Middle Country Central School District �FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM

September 18, 2024

Food Service Department Mission

We aim to ensure that all students have equal access to receive nutritious, appealing, well-balanced meals that meet the requirements of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program.

MCCSD Food Service Team

MCCSD Business Office

• Dr. Beth Rella, Assistant Superintendent for Business
• Adrienne Commins, Assistant Business Administrator

MCCSD School Lunch Coordinator

• Sharon Dyke, Commission of Dietetics/DTR

MCCSD School Lunch Support and Senior Account Clerk

• Debra Waters

Whitsons Culinary Group - School Nutrition Division, Food Service Management Company

• Kristina Liotta, General Manager for MCCSD
• Kathleen Travis, Assistant General Manager for MCCSD
• Jennifer Nagy, Support and Assistance Team Member
• Food Service Workers 60+ Team Members

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Whitsons Culinary Group - Partnership

• Whitson Culinary Group company began in 1979, 45 years ago, when Elmer and Gina Whitcomb purchased a pair of restaurants in Garden City, New York. Their vision was to start a business that would bring their family of eleven together, one that embodied the importance of family, food, and service to others.
• 1981 Whitsons started first corporate dining account in New York.
• 1988 Whitsons started first residential dining account in New York.
• 1989 Whitsons’ corporate tree grew and branched out to their first school account in New York, and then expands even further to Connecticut and Massachusetts, and to today with over 1,200 schools in 13 states.
• 1993 Emergency Services response operations began to help with the World Trade Center attack.

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Food Service Overview

● The Food Service program services all students and staff in the District within the 14 schools.

● The District is approved under the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) for the 2024-2025 school year. All students are eligible to receive a NO-CHARGE ($0.00) breakfast and lunch meal daily during the school day, when school is in session. Meals are required to be consumed in school, take home meals are not permitted.

● Breakfast and Lunch meal patterns follow the nutrition standard guidelines in the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program. Meal patterns must adhere to the USDA guidelines. The NYSED Office of Child Nutrition is responsible for insuring school districts adhere to program guidelines in order to claim student meals for reimbursement.

● The Food Service Department oversees Whitsons, our food service management company. Oversight includes insuring all Middle Country school kitchens are properly staffed, menus are prepared offering a variety of options, meal patterns/recipes adhere to NYSED CN guidelines for all grade levels, a la carte choices foods/beverages comply with USDA smart- snack guidelines, and food safety/sanitation guidelines meet Suffolk County Board of Health regulations.

● Oversight for all cafeteria kitchen equipment, including new/replacement equipment, repairs and kitchen facility functional operations.

Food Service Continued

● Although the NYSED Office of Child Nutrition has approved MCCSD for Community Eligible Provision (CEP) for the 2024-2025 school year, households not approved for free meal benefits through SNAP or FREE Medicaid are highly encouraged to fill out a 2024-2025 Household Income Eligibility Form for the option to obtain additional benefits. Examples of other benefits include discounts on state exams, before/aftercare programs and NYS food benefit programs, such as EBT/Summer EBT. EBT/Electronic Benefits Transfer allows you to buy groceries and other items with your cash/card benefits from participating stores.

● The Household Income Eligibility Forms also help in our efforts to retain a NO-CHARGE Student Meal Program in future years, and provides aide to the schools.

● Meal applications in English and Spanish have been mailed home within the summer packets. Forms can also be found online, on the MCCSD website under Important School Resource Information and on the Food Service Department webpage. Families can also call 631-285-8190 or email foodservice@mccsd.net to request a form.

● The MCCSD Food Service Program is not funded through household taxes. Finances for the cost of staff, benefits, food, supplies, equipment repairs, new/replacement equipment, comes from meal reimbursements, a la carte sales, and grants. If program costs are not covered, the department would be required to borrow against the District’s general funds.

● The Food Service Department webpage provides an array of information, such as household income forms, menus, nutritional data, food allergy information, and much more.

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History of Financials

History Of Student Meal Purchases

What is a Reimbursable Meal?�T THE GOAL OF OFFER VS. SERVE IS TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE WHILE ALLOWING STUDENTS TO CHOOSE THE FOODS THEY WANT TO EAT.

Breakfast - Schools must offer at least four food items from the three required food components.

Fruits, grains and fluid milk

Vegetables may be offered as a substitute for fruits

Example Breakfast Meal: a whole grain bagel, one cup grapes, and one cup milk

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Lunch - Schools must offer all five food components, served in the minimum in at least the quantities of ½ cup to 2 ounces/depending on the grade level and the product type.

Meats/meat alternatives, grains, fruits, vegetables and fluid milk

Example Lunch Meal: Varied amongst grade levels

Grades K-8: vegetables ¾ cup, fruits ½ cup, grains 1 oz. equivalent, meats/meat alternates 1 oz. equivalent, fluid milk 1 cup.

Grades 9-12: vegetables 1 cup, fruits 1 cup, grains 2 oz. equivalent, meats/meat alternates 2 oz. equivalent, fluid milk 1 cup.

