Edible Education: Slicing up Inspiration for Your Menu and More!
Making sure all children feel included and able to participate is a top priority. “
Preparation for Special Diets With a good plan - now you are ready to think on your feet!
Get your checklist jump started
Pisanick Partners
Tina Hastings Maureen Pisanick, RDN-LDN &
with this quick hit list.
Presentation for Special Diets
Conduct annual and new employee training on cross contamination and contact. Consider color coded smallwares to keep equipment and preparation areas safe and well maintained. Review your spec sheets and update your menu planning system frequently for changes in manufacturing that can sneak up. Inspect what you expect - many menu items, like sauces, can contain hidden allergens. Add more plant-based options to the menu - a meatless Monday may be a fun way to streamline your vegetarians into the flow without always having to provide alternatives to accommodate them. Speed scratch recipes with whole ingredients for the WIN! Eliminate some allergens by using “clean label” ingredients to flow into fabulous recipes and menus without the worry of navigating through processed food labels. Bar concepts with a variety of choices naturally allow for students with special dietary needs to feel welcomed to the table - build a bowl concepts that customize grains, produce, and protein options can help a student customize their cafeteria experience in a safe and healthy way. Have a Plan B, C and D. As we all know, supply chain disruptions have created a dynamic approach to our menu writing this year. When the changes are made - how do you create a clear and informative path to the consumer? Social media updates, real-time virtual menus , e-blasts and announcements can all help spread the good and accurate news.
Looking for a little inspiration to help boost your menu cycle into the new year? Welcome to our 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. How about an easy to use cookbook with “Harvest of the Month”, “Simply Fresh”, “Global Trends’’, and “Comfort Classic” recipes to fill your team’s idea basket? These recipes are sure to help inspire dishes that students will love and can easily be created in your kitchens to increase participation.
The best laid plans (and menus) can look great on paper, but without execution strategies in place you still might miss the mark. A confused buyer won’t
buy - especially when it can mean a life or death health issue for them. We feel you can never have too many reminders on the benefits of a transparent menu/cafeteria - so here it goes: • Wayfinding for the win! The flow from menu to consumption needs to include information along the journey. • Website/Digital Menus - the gold standard of our industry meets our tech savvy consumers where they’re at! There’s an app for that, QR codes, smart device formatted menus - you name it pick your path! • Updated allergy management plans that are included in the student handbook creates a clear path for families to navigate • Signs, signs everywhere a sign - digital menu boards with icons or color coding can be a great just in time resource to share the information for students in the cafeteria line. No budget, no worries - an affordable solution many schools use are simple printed signs or even washable paint markers on the sneeze guard. B O N U S Help your students and families take these steps into their home kitchens with fun “Out of the Box” Cooking Classes like ours. Making the cafeteria an extension of the classroom and helping families succeed both in and out of the cafeteria is our mission!
The 3 ‘P’ Areas to Consider for Managing Special Diets PLANNING, PREPARATION & PRESENTATION
In this edition our RD team is weighing in on supporting special diets in your student population. Whether students have restrictions due to allergies, intolerances, religious beliefs or dietary practices, making sure all children feel included and able to participate is a top priority. We get it; this presents challenges but also opportunities in your meals program. Let’s face it, if you are someone with, or know someone that has any special dietary needs, you’ve had that frustrating moment at a restaurant or gathering. Perhaps you even pack an “emergency” snack in your bag or car because you’ve been duped before! Well, at Pisanick Partners we love a good alliteration - prior proper planning prevents poor performance! So we are going to dive into the planning, preparation and presentation steps of menu development to help ensure that all children can have access to the meals served in our programs. Planning for Special Diets
understanding of various diet restrictions and what is required to provide meals that comply with restrictions is crucial. The CDC’s toolkit is a good place to start perusing to gain more information. We have found that often what is written on a piece of paper does not always align with the actual required diet restrictions and thus we have developed a Special Diet Form that can be used to further clarify restrictions. This form has been particularly helpful in early childcare settings that utilize the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) that do not have the option of offer-vs-serve, but could be modified for other programs. Two key takeaways are: • Understand the restriction(s) - Ask questions, document, and TRAIN your staff on how to set up SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for success. • Communicate with stakeholders (student, parents, teacher, nurse) - Students and parents can be proactive and involved - check out this Back to School With Food Allergies Checklist to engage your community. When asked, many parents and students share thoughts that the menu lacks offerings or insufficient information is made available about what is being served.
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As is with most tasks in school food service, paperwork and documentation are an integral component of what we do and managing special diets is no different. Having a good working
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.
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