook. I am going to focus on me. Yeah, me. That person who I look at in the mirror. I criticize and judge her so incredibly harshly. I’m going to work on it. I hope that you all take some time to focus on being your best self for you and the ones around you. You are special. You are worth it. You are about to rock the socks off this New Year. Send me what’s in your playbook for this year. No, I really mean it… YOU… yeah YOU… reading this. Send it to me at amanda@nxtgennetwork.com. - Amanda

At NxtGen Network we love connecting with others across all media. The NxtGen Newsletter is all about sharing the stories of those within our network. Whether you are an industry member and have something that will strengthen the operators and the programs we love to serve, or you are an operator and you do something exciting and/or inspiring, wewant to share your story. But we’remore than story tellers. We will also include an educational piece monthly because we believe for child nutrition to evolve we need to pour into each other.

Thisnewsletter is all aboutmakingeachother better, giving credit where it’s due, and strengthening our network of school nutrition professionals. It is through our combined power that we can realize our highest potential in serving children across the country.

Route #3 Love one another. I am out to love as many people as I can with a mind towards service

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Cup of Joe

Lead & Succeed is here to help you

Joe’s inspirational speeches drive immediate, lasting change and inspires audiences to take a deeper look within. Seeds of Greatness is a thought- provoking, inspirational keynote planting hope, motivation, and belief in each audience member. It sparks a renewed purpose and increases your team’s productivity when they “pull the weeds and plant the seeds.” Joe Pettit Inspires Joe Pettit

Introduction to School Nutrition Leadership (ISNL) is a 4 ½ Day training designed for new and aspiring child nutrition directors. The session provides an overview of the management components of school nutrition programs. The intended audience includes school nutrition program staff with fewer than 5 years of experience as a director or those who may aspire to be a director, and state agency staff, specialists, and trainers. ICN provides this session in face-to-face and virtual instructor-led training formats several times a year. Once sessions are scheduled for ICN, they are posted to the Institute’s website – TheICN.org ICN can provide ISNL for your group either face-to-face session or by virtual instructor-led training session. For more information on how to request this and other ICN topics to be presented to your group free of charge, please visit TheICN.org/Training-2 formore information. Please contact Lisa Rogers at ltrogers@olemiss.edu if you have questions about live face-to-face or virtual instructor-led training with ICN.

https://vimeo.com/669457050

Do you have a success story you want to share? Do you have staff members you want to recognize for their hard work? Help ICN show gratitude for these school nutrition heroes and acknowledge their dedication. Submit Your Story Here!

Evaluate | Adjust | Take action E.A.T.

A simple performance and project management acronym packed with tons of potential.

Many leaders constantly evaluate but never adjust. They fall victim to “paralysis by analysis.”

Top performing leaders always make time to E.A.T. They know next level results require consistent Evaluating, Adjusting, and Taking action. Their team reaps the rewards because they never settle for less or mediocre. Watch this short “Cup of Joe” video above as Joe Pettit explains the importance of leaders making time to E.A.T. After watching the video, take time to answer the following questions: • Do you E.A.T. ? • Which area needs improvement - Evaluate, Adjust, or Taking action? • How do you E.A.T. ? • Who should you E.A.T. with this month?

iLearn provides self-paced, free online learning for child nutrition professionals. iLearn offers users the flexibility to complete courses in multiple sessions on desktop, laptop, or mobile devices.

Their team suffers because the leader’s ideas stall out.

Some leaders adjust but never evaluate why they’re doing things differently. They know change is important but fail to understand if it was needed in the first place.

https://vimeo.com/668322634

Download The App So You Can iLearn On-The Go!

Their team suffers because they’re constantly under pressure of unnecessary changes.

Subscribe to ICN Newsletters and Resource Update Emails Here!

Leaders with the best intentions evaluate and talk about adjustments but fail to take action. This process leaves dreams on the table and projects unfinished.

