fssm theme meal report

Abby Smith School Lunch Hero Day

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FSSM THEME MEAL REPORT School Lunch Hero Day

Monday, May 2, 2016 Auburndale Elementary School

Table of Contents I. Market Analysis General Student Population by Ethnicity Student Population by Ethnicity- Breakdown by Grade Cultural Considerations II. Introduction III. Development & Preparation Menu Explanation Menu Rationale Menu Appeal per Market Standardized Recipes Survey Design Supportive Materials IV. Production Analysis Production Plan Forecasting Labor Schedule

Procurement Process Environmental Impact V. Implementation Events Problems VI. Outcomes Satisfaction Survey Participation Plate Waste VII. Financial Analysis Labor Cost Daily Food Cost Sales Profit/Loss VIII. Conclusion Assessment Revisions Learning Experience Skill Development IX. References X. Appendix A


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I. Market Analysis Due to Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) regulations, I was unable to perform my own Market Analysis. Therefore, I used information already on file to obtain market information. The JCPS Enrollment Summary Reports provided the required information to generate the following data. General Population: Grades Pre-K-5 Percent Free/Reduced: Community Eligible (CE) – All students eat for free (100%) Total Enrollment 2015-2016: 643 students District: Jefferson County (Louisville), Kentucky School: 0127 - Auburndale Elementary School Student Population by Ethnicity


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Student Population by Ethnicity- Breakdown by Grade

JCPS Enrollment Summary by Grade: Student Population by Ethnicity


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Cultural Considerations According to the National Center for Education Statistics, current race and ethnicity

definitions are as follows:

(National Center for Education Statistics, 2016) Although the ethnicities above traditionally have their own diverse beliefs, values, norms, and practices, most tend to adopt American practices, especially in the American public school setting. JCPS serves typical “American food” at meals and provides special cultural considerations where necessary. For example, vegetarian options are offered, cafeteria staff informs students when a menu item contains beef or pork, etc. These practices were followed in the implementation of the theme meal menu. II. Introduction

School Lunch Hero Day is a holiday that occurs at the beginning of May this year. My preceptor asked that I plan my theme meal project for this day – which fell on May 2nd this year – to bring attention to this holiday and help recognize the hardworking cafeteria staff at a specific JCPS school. Auburndale Elementary School was chosen for my project because the cafeteria staff there is the most recent recipient of JCPS’s monthly award “Manager and Team of the Month.” The purpose of my theme meal project was to highlight this holiday, recognize the efforts of the cafeteria staff, and provide students and teachers with structured methods to thank the cafeteria staff. III. Development & Preparation Menu

Grilled Chicken Sandwich Meatball Hoagie


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Cheese Quesadilla French Fries Cooked Carrots Tossed Salad Peach Cup Fat-Free Milk: Chocolate 1% Reduced Fat Plain Milk

*Assorted fruit is offered on a daily basis to provide students with choices. These options were not considered in this report.

Explanation Due to regulations in place at School and Community Nutrition Services (SCNS) at JCPS, the planned menu cannot be altered. The Coordinator of Menu/Dietary Needs creates menus at the Nutrition Service Center (NSC) 2-6 months in advance of the date of service. The Coordinator of Food Procurement at the NSC handles all food procurement and purchasing. The majority of menu items are prepared and stored in the NSC and delivered to schools as ordered according to forecasting. Purchasing and individualized menus cannot be carried out on a school-by-school basis and all regulations and standards from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) must be followed. Therefore, I was instructed to choose a meal that had been previously planned. Menu Rationale The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) operates under very strict guidelines. It is required to meet guidelines set by the USDA and the Healthy Hunger Free Kid Act (HHFKA) of 2010. The USDA requires the NSLP meet Dietary Guidelines and Dietary Reference Intakes. The HHFKA set requirements for vegetable subgroups, whole grain-rich breads/grains, fat free (FF) and low fat milk, and nutrient targets based on age/grade as follows:

(Boettger & Pannell-Martin, 2014) JCPS utilizes a 4-week cycle menu. The NSC Coordinator of Menu/Dietary Needs plans this menu based on the above guidelines. A cycle menu is beneficial because under this model, Production Records may be utilized in forecasting which in turn provides more accurate forecasting. Other factors taken into consideration when planning menus include:

