Offer versus Serve Webinar. Questions and Answers. 1. Question: Do croutons count as part of grains when mixed with Caesar salad?

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1 Offer versus Serve Webinar Questions and Answers 1. Question: Do croutons count as part of grains when mixed with Caesar salad? Answer: Croutons will not count if they are 0.24 grain equivalents or less. In other words, they will count as a grain if they are more than ¼ serving. 2. Question: Do we have to list the minimum fruit and vegetable requirements on the production record, or can we just put ½ cup serving of the vegetable/fruit on the production sheet? Answer: No, it is not a requirement to list the minimum requirements on the menu production record. All of the specific fruits and vegetables served for the day (i.e. banana, carrots, etc.), and the portion size served, for each of the fruits and vegetables must be listed. Of course, the minimum requirements must be offered to claim a reimbursable meal. 3. Question: Is the student required to take milk for a reimbursable meal? Answer: No, the student is not required to take milk for a reimbursable meal using offer versus serve (OVS). The student may decline milk. The meal selected must contain at least 3 components in the required portion for the grade group and 1 of those 3 components must be the ½ cup of the fruit or vegetable. 4. Question: I don't understand why 1 oz. eq. M/MA is OK for 9 12 when the minimum is 2 oz. eq. M/MA. Answer: The minimum daily amount of M/MA for grades 9 12 is 2 oz. eq. You are correct, one oz. eq. M/MA will not count as a component for grades The menu planner could offer 2 menu items with 1 oz. M/MA each to equal 2 oz. eq. M/MA. Then, the student must take both items to equal 2 oz. eq. M/MA to count as a component; this is more difficult with OVS. Remember, the menu planner should always plan for the minimum. 1

2 5. Question: May I use the grades 6 8 requirements for a K 6 school? Answer: No, you may not use grades 6 8 requirements for a K 6 school with the new USDA regulations. On your meal pattern chart for lunch, there is a grade grouping for K 5, 6 8, and If you look at the K 5 and the 6 8, there is an overlap for the grains and for the meat. So, you have a choice for K 6: you can either use 1 menu and you would be using the overlap for the K 5 and 6 8, or you would use 2 menus: a menu for grades K 5 and a second menu with the additional items required for 6 th graders. 6. Question: On the USDA lunch meal pattern, it states that you must serve ¾ cup of vegetables with every lunch, but you keep referring to ½ cup servings. I am confused if students must take ½ or ¾ cup of vegetables. Answer: The meal pattern chart states that K 8 students must be offered a ¾ cup serving of vegetables. With OVS, the student must take ½ cup of a fruit or a vegetable, or a combination of ½ cup of both, to claim the meal as reimbursable. So, for the first fruit or vegetable component, the USDA allows the student to take less than the required amount that you need to offer. So, ¾ cup is what you must offer (K 8) and ½ cup of fruit or vegetable, or a combination of both, is what the student must take in order to claim the meal for reimbursement. 7. Question: Are there any new regulations for preschool students? Answer: The new, updated meal pattern does not apply to preschool students, except that the requirements for milk do apply. You must serve either low-fat milk or non-fat, flavored milk for preschool students, also. USDA is currently working on revising the regulations for preschool, but changes are not yet in effect. If you have preschool and you also have K 5 or K 6 in a school, you can look at both of the meal patterns and you should be able, in most cases, to meet both the preschool lunch requirements and the new, updated K 5 lunch meal pattern with the same menu. One difference for the M/MA preschool requirement is that a minimum of 1.5 oz. M/MA is required, and the new K 5 requirements allow a minimum of 1 oz. M/MA per day, so if a combination menu is used, you must ensure the preschool students are offered the 1.5 oz. M/MA minimum each day. 2