The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN), part of the School of Applied Sciences at The University of Mississippi, is the only federally funded national center dedicated to applied research, education and training, and technical assistance for child nutrition programs. The Institute’s mission is to provide information and services that promote the continuous improvement of child nutrition programs. ICN Website About ICN

Their team suffers because they rarely see the fruits of their labor.

than ourselves, because we can easily convince ourselves that we are allowed to be the “exception” for our own personal benefit. As a leader, you must be the model example of how others should act; this will create long termbuy-in and your teamwill respect you for holding yourself to the same standard as you hold them. Especially in the case of implementing change or potentially unpopular decisions,

leaders should highly reconsider and update the “talk; it is okay if what was previously established in an organization no longer serves the organization in current times. It is okay if policies, missions, values, or culture need to be modified or done away with altogether. Changing the “talk” shouldn’t be taboo, because it is natural for organizations to evolve as leaders, members, environments, and goals change.

you may not win people over with your words at first, but you can win them over with your actions in the long run. Not everyone will be on-board with certain aspects of

I challenge you to ask yourself, am I walking the talk? If not, can I? If I can’t, why? Can I change the talk not only for me but for

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=QdCx8C9byA8

an organization, but if they can see their leader acting accordingly, along with the benefit of doing so, then they will be more open-minded to jump on board. What happens when people see their leader not walking the talk? They become resentful, combative, and will most likely reach a boiling point that forces them to leave the organization. What todo if leaders inanorganization struggle to walk to talk? Those

the rest of my team? Do I just benefit from changing the talk or would the organization as a whole benefit? You may not have all the answers to these questions, so always include others on your team in the conversation; ask for their opinions, suggestions, and concerns to get a true sense of what “talk” makes the most sense for everyone in the organization to commit “walking” to!

IVATI, Founder; Assistant Director of Food & Nutrition Services (IL) Stefanie Giannini, MA, SNS

As leaders, our influence goes far beyond written and verbal statements regarding organizational culture, values, mission, goals, and procedures. If our words are a single microphone used to communicate to our team, then our actions are that same microphone hooked up to multiple speakers; which of the two do you think your team will hear louder? Without a doubt, our actions speak louder than words, and if you really want to avoid frustrating those around you, then you must make sure your words and actions align.

In leadership, the phrase “walk the talk” refers to living out the words,values, and actions you expect of those around you. Simple enough, right? Unfortunately, as imperfect as we are, it is easy to not walk the talk. When we say something enough times, such as our organizational goals and missions, the words start to lose their meaning; therefore, we stop being intentional about our actions and no longer live up to our words. In reality, it is much easier to uphold others to a certain standard rather

Stefanie Giannini, MA, SNS IVATI, Founder; Director of Food & Nutrition Services

Stefanie Giannini, founder of IVATI, is a speaker, educator, and content creator on a mission to inspire and cultivate every individual’s identity and development as a leader; she holds a fierce passion for personal and professional growth, critical reflection, and building quality relationships. Stefanie holds a Bachelor’s in Food & Nutrition Management from Arizona State University and a Master’s in Organizational Leadership and Learning from George Washington University. In addition to her work with IVATI, she works in the school nutrition industry as the Director of Food & Nutrition Services for a K-8 school district in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Annelise has spent her career making sure food sounds appetizing on paper, looks good in pictures and tastes amazing when you order it. Her day-to-day consists of working as Marketing Manager at Ready Foods to connect food service operators with ready-to-use kitchen solutions that are easy to incorporate into a kitchen flow and bring great flavor to menu items. Her favorite hot lunch in elementary school was always nacho day. Ready Foods Annelise McAuliffe Soares Ready-to-Use Tips!

MORE THAN SOFTWARE

A Decision Support System for School Nutrition Program Management.

Tips In a Pinch:

Sodium Reduction

EASY TO USE. QUICK REPORTING.

Let’s be real, it takes a lot of software and resources to run a school nutrition program. MyFUNDamentals interfaces with existing school nutrition and district finance software to deliver key performance indicators. Bringing together components of software products, like financials, POS, labor, and inventory, we can calculate meal equivalents, cost per meal, cost per labor hour, operating ratios, profit and loss, and all other key performance indicators.