Available revenue Food costs Labor costs


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Availability of USDA food Frequency of deliveries Equipment available Regional/ethnic preferences

The menu served in this theme meal is a regular part of the 4-week menu cycle. No menu items were changed for the implementation of the theme meal. Due to the hard work and careful planning of the Coordinator of Menu/Dietary Needs, this menu fits the strict guidelines set forth by the USDA and the HHFKA. Menu Appeal per Market According to the market analysis, the student population at Auburndale consists of a balanced mix of ethnic groups (45% white and 55% non-white). Due to this mix, there is reason to focus on “American” cuisine rather than ethnically oriented choices to increase participation. All students should be familiar with these menu items since they are part of the regular JCPS menu cycle. Since the menu has not been altered for this theme meal and this particular menu has been served before, the appeal per market should be no different than normal. Standardized Recipes All JCPS recipes are developed, tested, and standardized at the NSC. Standardized recipes include recipe name, dish category, recipe yield in portions, serving size, ingredients, weights and measures, equipment needed, directions/procedures, critical control point, nutrition information, component, and additional information as needed. The method of standardization that JCPS has used for years has historically been very successful. Cafeteria staff is trained to prepare the food and the kitchen is equipped with the necessary equipment to ensure that the food is prepared to the desired level of quality. The standardized method reduces labor, waste, and time and delivers uniform, convenient products. The menu items Auburndale served on this day were prepared at the NSC and delivered to the school to be reheated (warm items) or held at temperature (cold items). Pictured below are the standardized recipes for the menu items served on School Lunch Hero Day taken from JCPS Recipe Listing Reports. Standardized recipes can be found in Appendix A.


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Survey Design Since the menu was not altered for my project, my preceptor asked that my survey examine whether or not students enjoy school lunch in general to relate to participation. Below is my survey:

The survey was intended to be very simple so that students of all ages would be able to participate. Even the students who could not read were able to understand the survey with some explanation due to the use of visuals (smiley faces). Surveys were printed in the SCNS office and therefore were built into the pre-existing office supplies budget.


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Supportive Materials School Lunch Hero Day was marketed a year in advance on the Marketing Calendar distributed to all schools.

The Nutrition Initiatives Coordinator sent out a reminder email one week prior to School Lunch Hero Day to remind principals and teachers at all schools across the district to make some gesture to show their appreciation for cafeteria staff. This email included a blank “Thank You” card that I designed to complement my materials for my project.


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Additionally, SCNS purchased School Lunch Hero aprons for cafeteria staff at all JCPS schools. The SCNS Coordinator of Equipment put out a bid for the aprons to obtain competitive pricing. The aprons were not included in the budget for this project because they were approved under the “Uniform” category and SCNS funds were not used to purchase these items. The aprons were mailed out to each school the week before School Lunch Hero Day. Central Office SCNS staff signed a copy of the above “Thank You” card


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printed full size on an 8 ½ x 11” piece of paper to be mailed with the aprons. Aprons were black with a modified version of the new JCPS logo to resemble a superhero emblem.

I designed superhero food tags to place on the line at Auburndale on School Lunch Hero Day to add some decoration and to draw extra attention to the holiday. These tags were printed in the SCNS office and therefore required no additional funds outside of the funds already allocated for office supplies.


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I also brought an edited version of the “Thank You” cards I designed for students to write in after they had finished their lunch, again to draw attention to the holiday and to really show appreciation for the cafeteria staff at Auburndale. These cards were a half sheet of paper folded in half to resemble a traditional card and so there was less space for students to fill given the short period of time they are allotted for lunch. In total, there were 1,000 cards produced (500 total sheets of paper) to ensure that all students would have the opportunity to write in one if they chose to do so. These cards were printed in the SCNS office and therefore were built into the pre-existing office supplies budget. Cards were filtered and mailed to Auburndale Elementary one week after School Lunch Hero Day as a special “Thank You” to the cafeteria staff.