Most fruits & vegetable choices are served in ½ cup portions. Students may choose two ½ cups each of fruits & vegetables to equal one cup of each or mix and match their choices for more variety.

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There’s Always An Alternative

Additional Alternatives �

Gluten-Free Choices

(varied between grade levels)

Cheerios & Rice Krispies,

Veggie Burger or Hamburger on

GF Bun

GF Bagel Meal with Cheese or Yogurt

Garden Salad with Cheese

Cheese Sandwich on GF Bread Grilled Cheese on GF Bread

Turkey & Cheese on GF Bread Vegetable of the Day

Fruit of the Day

100% Fruit Juice

Choice of Milk

Vegetarian Choices

(varied between grade levels)

Cheese Pizza

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Veggie Burger with Cheese Option on Whole Grain Bun

Egg Patty & Cheese Sandwich

Sun-butter & Jelly Sandwich

Bagel with Yogurt or Cheese

Garden Salad topped with Beans or chopped Veggie Burger or Cheese

Cycle Menu & Variety �Cycle menus provide rotating choices of staple K-12 food choices,�Added variety with Halal food options, freshly made smoothie seasonally on select days at the High Schools,�Special Guest Chef Days, and Taste Testing Events�

Samples of A la Carte include…..

At the ELEMENTARY level, students have the option of purchasing snacks, drinks and ice cream, seasonally.

○ If you do not want your student to purchase a la carte choices from the school cafeteria, parents/guardians can send in a note to their school’s kitchen manager to prohibit their student(s) from purchasing.

At the MIDDLE SCHOOL and HIGH SCHOOL levels, if you’d like something else other than the entree choices, there is always the option of a variety of smart snacks, such as bottled water, Gatorade, Sparkling ICE, fresh fruits, baked chips, Rice Krispy Treats, yogurt, Pop-Tart, muffins, and baked cookies.

���Did you know, you can order a meal for after-school? ��Meal includes: a sandwich, fruit/veg., Nutri-Grain Bar, chips, water or milk starting at $3.25 �Meal includes, a Sandwich, Fruit/Veg., Nutri-Grain Bar, Chip, Water or Milk. $3.25 �Meal includes, a Sandwich, Fruit/Veg., Nutri-Grain Bar, Chip, Water or Milk.

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2024-25 Grants

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$198,724 Awarded To ALL MCCSD Grade 1 -5 Schools

• Encouraging children to try new healthy fruits and vegetables
• Increased grant award from three to eight schools
• Funding increased from previous school year + $119,224

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Customer Experience �

• Online Menus & Entrée Meal Display Plates
• Digital Menu Boards At All Secondary Schools & Menu printed signage
• Promotional signage
• Seasonal fresh fruits, in addition to regularly offered choices
• Staff development, kitchen leads and back up staff/certified food managers, monthly safety training, continuous staff cross training, chef creativity development, customer service skills training
• Multiple food deliveries weekly for all schools, fresh products on-site eliminating having foods stored for prolonged periods, food storage logs

Planning for 2024-25 & �Future Year Challenges

We strive to obtain 100% of families not directly certified for free meals to fill out the Household Income Eligibility Form

Off to a good start, ~700 forms received as of September 10^th

Rising Food & Labor Costs

Rising Food Service Equipment Replacement and Repair Costs

Food Service Staff Retention = Continuous Need For Recruiting

Sourcing New Grant/Funding Opportunities

Community Eligibility Program - State approved funding supported for 2024-2025 ONLY

Continued Advocacy Calling for Federal and State Governments To Support Free Meals For ALL STUDENTS!

Enhancements to the students’ meal experience by having the student meal lines move faster, which gives everyone more time to eat!

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Universal Free Meals - It’s All About The Speed�Faster Meal Service To Allow More Time To Eat

• 2 seconds to scan a finger & no fingerprint taken/stored
• Works with our existing Point of Sale System
• Safe & Secure, the biometric finger point scan converts to an encrypted binary number
• No need to enter a student ID number or scan Bar Coded School Lunch Card
• Language Barriers are Not A Problem
• Enroll ONLY ONCE while remaining enrolled in the district, even when transferring schools
• Eliminates students entering wrong ID numbers when making a purchase
• Eliminates risk of food allergies being associated with the wrong student

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Differences Between Identification Software and

Law Enforcement Applications

Food Service Advisory Committee

Purpose of the Advisory Committee - To support an efficient, effective, and nutritious food service program that provides opportunities to educate students about healthy eating habits while remaining compliant with current regulations and Board of Education Policy.

• Committee Objectives: The primary objective is to increase student meal participation by providing quality service and nutritious food choices favorable to students in grades Pre-K through12. The committee assists in menu planning, recipe reviews, and onsite observations during hours of active breakfast and lunch service to achieve this objective.
• The committee is continuously looking for new members and staff/student feedback. Anyone interested should contact the District Clerk, Ms. Stephanie Larkin at 285-8011 or email slarkin@mccsd.net.

Thank you