3 8. Question: Must you offer a grain with a veggie salad at high school level? (It is a varied menu with many choices). Does the salad itself need to include a grain serving? Answer: This might be typical at a high school where you have many choices or many serving lines. Now, each line must meet the vegetable subgroups over the week, and also each line must offer the minimum daily component requirements. So, if you are offering a salad that does not contain any grain and there are no other grain offerings, then you must put a roll or crackers or some sort of grain along with that salad. Remember, the minimum daily requirement for high school is 2 oz. equivalents of grains per day, while the K 8 daily minimum requirement for grains is a 1 oz. equivalent. 9. Question: Are the California Department of Education (CDE) Child Nutrition Consultants (CNCs) trained, and can they answer questions? Or, should we direct questions to another source? Answer: The CDE Nutrition Services Division that has been set up to answer questions specifically on the meal pattern is: hhfka@cde.ca.gov. The CNCs have been trained, so they can answer your questions as well, but since the CNCs are often out in the field, you may receive a faster response through the address which has been set up for meal pattern questions, with staff trained to answer your meal pattern questions. 10. Question: If we offer 1 grain equivalent on our grade 6 8 menu, which is one of the required components, and students do not take the grain but take 3 components, are we in compliance with OVS? The chicken patty entrée includes a grain, to equal one grain component, whereas the beef dippers entrée does not. Answer: For the first part of the question: yes. The student is not required to take the grain for OVS but is required to take at least 3 components, including at least ½ cup fruit, vegetable, or combination. For the second part of the question, the students must be offered the grain, so you must offer some type of grain with the beef dippers, as well. The student cannot take both entrees, so the student is not offered the grain if beef dippers are selected. You may offer 1 grain per day to grades 6 8, as the minimum, but you must meet the weekly minimums and maximums. If you only offer 1 grain per day, you will offer 5 grain equivalents per week, so you will not meet the 8 10 grain equivalents weekly requirement. I suggest offering the chicken patty entrée (the one with the grain) and 3

4 adding a grain to the other entrée (the beef dippers). For instance, if the chicken patty was on a bun equal to 2 grain equivalents, I would add grains to equal 2 grain equivalents, such as a roll or crackers, with the beef dippers. You could have one entrée with two grain equivalents, and the other entrée with 1 grain equivalent; your minimum would include the 1 grain equivalent and your maximum would include the 2 grain equivalent for the day. 11. Question: What did all the X s mean in your charts? Answer: Those are the items that can be taken by the student and combined to make a reimbursable meal. Each chart is different and depends on whether it is lunch or breakfast, but if items that have an X are selected, the meal is reimbursable. 12. Question: Must the school prepare full servings of both fruits and vegetables for every student when OVS is in place? Answer: No, schools must plan meals in the NSLP and SBP to meet all meal requirements and provide required amounts of food for all students. If using OVS, menu planners should take into account participation and selection trends to determine what and how much food to prepare. For example, if you are serving 500 students, you do not need to prepare 500 servings of fruits or vegetables when, from prior history, you know that the students may only take half of that. So, you may only need to prepare 250 servings of fruits or vegetables, as long as you have enough for all of the students to select one, even the last student in line. Remember that eavery student will have to take a minimum of ½ cup fruit or vegetable, or combination, for a reimbursable meal. 13. Question: For high school: If all our fruit portions are in ½ cup servings, then do we need to tell students they MAY select 2 fruits to equal 1 cup? Answer: Yes, you do. The requirement is to identify what is offered as part of a reimbursable meal at, or near, the beginning of the line. If your reimbursable meal consists of 2 fruits, you must let the students know they can take 2 fruits. You must also inform students what they need to select to meet reimbursable meal requirements for fruits, vegetables, or any components split into two menu items or food items. 4

5 14. Question: Does CDE still use NutriKids for menu planning? Answer: Yes, the CDE uses NutriKids. Technically, CDE does not actually use NutriKids for menu planning; NutriKids is used to conduct nutrient analysis for the school menus. Agencies may use any nutrient analysis program approved by USDA. 15. Question: If the menu planner offers the meat/meat alternate component as two food items (e.g., cheese stick and nuts) or the grains components as two food items (e.g., pasta and bread stick), is the student required to take both items to count as a component under OVS? Answer: It depends on two things: the grade level and the planned quantity for the day. If the grade level is K 5 or 6 8, the minimum daily requirement is 1 oz. eq. of M/MA. If the menu planner has planned the daily quantity to be 2 oz. eq., then the student must take both to count it for OVS. If the menu planner has planned for choices with 1 oz. eq. and 2 oz. eq., then 1 oz. eq. is a full component. Under OVS, the student must select full components; the only exception is the ½ cup of fruits or vegetables. If the menu planner plans for 2 oz. eq. and offers the M/MA component (or the grains component) as two food items, the full component includes both items. The only situation for OVS where the student may decline half of the planned meat/meat alternate or grains component is when the student already has three other components on the tray. If the grade level is 9 12, then the minimum daily requirement is 2 oz. eq. and therefore the student must take both food items to have the full component. 16. Question: Can you use the apple size of 138 as a template for the size of nectarines, plums, etc. to equal 1 cup serving of fruit? Answer: Unfortunately, no. You need to go to the Food Buying Guide and use the sizes indicated to determine how many and what size plum. You might also look at the weight of an apple. You can figure out how much a 138 weighs to determine if you can use it. Another method is to take the fruit that you have, and cut it up and see whether or not it makes 1 cup. It is very difficult, outside of a banana or an apple, to get the full 1 cup in 1 piece of fruit. You can work with the Food Buying Guide or the actual, physical fruit to determine the size serving it provides. 5