With the help of Materials Production, I designed stickers to pass out to students as they exited the lunch line. These stickers were intended to add some extra fun and excitement to the day. Additionally, passing out stickers to each student as they passed through the lunch line allowed me to greet each student on a personal level and explain the theme and remind them to thank the cafeteria staff. This was much more effective than the announcements that were made to the whole lunch room because students could clearly hear and understand what I was saying and were enamored to have a superhero guest at lunch. Since Materials Production is a JCPS entity, SCNS was not charged for the production of these stickers.


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To really increase excitement and make my project special, I made a School Lunch Hero costume to wear while I was passing out stickers and interacting with the students at Auburndale. I used my own funds to produce this costume since it was “extra.” IV. Production Analysis Production Plan The production plan for this theme meal will utilize JCPS’s existing budget, staff, and equipment resources. No planned menus, existing standardized recipes, or labor schedules will be changed in implementing this meal. Forecasting The manager at Auburndale has worked as a kitchen manager for many years and is very experienced in forecasting. She explained to me the rationale behind all of her forecasting decisions, most of which were based on her students’ historic preferences. The Production Record provides the planned number of portions versus prepared number of portions to determine leftovers and waste. An item is only considered waste if they are leftover from the day before. For instance, if hamburgers are served Monday and there are 15 remaining, they will be offered again on Tuesday. If at the end of the day Tuesday there are 4 hamburgers left, these are considered waste. All JCPS schools must offer all menu items to every student during each lunch period. This means that if the planned number is


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almost gone by the last lunch period, the manager must prepare more (if available) so all students have access to all menu options. The Production Record from School Lunch Hero Day is below.

In this instance, the 1 leftover Meatball Hoagie was discarded as waste because 1 is not enough to be worth storing and reheating for service the next day.


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Labor Schedule Manager


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Nutrition Assistant 1


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Procurement Process Due to the size of the district and regulations in place, I was not part of the procurement process. However, the NSC Manager explained the typical process to me. JCPS creates bids and uses a competitive bid process, which is carried out at the NSC by the Coordinator of Food Procurement. This centralized purchasing method allows more competitive pricing and standardized quality among all schools in the district. The NSC purchases ingredients/food products for all schools in the district. Then the foods are delivered from the NSC to each individual school. This theme meal utilized only existing bids and suppliers. Environmental Impact There is a district-wide recycling program in place at JCPS. This allows students and staff to become actively involved in reducing waste and protecting the environment. Each school has a Coordinator of Recycling (not an SCNS position) to provide assistance with the school’s recycling efforts and to relate recycling to extra curricular activities and school programs. At this time, JCPS does recycle the following:

Paper: white, colored, shredded, computer, glossy Envelopes Newspapers and magazines Manila folders Phone books, catalogs Cardboard

At this time, JCPS does not recycle: Plastic: wrap, binders, laminates, bags Foil Carbon paper Rubber Plexiglass, filters Food waste Construction materials Metal: aluminum, steel Wood Glass

Within SCNS staff, cafeteria managers plan their menus to reuse leftovers the following school day. Some schools send excess food to local food banks or other similar organizations. Auburndale participates in all of these efforts to reduce waste and protect the environment (Center for Environmental Education, 2016). V. Implementation Events There were no issues in the events leading up to the day of the theme meal. I worked on the supportive material with some help from the Nutrition Initiatives Coordinator and


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Materials Production. The consultant for Auburndale Elementary helped me to get in contact with and meet the manager and principle at the school in preparation for the event.

On School Lunch Hero Day, I arrived at Auburndale at 9:00 am to check on the progress of the meal and to set up. The manager informed me where each menu item would be held on the line and I placed the food tags (under “Supporting Materials,” above) accordingly.


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I put the “Thank You” cards, surveys, and pencils on a table in the cafeteria so they would be easily accessible to students to complete after finishing their lunch.


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I also met with the cafeteria monitors to explain my purpose and involve them in my activities. Their role is to walk around the cafeteria during lunch to proctor the meal and resolve any behavioral issues. The cafeteria monitors agreed to make announcements during each lunch period instructing students to fill out a “Thank You” card and complete my survey.


