DMUSD Child Nutrition Committee

Board Meeting Presentaion

July 6, 2011

Child Nutrition Committee– Yana Mohanty, CNC Committee Chair, Ocean Air Parent– Tamra Atwood, CNC Committee co-Chair, Ashley Falls Parent– Jen Woodmansee, CNC Committee Secretary, Del Mar Heights Parent– Lee Yen Anderson, Del Mar Heights parent– Pam Baldwin, DMUSD Lunch Program Staff Member– Jenn Beamer, Ashley Falls Parent– Jodie Block, Sage Canyon Parent– Patty Danon, Torrey Hills Parent– Naomi Harris, Ashley Falls Parent– Heather Keith, Torrey Hills Parent– Katie Pelisek, Center for a Healthy Lifestyle– Tencia Pritchett, Carmel Del Mar Parent– Sheila Reilly, Parent of Ocean Air Alumni– E. A. Stewart, Del Mar Hills Parent– Lola Walker, Ashley Falls Parent

The CNC would like to thank Cathy Birks, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services, and district staff who provided us with all the information we needed to make an informed choice.

CNC Tasks, per Superintendent Peabody’s directions

1. What parents and children would like to have served for school lunches.

2. What is available from possible vendors.

3. Input on vendors.

4. Ways of keeping the program revenue neutral.

5. Ensure communication between the school community and board in regards

to the lunch, snack and wellness programs.

6. Follow any guidelines that come from the Strategic Management process.

Keeping the program revenue neutral

Cafeteria FundExpenses

Revenue

Staff salaries & benefits

Gasoline and maintenance for trucks

FOODFOOD sales

NSLP reimbursementsfor each meal served

What we learned:

PARTICIPATION IS CRUCIAL

Daily Average Lunch Purchases, 2010-2011 academic year

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May June500

550

600

650

700

750

800

850

900

15%

16%

17%17%17%

17%

14%

17%18%

17%

Introduction of newSDUHSD menu

Labels show % participation (4352 enrolled students)

Current program is NOT increasing participation

DMUSD lunch pricing and participation trends, 2007-present

‘08-'09 Parents' cost: $3.50

2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

% participation in DMUSD hot lunch program*

If this participation trend continues, we will be using up reserves no matter which vendor we choose

*Data gathered from district purchases. Actual participation rates are slightly lower.

DMUSD lunch pricing and overhead trends, 2007-present

2.68; 89%

0.32; 11%

‘07-'08 Parents' cost: $3.00

2.76; 79%

0.7400000000000

01; 21%

‘08-'09 Parents' cost: $3.50

2.95; 69%

1.3; 31%

‘09-'10, '10-'11 Parents' cost: $4.25

DMUSD overhead

Price district pays for food & milk.

Stabilizing lunch costs

• Stabilizing lunch prices, particularly district overhead, is vital to future health of Cafeteria fund

• Participation dropped sharply in 2009 with $0.75 price increase

(food quality remained the same)

• Participation rate will eventually saturate even with ANY lunch program

parents buy fewer

lunches

Cafeteria Reserve

Funds are drained

Cafeteria Reserve

Funds need to increase

increase lunch price to parents

According to district-wide lunch survey, the lunch program has lost participants for these reasons:

Unhealthy; 215; 43%

Unappealing; 94; 19%

Overpriced; 80; 16%

No variety; 56; 11%

Ordering/logis-tics; 30; 6%

Portions too small; 17; 3%

Little choice for vegetarians; 9;

2%

501 responses

What parents and children would like to have served for school lunches.

Whole grains, fruit, vegetables

No artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, etc

Fresh foods prepared on the same day

No hormones, antibiotics, nitrates in meat

No fried foods

Local, seasonal, organic within budget

Safe and environment-friendly packaging

Online ordering

Vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten free

Dessert

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

23%

27%

32%

31%

38%

33%

37%

29%

15%

11%

73%

64%

59%

50%

40%

40%

33%

31%

16%

4%

Very important

Important

Only slightly important

Not important

Data fromFebruary 2011Lunch Survey

Criteria that more than 2/3 of respondents deemed important made it into the RFP of

June 3, 2011

These will henceforth be referred to as the “8 preferred criteria”

Revenue neutrality: suggestions summary

• Choose vendor that meets needs of community, including teachers

• Stabilize lunch costs • Note: Choicelunch proposal included a pick

up/delivery option for 6 cents more per meal– 1000 meals/day, 180 days/yr makes for

$10,800 per year on spent on delivery – that’s less than the projected amount district will

spend on maintenance of vehicles alone

Six (6) proposals came in on 6/17/2011

VENDOR Lunch price

Snack Price

Require equipment for storing at school site?