It’s a new year! 2022 resolutions are in action and we challenge you to make sodium reduction one of your goals for the year. This past October, the FDA published guidance for food manufacturers and foodservice operators to reduce sodium levels in food. Most Americans consume an average of 3,400 mg of sodium per day, even though guidance suggests we should cap it at 2,300mg/day. The voluntary guidance that was just released works to reduce average consumption down to 3,000 mg/day, still short of the overall goal, but headed in the right direction. The FDA’s research shows that 70% of our daily sodium intake comes from packaged and prepared foods from outside of the home. According to the CDC, sodium is a major contributor to high blood pressure, which causes heart attacks and strokes. According to the CDC , 90% of children in the US, ages 6-18, eat too much sodium daily. As leaders and decision makers in the school foodservice industry, what can we do to contribute to this sodium reduction goal? Awareness is the first step. While there are already sodium guidelines for schools, checking in to see where your ingredients are at and seeing where you can further reduce sodium is a great first step. Highlight two weeks on your calendar where you will check the nutrition facts of every item that comes into the kitchen. Keep a quick, casual list of items that are high in sodium or surprise you with how high or low their sodium content is. Once the two weeks are over, look for alternatives for those high sodium items or work the low sodium items into your menus with more frequency. Share your goals. Whether it is posters in the lunchroomor in newsletters sent out to families, share your goals and findings with your community. Offer up helpful tips on how to reduce salt intake at home and share the possible

effects of too much salt. Use this as an opportunity to simply bring overall awareness to students. Since fruits and vegetables do not contain added sodium, consider hosting a competition to encourage students to eat more fruits and vegetables. Studies show that increasing these food groups help crowd out the desire for salty snacks. Rely on herbs and spices. Using less salt often means the flavors of a dish are not as full. Round out the profile of a recipe by using fresh and dried herbs or spices. Bring on the zest. Sometimes the missing ingredient isn’t salt, it’s the brightness that a splash of acid can add. Try adding vinegar (balsamic, apple cider, red wine, even white!), lemon juice or grated citrus zest to a dish for bold flavor. Add low sodium cheese. Some low sodium cheeses have great sharp flavors that mimic the bite of salt. Try adding grated sharp cheese for added protein too. Try pastes. Test low sodium pastes, like tomato paste or concentrates, for bold flavor without the salt. Amp up onions and garlic. Onions and garlic are low cost ingredients that can bring a bite, spice or sweet caramelized flavor without added sodium. Happy New Year! May your 2022 be full of flavor.

MyFUNDamentals is essential for the success of your financial and operational program.

MyFUNDamentals provides transparency and accountability for all levels - from the cafeteria manager to the nutrition director. Putting performance measurements at your fingertips: Provides accountability Aids in good decision making for financial and operational success Increases knowledge base Results in increased financial solvency https://vimeo.com/643969469

Program Success Starts with MyFUNDamentals

Schedule an Introduction Today!

888-228-3120 Contact@MyFUNDamentals.com www.myFUNDamentals.com

ETHICS HIT LIST Consultant

Beverly Girard, PHD, MBA, RD, SNS

So, okay, we don’t typically think of a HIT LIST when we think of ethics, but more about that in a minute. Like you, I would like to see more ethical leaders… in government, in business, in school districts, and yes, in school nutrition. I am not saying that our profession lacks ethics, because it certainly does not. However, we are in a profession that is ripe for scrutiny. We handle money, and in some cases, millions and millions of dollars. We sign purchasing contracts. We manage other people, and we are in the public eye. All of these responsibilities can put a big red target on our backs unless we choose, every day, to act in an ethical manner. In other words, we make a conscious decision to follow and enforce the rules…or we don’t. One of my least favorite expressions is “I will do as I want now, and ask permission later.” No, not when we are responsible for federal dollars and local student payments. School district personnel across the nation have been embarrassed, and worse yet, investigated, even arrested, because someone didn’t think about the results of their behavior and decision making.

that an ethical violation can be one of commission or omission. A person may commit an ethical violation by choosing to ignore regulations or protocols, hoping they won’t get caught, which is an act of commission. Examples of acts of omission might be a failure to follow

through, a failure to report an incident – anything that a reasonable person knows should be handled appropriately. You have been patient, so I now give you the ethics HIT LIST!

H Honesty – ethical people are honest people. They don’t need anyone to remind them of the rules. They are governed by an internal compass of right vs. wrong. I Integrity – simply, what we do when no one is looking. Whether we are in front of a crowd, or behind closed doors, our behavior and our story doesn’t change.

T Trust – an earned belief or confidence.