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During service, I stood by the point of service (POS) and passed out stickers to students as they went to find their seats and eat lunch. I reminded them to thank the cafeteria staff for the delicious food and all their hard work. Whenever students would ask, “Are you a real superhero?” “What are your powers?” I would tell them that the REAL superheroes are the super staff that make and serve their breakfast and lunch every day and their powers are making healthy, tasty meals.


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My preceptors, a few SCNS Coordinators, and Auburndale’s consultant stopped by to check on everything and to thank the cafeteria staff for their excellent work every day.


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Throughout the lunch periods, the cafeteria monitors made announcements instructing students to write a “Thank You” card and complete my survey when they were finished eating, as planned. I also reminded students to do this as they came through the line. Problems The location of the table with “Thank You” cards and surveys was moved about halfway through service at the request of a cafeteria monitor. She was worried that the location near the serving line would cause too much traffic in this area. The table was moved by the cafeteria exit doors, which also resulted in traffic as students were leaving the cafeteria. Both locations were easily accessible to students and participation in both activities was not affected by the location change. Although I agreed with the monitor’s suggestion to move the location of the table to avoid traffic by the serving line, it was not my idea to put the table by the exit. I am not familiar with the flow of traffic in Auburndale’s cafeteria and trusted the monitor’s experience. In hindsight, I think it may have been more effective to place “Thank You” cards and surveys with pencils on each lunch table so students would have more time to complete them while they ate and to avoid traffic. However, this may have been seen as a distraction that prevented students from consuming their lunch. Potato wedges were prepared when the supply of French fries began to run low. Potato wedges were not on the menu for that day but were a comparable substitute for French fries since both are under the same vegetable subgroup under USDA guidelines. I was not notified when this problem occurred and therefore was not responsible for the decision to make potato wedges to supplement the French fries. However, I think this was a good decision and students did not seem to notice nor care about the difference in options. VI. Outcomes Satisfaction Surveys The satisfaction survey asked students, “Do you enjoy school lunch?” Of 270 total survey responses, 174 students said “Yes” (64%), 80 students said “Sometimes” (30%), and 6% said “No.” Responses of “Yes” often included comments such as “I love the food!” and “Thank you for making our food delicious.” Students were not monitored as they completed the surveys to prevent bias; therefore, I was unable to ask students who answered “Sometimes” or “No” why they felt this way about school lunch.


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Participation Comparison of the production records for 2015 and 2016 allowed me to examine the increase/decrease in participation. Last year, School Lunch Hero Day fell on May 4th. The production record for 5/4/2016 noted 498 reimbursable meals served. Based on school attendance on that day, this represents 80.06% participation. The production record for school Lunch Hero Day this year, 5/2/2016, noted 475 reimbursable meals sold. Based on school attendance on that day, this represents 76.73% participation. This represents a decrease in participation this year as compared to last year. The average daily lunch participation at Auburndale is 85.55%. This is higher than the observed participation (76.73%) on School Lunch Hero Day.

I had hypothesized that participation would be higher on School Lunch Hero Day this year when compared to last year and to the school average due to the decorations and other special effects (i.e. costume). I think the observed lower participation on School Lunch Hero Day this year may be due to the menu items that were offered. On School Lunch Hero Day in 2015, Crispy Chicken Sandwich and Spicy Chicken Sandwich were offered rather than the Grilled Chicken Sandwich. These two items are typically more popular than the Grilled Chicken Sandwich. Plate Waste I observed an average plate waste of about 1/3 (33%). Some students threw away full trays without taking a single bite and other students ate everything on their tray and were even getting more food from friends. The meatball hoagie appeared to be the most popular entrée item and was rarely wasted, however, I did notice that students had a difficult time eating this sandwich and there were a lot of red-stained shirts by the end of lunch. The most frequently wasted items were whole apples and cartons of milk.

64%

30%

6%

Satisfaction Survey Results

Yes

Sometimes

No


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VII. Financial Analysis Labor Cost On 5/2/2016, there were 6 employees working in the cafeteria: the manager and 5 nutrition assistants. The Time Clock Report for each employee gives the hourly rate and numbers of hours worked per day. Hourly rate varies based on position and number of years of employment with JCPS. Below is the breakdown of labor cost by employee based on the Time Clock Report.