Preferred Meal Systems $2.51 $0.90

YES

Revolution Foods $2.95 $0.99

YES

Encinitas Unified SD $3.00 $0.80

NO

Choicelunch $3.24 $0.74 NO

Come On In! $3.45 $1.40 NO

Ki’s $3.90 $1.00 NO

The 2 vendors requiring equipment storage were not considered.

What is available from possible vendors?Each potential vendor and proposal was reviewed and

discussed in detail

–       2 spreadsheets were compiled to further compare vendors

–       1) Extent to which each vendor fulfills the 8 criteria

–       2) Analysis of menu variety based on 21-day sample menus provided by vendors

–       Also looked at menu planning option used by each vendor (district prefers Enhanced Menu planning)

–       Also looked at packaging used by vendors (district requiresEnvironmentally Friendly Packaging)

–       Also considered vendor's reputation/business history

Preferred Criteria EUSD $3.00 Choicelunch $3.24

Meals made from “scratch” Pizza is from “scratch”; no other explanation

92.8% menu is from scratch including all sauces/dressings

Meals with whole grains, fruit, and vegetables

Partial whole wheat flour in pizza, whole wheat tortilla, some entrées have vegetables cooked in, fresh fruit and vegetable sides daily

Whole grains chosen over enriched, most entrées have vegetables cooked in, fresh fruit side daily

No artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, HFCS, partially hydrogenated oils, and hidden MSG

No explanation* 100%

Dairy without added hormones No explanation* 100%

Meats without added hormones; nitrate free

No explanation* Burgers are hormone free; use Newport Meats; no mention of nitrates (no hot dogs; pepperoni; cold cuts on proposed menu)

Local, seasonal, organic ingredients No explanation* Dirty dozen fresh sides always organic/pesticide free; baked goods from San Diego source (Bread and Cie) Majority of meats from Newport Meats;50% food from California;

No dessert other than fruit 100% 100%

Menu planning choice Nutrient Standard Menu Plan Enhanced Food-Based Menu Plan (preferred by district)

Environmentally-friendly packaging No response* Yes, biodegradable, compostable packaging made from vegetable source not plastic

Comparison of Choicelunch and Encinitas USD (2 lowest priced proposals)

*CNC was instructed not to talk to vendors, so the “non response” items could not be addressed.

Variety of Entrees Offered in 21-Day Menu

Vendor # meat options # veg. options Total combined

Encinitas USD 12 4 16

Choicelunch 17 12 29

Come On In 15 20 35

Ki's 10 10 20

How we arrived at our vote

After careful review of each proposal, CNC unanimously voted for Choicelunch for the following reasons:

– Was the lowest priced proposal that reasonably meet all 8 preferred criteria

– Has diverse menus with lots of variety– Has environmentally friendly biodegradable packaging– Mission statement directly addresses healthy lunches for

children– Has experience servicing public school districts on NSLP– Peanut/tree nut facility safe for children with allergies

Why we didn’t vote for Encinitas USD(lowest priced proposal)

The CNC felt that this proposed vendor would not yield an increase in participation numbers for the following reasons:– Many menu items offered similar to past and current

DMUSD menu, which is not performing well.– This would be first time vendor is supplying a full

service lunch program outside of its own district.– Limited variety.– Did not address most of the 8 preferred criteria.– Did not address packaging.

Going forward

CNC is looking forward to working on Wellness and Nutrition Education to– Promote a healthy lifestyle for our children– Promote healthy eating through our new and improved

lunch program– Help increase participation in lunch programs by

• Working with new vendor on marketing and advertising• Organizing tastings at back to school night• Enlisting the help of PTA’s

–  We appreciate the Board and Staff taking the time to consider these important changes, and for taking  positive step for our children!