L Legal – ethical leadership helps us avoid legal issues. In today’s litigious society, we may still encounter unwelcome legal issues, but we are much better positioned when we focus on being legally correct. I Improved Morale – staff morale increases when a sense of fairness and equity prevails at a workplace, both of which have their basis in ethical management of people. S Success and Status – success and status are maintained when a leader promotes ethical behavior of themselves and their staff. Success and status can be obliterated when ethical leadership is disregarded. T Transparency – ethical people are transparent people. They have nothing to hide.

Here’s a crash course in ethical leadership.

1. The money isn’t yours. The same is true for food, equipment, resources, computers, everything. 2. You don’t own anyone. 3. No one owns you, but they can tell you what to do, and what not to do. Ethos, the Greek word from which ethics is derived, means moral character. Aristotle explained that people with character are credible. Ethics means that we hold ourselves to commonly agreed upon values. If your school district or your department has a Code of Ethics, get to know those guidelines, as they are directions, not suggestions. Realize

Beverly Girard is a leader and mentor in child nutrition. Beverly was the Director of Food and Nutrition Services in Sarasota County Schools, Florida for 28 years, and previously served as an Area Supervisor for Palm Beach County Schools. She has presented at numerous local, state, and national meetings, and played a key role in Child Reauthorization in 2015. She is a certified facilitator and mediator, and many of her 60+ previous dietetic interns currently hold key positions in school nutrition and the K12 industry. Under Beverly’s direction, Sarasota County Schools was awarded many state and federal grants, including two separate $100,000 USDA Farm to School Implementation Grants. Beverly’s practical experience and sense of humor will bring your training to life! Beverly Girard, PhD, MBA, RD,SNS

Pisanick Partners is a nutrition and operations based consulting firm with decades of experience in Child Nutrition. We have refined our approach through creation of cycle menus, training and development of staff, and implementing strategies that take on the task of not only attaining nutritional excellence, but also financial success in the K-12 environment. Our experience not only supports a school district in meeting all state and federal mandates for implementing the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, but also the menu creation with an eye for detail and meticulous organization. The objective is to quickly and accurately evaluate, analyze and organize a district’s nutritional program to insure compliance and easy on-going maintenance. Pisanick Partners Tina Hastings (Assoc. Partner Operations) Maureen Pisanick, RDN-LDN (CEO) & Edible Education: Slicing up Inspiration for Your Menu and More! Harvest Your Students’ Hunger for Fresh and Seasonal Food.

Think about trying some of these suggestions for activities that can foster student engagement.

• Consider implementing trydays or taste testing events to give students opportunities to trial new foods and new recipes before they are actually put on the menu. This gives students the freedom to try something new before committing to taking a complete serving. In addition, we know that it often takes repeated exposure to a food for children to be willing to accept new foods. • Plan for a fall harvest event for National Farm to School Month in October. Check out this school’s commitment and student involvement for an awesome apple crunch event . These events provide great opportunities forwellness committees and curriculum connections. • Embrace celebrating local farmers markets, CSA (community shared agriculture) programs, along with PYO (pick your own) favorites like APPLE picking . • Implement a school garden program. Both, large and small school gardens provide children with hands-on learning and are motivating for children to grow, eat, and learn about the fruits and vegetables they plant. . • Work with local farms that can often provide students with opportunities to “grow it know it” in new ways. • Make connections with organizations, such as Feed Our Future, that can help facilitate and inspire opportunities to promote local foods. • Start a student collaboration project. Tap into students’ creativity to design bulletin boards that promote new foods and recipes. Allow students to give input on recipes, menus and how foods are presented. It benefits all as children learn more about nutrition and the factors that go into menu planning, while staff learn more about what kids want to eat and their service preferences. Make the cafeteria an extension of the classroom with easy to adopt practices in 2022. . . the options are endless and RIPE FOR THE PICKING! Take the harvest challenge... serve one locally harvested food on your menu every month for the year. Spoiler alert, we’ll provide Harvest Hints throughout the year to help ‘root’ your planning and recipe ideas!