Total Labor Cost = $417.76 Daily Food Cost The Daily Food Cost Report provides information regarding both the raw food cost and the cost per plate. According to the Daily Food Cost Report for 5/2/2016: Raw Food Cost = $885.03 Cost per Plate = $1.72 Sales The Production Record provides the number of reimbursable meals served each day. According to the Production Record for 5/2/2016: # Reimbursable Meals = 475

$69.27

$62.55

$62.58

$45.00

$77.65

$100.71

$0.00 $20.00 $40.00 $60.00 $80.00 $100.00 $120.00

Assistant 1

Assistant 2

Assistant 3

Assistant 4

Assistant 5

Manager

Labor Cost by Employee


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The current federal reimbursement rate for free meals is $3.09. JCPS also receives an additional $0.06 in reimbursement on free meals from the district. In total, this is a reimbursement of $3.15 per free meal. Reimbursable Meals Served x Reimbursement Rate = Sales 475 x $3.15 = $1496.25 Profit/Loss Sales – Labor Cost – Raw Food Cost = Profit/Loss $1496.25 - $417.76 - $885.03 = $193.46 (Profit) VIII. Conclusion Assessment Due to the regulations in place at JCPS, I did not have the opportunity to take on the role of a manager as much as I would have liked. I was unable to participate in the menu planning, procurement process, ordering food, delivery pick-ups, or food preparation. I think that considering the circumstances, I acted as a manager as best as I could. I developed friendly working relationships with the manager and consultant at Auburndale prior to School Lunch Hero Day. The cafeteria staff at Auburndale was very supportive of my efforts and was friendly and helpful. Revisions If I had it to do over, I would have preferred to implement my theme meal on a day where new menu items were being launched. This would allow me to market the menu items more thoroughly rather than just celebrating a holiday. I believe this would give me more of an insight into the role of a manager as opposed to just decorating and adding excitement to a normal lunch day. Additionally, I do not believe that the method of plate waste observation used was particularly accurate. However, conducting a plate waste study is very difficult and since that was not the primary focus of this report, I did not have the resources to allocate to investigating plate waste more thoroughly. Aside from that, I wouldn’t change a thing. The theme meal I planned and implemented was a huge success among both cafeteria staff and students alike. There were no glitches in procurement or production and service went very smoothly. Learning Experience This project really introduced me to the challenges of working in such a large school district. I was unable to make any changes to the planned menu and was not given the opportunity to exercise much creativity simply due to the regulations in place at JCPS to keep operations running smoothly. Performing the financial analysis required for this project forced me to recall skills I had learned in some of my classes at the University of Kentucky but had not previously needed to use in a real-world situation such as this. In doing so, I recognized on a more tangible level the challenges that JCPS faces to meet USDA and Healthy Hunger Free Kid


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(HHFKA) guidelines on such a tight budget, all while providing items that students will actually consume. Skill Development In completing this project, I strengthened my skills in building interpersonal relationships. In order to fulfill all of the requirements of the project and implement a successful theme meal, I had to work with several different SCNS Coordinators, the Auburndale consultant and cafeteria staff, as well as JCPS Materials Production. Trying to coordinate the procurement of information from all of these different sources was quite difficult at times and forced me to be somewhat adamant and demanding without becoming pushy or annoying. I believe these are skills that will be useful in the professional world, regardless of my position.


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IX. References Boettger, J. A., & Pannell-Martin, D. (2014). School Food & Nutrition Service Management

(6th ed.). Crown Point, Indiana: SFS21. Center for Environmental Education. (2016). JCPS Recycles. Retrieved May 11, 2016, from http://www.jefferson.k12.ky.us/departments/environmentaled/recycle.html National Center for Education Statistics. (2016). Status and Trends in the Education of

Racial and Ethnic Groups. Retrieved May 10, 2016, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010015.pdf

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010015.pdf


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Appendix A


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fssm theme meal report

Documents