Nutrient Standard Menu Planning
Defining How the Menu System Works with Meal Selections
Entrée: An entrée is a menu item that is a combination of foods or a single food item offered as the main course. The entrée is the central focus of the meal and forms the framework around which the rest of the meal is planned.
Fluid Milk: Fluid milk is a menu item and is offered as a beverage.
Menu Item: A menu item may be any single food or combination of foods included in a reimbursable meal. A condiment or a food of minimal nutritional value is not considered as a menu item that is counted toward meeting the requirements of a reimbursable meal.
Side Dish: A side dish is a menu item that can be any other food on the menu except a condiment or a food of minimal nutritional value.
Condiment: A condiment is a food item such as relishes, catsup, mustard, jelly, and honey that is added to the menu but is not considered a menu item.
Meeting the Requirements for a Complete School Breakfast for NSMP on the National School Breakfast Program
Breakfast must contain at least these three menu items:
- Fluid milk – Fluid milk should be served as a beverage or on cereal or both.
- A side dish – This can be any other food except a condiment or a food of minimal nutritional value.
- Another side dish – This also can be any other food except a condiment or one of minimal nutritional value.
There are no requirements for an entrée at breakfast.
Example:
| Orange Juice |
Menu Item #2 (Another side dish) |
NSMP Offer Versus Serve: Breakfast
School districts are allowed, but not required, to implement offer versus serve in the breakfast programs at some or all grade levels.
Requirements:
- Students may decline a maximum of one menu item out of the three or more menu items offered.
- All required menu items must be offered to all students prior to the point of service.
- Students have the option of which food item to decline.
Meeting the Requirements for a Complete School Lunch for NSMP on the National School Lunch Program
To meet the requirements of the Lunch Program using the food-based menu planning option, a reimbursable school lunch meal must contain a minimum of four menu items. These items must be offered at a minimum at the point of service.
The three categories of menu items for lunch are:
- Entrée – a combination of foods or a single food offered as the main course. The entrée is the single focus of the meal and forms the framework around which the rest of the meal is planned.
- Side Dishes – any other food except a condiment or a food of minimal nutritional value. Two (2) different side dishes.
- Milk – served as a beverage.
Example:
| Green Beans |
Side Dish |
| Oatmeal Raisin Cookie |
Side Dish |
How are combination foods counted?
When foods are combined and served as one dish such as a hamburger on a bun, these count as ONE menu item. If the hamburger is served as a hamburger patty and a bun separately, this counts as TWO menu items.
Example:
|
Hamburger on a Bun |
Hamburger Patty
Bun |
Offer Versus Serve: Student Selection Increases Student Satisfaction!
Offer versus serve (OVS) allows student to decline a certain number of food items in the meals. The goals of OVS are to reduce plate waste and encourage schools to offer more food choices.
When implementing OVS, reimbursable meals must contain a certain number and combination of menu items. Cashiers must be able to identify reimbursable meals at the point-of-service.
Fort Worth ISD operates under the “Offer versus Serve” provision, which states that students must take enough components to have a qualifying meal. Qualifying meals are those that meet program requirements for paid, free, or reduced-price eligible students. To have a qualifying lunch, an elementary student must select an entrée and one other item. To have a qualifying breakfast, a student must take two items. If a student takes fewer than the minimum number of required components, he/she must pay a la carte prices for those items. The pricing structure is arranged so that a qualifying meal always costs less than if each meal item is purchased separately.
What are the benefits of operating under the “Offer versus Serve” provision? Increased customer satisfaction and less food waste. Why? Because students are more likely to eat the foods they choose. When a student gets to decide what he/she will eat, you can bet that he/she will eat everything they select! The “Offer versus Serve” provision was implemented through USDA because research showed that when kids were forced to take everything prepared, they simply threw away the foods they didn’t want. This led to complaints by parents, teachers, and students alike, that too much food was being thrown away.
Under the “Offer versus Serve” provision, the student is the decision-maker about what he/she will eat. Program regulations prohibit anyone (teachers, cafeteria employees, parents, etc.) from forcing a student to take an item. Even the seemingly harmless behavior of putting a carton of milk on a student’s tray, if he/she has not indicated that he/she wants it, is prohibited. Students must be the decision-makers. This does not mean that students cannot be encouraged to make additional choices by faculty; it just restricts forcing students to take additional choices.
Students also make the decision as to what type of milk they want to drink. Program regulations prohibit anyone (i.e., teachers, cafeteria employees, parents, etc.) from deciding which flavor of milk a student will take (i.e., white, chocolate, vanilla or strawberry). A student must have a choice of milk flavor and variety.