Looking for a little inspiration to help boost your menu cycle into the new year? Welcome to our new column featuring bites of nutrition knowledge and insight for your team’s menu creation needs. Here you can digest four menu recipe categories to customize, create and expand your cycle for improved customer satisfaction. Throughout this year look forward to “Harvest of the Month”, “Simply Fresh”, “Global on Trend/ Ethnically Diverse’’, and “Comfort Classic” recipes to fill your team’s idea baskets. These recipes are sure to help create dishes that students will love and can easily be created in your kitchens to increase participation in your menus. To kick off 2022, we’re filling your inbox with “Harvest of the Month” inspiration.

products like hydroponic lettuces have been in stock and ready to deliver in areas that are struggling with supply chain gaps - win- win! Cycling in seasonal fruits and veggies not only inspires young eaters and first time tasters, it optimizes both the flavor and nutritional value they will be receiving.

Utilize promotional and engagement strategies

Keep your cafeteria fresh and engage curiosity with the rainbow of colors that mother nature provides throughout every season. In the winter months, you will find wonderful root vegetables and year long gems like hydroponic lettuces. We have shared simple videos with kitchen staff that can help demonstrate how easy it can be to prepare these items. Spring ushers in some favorites like early berries, green leafy spinach, and asparagus . Summer is the most bountiful season and will BLOW your summer menu expectations with fresh salads like our zoodle salad that features a variety of fresh summer vegetables, and who doesn’t like a slice of ruby red watermelon?

Know what is in season

The US domestic agriculture supports a wide range of local and in season treasures for your menu writing consideration. Score top ratings with in-season, fresh and tasty menus that focus on local harvest favorites . Even during the winter months local

From The Show Floor Live is the trade show experience delivered live through video to viewers all over the nation. We visit with the most interesting and innovative exhibitors and talk to them about what makes them special and a viable solution to enhance your program. Watch more live video HERE. At SNIC San Antonio, TX

Marlon and Amanda were live at SNIC with TITAN a LINQ Solution where they had the opportunity to catch up with Mike Borges, President and General Manager of Nutrition, and Gina Dillon, Regional Sales Director. Not only is LINQ an all-in-one software solution provider, but they also advocate for districts across the country while also partnering with them to create and then provide the type of solutions that increase efficiency so they have more time to do the things they love. Feeding children nutritious and delicious meals! Check out their blog HERE to learn more about them.

Welcome to another episode of From the Show Floor Live! Marlon and Amanda had a chance to catch up with Brook Thomas and Scotty Ferguson, Tyson’s new K-12 Marketing Manager for the South East and South West. In this episode we learned about marketing resources Tyson has made available to school districts that can be found HERE as well as their Hunger Hero Campaign which will immortalize the winning SNP as a Hunger Hero and their program with $5000. All you have to do is submit a story about how you or someone on your team put a smile on a child’s face while serving a nutritious and delicious meal. Click HERE to submit your story.

Want us to be a part of your association tradeshow? Contact NxtGen Network Here!

The Benefits Reach Students, Families, and American Businesses.

5. Creates high-quality jobs 6. Lets school nutrition staff be community helpers (not debt collectors) 7. Is critical for the survival of school nutrition programs The Business Case for Equitably-Funded (Universal) School Meals First, some background for anyone who thinks our programs are already locally funded. School nutrition programs are businesses. If you think of a school district as a small city, we’re your favorite franchise “restaurant” at every major intersection (and it’s our pleasure). The same school nutrition team manages all “restaurants” operating in a single district’s buildings. The money we make through purchased meals and a la carte items (snacks) pays for our food, supplies, equipment, and labor costs. So no, taxpayers don’t fund our programs — at least not directly. State taxes fund the rest of the district, but (like a restaurant) we get our revenue from the money we earn. Traditionally, our revenue comes from two sources: what families pay for meals and federal meal reimbursements. The amounts are determined by income guidelines that classify students into three

categories: Free, Reduced, and Paid. These classifications determine the amount that families pay for meals and the amount we are reimbursed for those meals. All meals are subsidized, including Paid. Free and Reduced meals give us the highest revenue because Paid meals are reimbursed at a substantially lower rate ($.42 vs $3.73 per lunch).