6 17. Question: When multiple choices are offered, are we now prohibited from using a daily average to meet our weekly maximums and minimums? There is only one option, which is to use daily minimums and maximums to arrive at the weekly requirements, correct? Answer: Yes, daily averages may no longer be used. In the USDA questions and answers, this is specifically addressed. The USDA explains that we must now look at the daily minimums and maximums for grains and M/MAs. So, if you offer multiple choices, determine the minimum and maximum for grains and for M/MAs offered each day, add up the daily minimums and maximums for the week, and check to see if the grains and M/MA components offered are within the required ranges for the grade group. 18. Question: Is pre-plating allowed under OVS? Answer: OVS continues to be a requirement for senior high schools and an option for lower grade schools. It is also an option for the School Breakfast Program. Preplated meals continue to be permitted as schools, including RCCIs, are not required to change their meal service systems to accommodate OVS. However, pre-plated meals must offer all components and quantities required for each age/grade group, including the daily minimums, and not exceed the weekly maximums. Schools and RCCIs are encouraged to modify their meal service systems to include OVS opportunities to the extent possible. To avoid waste, we encourage OVS when possible. Recent verbal clarification from the USDA indicates that you may pre-plate the main plate and offer the milk separately to satisfy OVS requirements. 19. Question: If we do not offer choices there will not be a minimum or maximum for daily, correct? Answer: Yes, that is correct. If you do not offer choices, you simply use the contribution of the total menu toward the daily and weekly requirements. 6

7 Breakfast Questions: 20. Question: The new OVS requirements for breakfast will not become effective until 7/1/2013, correct? Answer: Yes, that is correct. If you are using the current breakfast requirements, the current breakfast OVS applies. In California, we currently are not allowing agencies to implement breakfast early at this point. We will be developing a process for approving schools to implement the new breakfast requirements early. If a school is approved for early implementation, then the new OVS requirement would apply. Remember, the OVS requirement for breakfast that a student must take ½ cup of fruit or vegetable (if it is a substitute for fruit), does not take effect until 7/1/2014. At this time, the requirement for fruit offered at breakfast increases to 1 cup. I suggest you review the PowerPoint, detailing the phase-in periods for breakfast, which are: current breakfast requirements for this school year, requirements for 7/1/2013, and requirements for 7/1/ Question: I do not understand how to count M/MA and grains as the same component for breakfast. Answer: There is no M/MA for breakfast. M/MA is a substitute for grains. So, for example, a biscuit and sausage are 2 food items that may be served separately and both counted as grains, because the requirement is for grains, not for M/MA. This is something new from USDA. We are trying to explain this concept in terms of how the food is offered; if it is offered together, it is 1 food item, and if it is offered separately, it is 2 food items. If it is 2 grains together, it is grains. If it is a grain and a M/MA together, it is still grains and counts towards your grains component because there is no requirement for the M/MA. 22. Question: Can we start this school year by omitting a protein from each breakfast if components are covered? Answer: Even this year, there is no requirement that you provide protein (M/MA) at breakfast. As a former director, I understand it costs more for the M/MA than it does for the grains. However, as a dietitian, I also know protein is very important in making that meal last until lunchtime. I would certainly encourage you to use M/MAs when you can; incorporating commodity products helps to keep your costs low. 7

8 Breakfast/Lunch Questions: 23. Question: So, in breakfast, do we need to look at both food items and components for OVS? However, this does not apply to lunch OVS, correct? We only look at components, not items, for lunch? Answer: That is correct, good job! For lunch, the menu planner plans the menus to meet the daily minimum components and the weekly minimums and maximums. For lunch, OVS relates to components; the student must take at least three components. For breakfast, the menu planner plans the menu based on the minimum daily components and the weekly minimum and maximum components. OVS for breakfast is based on the number of food items; the student may decline only 1 food item. The new breakfast requirements, including the new OVS breakfast requirements, will not go into effect until July 1, Question: So, if we serve a hamburger for lunch, it does not matter if we offer the hamburger separately as 2 items, or together as 1 item, because it is considered 2 components served either way. However, if we offer a hamburger for breakfast, it makes a difference whether we put 2 components together or separately, because it will become 1 item or 2 and will affect OVS, correct? Answer: Yes, good example and that is correct; the requirements are different depending on if it is breakfast or lunch. 8