of MenuLogic K12 (a business intelligence software for school nutrition programs), so I’m well acquainted with the answer. Answer: FALSE –Universal school meals absolutely assist low- income families. But they also benefit middle and upper-income families, school districts, and entire communities. In fact, one 2021 study identified the following benefits of universal school meals: • They have a protective effect on student BMI • They improve financial outcomes for school districts • They’re associated with increased household incomes The taxes you pay supporting a universal school meal program is money well-spent — they go directly to children, families, and domestic businesses. In other words, every tax dollar spent on universal school meals is a direct investment in your community. I’m going to walk you through these 7 reasons why the benefits of a universal school nutrition program ripple from individual students to families and entire communities: 1. Gives families (and voters) what they want 2. Benefits families at ALL income levels 3. Helps children focus on school, not hunger (or stigma) 4. Meets kids’ nutritional needs

Reasons Why Universal School

Enter a pandemic.

The USDA (our regulatory agency) created emergency waivers to offset the disruptions nutrition programs faced because of COVID closures and lockdowns. One of these waivers allows districts to offer meals at Free rates/ reimbursements to ALL students. The waiver came at a critical time for families impacted by COVID, and I’m grateful. It also came at a critical time for school nutrition programs because it gave us what we’ve always needed to be successful: equitably funded meals. The socioeconomic status of our students and school district no longer mattered. Because of the temporarywaiver,we don’t have to structure sales offerings based on our students’ household incomes to make ends meet. Whether we like it or not, we must put effort into where we are funded. When meals are funded

Universal school meals would mean a federal tax-funded program that makes breakfast and lunch available to all students regardless of their income. Right now, universal school meals are temporary. State and federal legislators are discussing bills that would implement these programs. With that in mind, let’s play a game of true or false: Universal school meals only help low-income families? I’m a school nutrition director, a Registered Dietitian, and founder Meals are Worth the Investment

MenuLogic K12 Founder; Director of Nutrition Services (IN) Lindsey Hill, RD, SNS

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Reasons Why Universal School Meals are Worth the Investment

fairly and equitably, meals are our focus, not a la carte snacks and beverages. Our reality is that this waiver is currently set to expire in June 2022. I’m happy to see a congressional push for increased access to school meals. But the Build Back Better Act isn’t enough and does not address the problem. We need legislation that makes equitably- funded meals permanent. Here’s why. 1. Families Want School Lunches According to the most recent federal data, the demand for Free or Reduced meals is growing: • In 2019, schools served 74.1% of lunch meals at Free or Reduced rates. • In 2020, that number increased to 76.9%. • In 2021, 90% of meals were served at Free rates. Families are increasingly eager to participate in school meal programs because school meals do a critical but difficult task: They consistently provide ALL childrenwith exceptional,nutritious, hot food. 2. Equitably-Funded School Meals Benefit Families at ALL Income Levels

If passed, the Build Back Better Act would expand eligibility for free meals through CEP (Community Eligibility Provision). That’s not nearly enough to solve the problems school nutrition programs face. The CEP targets school districts at the lowest socioeconomic level. It doesn’t impact districts with a higher number of Paid-eligible students (students in households with incomes too high for Free or Reduced rates).

To serve Free and Reduced-eligible students, we need the revenue from Paid-eligible students. But increases in food, labor, and supply costs will force us to charge rates that price us out of the market. Will Paid families be able to afford or choose to put our programs back into their household budgets? 3. Equitably Funded Meals Help Children Focus on School (Not Hunger or Stigma) Every child deserves to wake up knowing they’re going to eat that day, but that’s not our reality. Some caregivers forget to pay, some can’t pay, and some choose not to pay for their student’s meals. Our cashiers serve hundreds of students in less than 7 minutes in a typical lunch line. That leaves 5-10 seconds per transaction. When a student’s account is unpaid, the reason doesn’t change the outcome: a child staring up at a cashier with an empty belly and no means to fill it. How can that embarrassed student and guilty cashier handle this situation appropriately within such tight time constraints? What other restaurant in the country can serve food that quickly AND gently explain to hungry six-year- olds that they still need to pay for their food? A walk in the shoes of a student juggling hunger, anxiety, and school work would help us understand certain behavioral issues that come up in the

classroom. It’s tough to practice long division when you’re worried you won’t have enough money in your account to eat lunch. Can you imagine the impact on our kids’ education when they no longer worry about hunger and payment logistics? Don’t we prefer parents spend their time engaging with the school on education, not money collection? Isn’t it better for families to think about escaping poverty instead of proving to the district and government that they’re poor enough to deserve affordable school meals? 4. Equitably-Funded School Meals Meet Kids’ Nutritional Needs The alternative to school lunch is a packed lunch. That’s simple enough, right? If you have kids in school, you know “simple” isn’t the right word. Caregivers need to choose affordable, convenient foods that fit in a lunchbox and won’t spoil quickly. Enter $1 Lunchables that contain zero whole grains, milk, fruits, or vegetables but include a fun-size candy bar! I believe that nutrition is a crucial component of children’s education at school. When our programs are adequately funded, we get to do what we’ve always wanted:

Believe it or not, keeping track of which families are paying for school meals is not our favorite part of the job. The dream is to make nutrient-dense meals available to all students so they can see what a balanced meal looks like while satisfying their hunger and fueling their hardworking brains. What’s standing in the way of us living out that dream? Financial barriers to our programs. Remember, the money we need to buy food and hire personnel comes from students’ meals and snacks. This forces some of us to spend time where the bulk of our profits come from: cheap a la carte options, not the meals kids benefit from most (but can’t afford). Say the cost per lunch is $3.62 ($1.61 food & supply, $1.42 labor, $.59 overhead), and a nutrition director wants to reinvest 3% ($.11) of the revenue back into the program: • Free and Reduced lunches return a full reimbursement of $3.73 per meal. • Paid lunches (priced at, for example, $2.75 for affordability) return only $3.17. To compensate for that loss, nutrition programs supplement with a la carte options that have higher profit margins. If the funding followed a meal, we wouldn’t have to rely on a la carte items to have viable programs.

allowed us to use our resources for better quality food and learning how to retain and attract skilled labor necessary to produce better quality food. But without permanent commitment to that funding, we hesitate to make the long-term changes our programs need. Equitably funded meals allow us to afford the increasing labor and food costs needed to give kids the best school nutrition experiences. 5. Equitably-Funded School Meals Create Better Jobs programs are businesses. Like any other business, we have to offer competitive pay to attract and retain employees. School nutrition We cannot afford to do this without proper funding. Historically, at least 40% of the revenue per meal is spent on labor. The increasing costs of labor means a higher percent of that revenue per meal. We don’t have a margin to take from and we can’t just raise prices. Our programs have survived by being largely dependent on near minimum wage employees with low-budget administrative costs. But those costs are increasing, and the complexities of managing our programs have skyrocketed. In other words, we need to offer competitive wages to hourly workers and management we desperately need to fill an ongoing labor shortage. We also need Read On

But here’s the thing:

Most Paid-eligible students aren’t the uber-wealthy. They’re middle- class families selling trash bags and wrapping paper to fundraise for their kids’ extracurriculars. It’s a huge mistake to think those families don’t want (or won’t benefit from) equitably-funded meals, and I’ve seen numbers proving that. Meal participation grew by 20% and more in many districts after COVID, and those increases came from Paid-eligible students. In other words, families that made too much to qualify for Free or Reduced rates were finally able to participate in their school’s meal program when the emergency waiver kicked in. That tells me that cost, not preference, kept them out of our programs. When the waiver expires, we have to start charging those parents again.

Focus on the quality of food.

Temporary universal meals have

Reasons Why Universal School Meals are Worth the Investment

For most paid-eligible families, those numbers are not sustainable. The natural consequence will be less participation in our programs. But the rising costs of running a program won’t go away just because our patrons do. What is the answer? Shutting us down? The implications of school nutrition programs selling less or going out of business have far- reaching impacts: district lose access to meals regardless of their Free, Reduced, or Paid status. • Nutrition program personnel receive pay cuts or lose their jobs. • Local food and supply manufacturers, distributors, and farmers miss out on reliable business. • Manufacturers and • Students in the school distributors incentivized to work with schools through USDA commodity programs pull out of school markets, creating a widespread scarcity of options. School nutrition programs are facing these challenges right now. A universal school meals program answers every single one of them. The question isn’t if we need

equitably-funded school meals. It’s how soon can we implement them for good.

An investment in equitably- funded meals is one that will be used wisely and couldn’t come at a better time. I believe people can see the demand for change more than ever. Let’s use this moment to make it happen. Ask your legislators to support universal school meals. Whether you live in a big city, rural town, or the suburbs, there’s a school serving your neighborhood. Proper nourishment is a need that transcends our differences. That’s why equitably-funded meals benefit every community, no matter how much money the families who live there make.

more (and more experienced) administrative labor to run programs that align with modern student needs. Equitable funding for school meals would go directly back into local communities. That long- term, guaranteed funding would allow our programs to create higher quality jobs and support local food suppliers and retailers.

Once students are enrolled, we track them by income (again). Students are charged depending on their Free, Reduced, or Paid status, but those statuses can change, requiring voided or reclaimed transactions. School nutrition departments collect money in various ways (online, with cash, or by check), process money and deposits, and monitor issues. These tasks require administrative labor to write and distribute letters, make phone calls, manage text systems, send emails, etc. But there’s more than just a financial cost to this admin work. Chasing families down for payment turns our front-line customer service personnel into debt collectors. How can we possibly expect these transactions to be positive? Why would these customers want to continue buying from us when we hound them for money (or proof of their financial insecurity)? The solution is to eliminate the pay-by-income rates and make school meals equitably accessible to all students. Then students can just be “students” — not Free, Reduced or Paid. 7. Equitably -Funded Meals are Critical for the Survival of School Nutrition Programs Folks in the school nutrition world face an uncomfortable reality: the tools we used to rely on aren’t

working anymore. Shrinking our budget is no longer sustainable — there are no more costs to cut. Manufacturers and distributors aren’t renewing bids because costs are expected to rise by 12- 15%. Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey, accommodation and foodservice industry compensation costs for the 12-month period ended June 2021 were up 6.2%, compared with 3.1% overall. Let’s apply 5% inflation to overhead. That triggers at least a 10% increase in the cost of lunch. We’d have to price our lunch at $4.10 per meal (a 49% increase from the $2.75 example rate paid- eligible families currently pay). How does that impact families? The table below shows what families might pay based on the number of children in the home: Projected Cost of School Meals Per Month Without Universal Meal Program Number of Children Cost per month at: $4.10 for lunch and $2.60 for breakfast:

Our Children are Worth the Investment

I know. It’s complex.

6. Lets Nutrition Staff Be Community Helpers (Not Debt Collectors)

We’ve to understand the rapidly changing impact that variable costs have on our programs the way we do today. It’s impossible to set and forget a budget given the velocity of changes we see in the supply chain. never needed We have to monitor costs in real- time and evaluate the impacts our decisions about menus have on food, labor, and supply costs. We’re in the business of providing nutritious meals to millions of families quickly— if any operation understands efficiency, it’s ours. Our industry is teeming with smart people who have the right combination of nutrition and business expertise. We use software as smart as MenuLogic K12 to optimize our funds, so we can give kids the best options without wasting resources.

Imagine if teachers were told that to get paid, they needed to create a positive learning environment and teach an excellent curriculum, all while separating kids by income level, calling parents to talk about missing payments, and filling out paperwork for the government about kids’ family financial statuses.

Let’s keep the conversation going!

Share this article with your administration, staff, parents, and most-importantly, your legislators. Download a PDF version Here!

This is the conundrum school nutrition programs face.

On the one hand, we are an essential part of the education system. On the other, we rely on for-profit sales to stay afloat. This tension places an enormous burden on our staff. Identifying Free, Reduced, and Paid-eligible students involves several manuals, thousands of pages of red tape, and expensive technology-based assistance. We must request documents to verify application authenticity and submit lengthy proof to state and federal auditors that we properly followed protocol.

Lindsey Hill, RD, SNS MenuLogic K12, Founder, Chief Product Officer Director of Nutrition Services, South Madison Community Schools

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Passionate school nutrition director / leader with over 14 years of experience in the industry. Lindsey created MenuLogic K12 to fill a gap in her own operation and those of her colleagues’ operations. Lindsey wanted a tool that would give her the confidence (through objective data analysis) to build better menus (higher participation, higher food quality, more financially successful). Lindsey works fast – and doesn’t want any tool to slow her down so she works diligently to ensure every aspect of MenuLogic K12 is a smarter, faster way to accomplish the goals we all share (happy, healthy students and bottom line).

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