Maine DOE Director of Child Nutrition Walter Beesley will be hosting a webinar for Maine Superintendents on the topic of School Food Service for the 2020/2021 school year. Please register ahead of time for this webinar.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 2nd at 1:00 pm
REGISTER: Register here for this Webinar »
This session will be recorded and available on Maine DOE’s Child Nutrition YouTube Playlist.
For more information or help with registration, contact Paula Nadeau at Paula.Nadeau@maine.gov
When the pandemic closed school buildings abruptly in March, the annual Maine Farm to School Cook-off was put on hold. The cook-off is an annual competition among students and school nutrition staff, featuring Maine grown ingredients, organized by the Maine Child Nutrition office. As an alternative, a virtual Farm to School Cook-off was offered to participating teams to showcase their prepared meals in a virtual format.
Capitalizing on the unique opportunity of being in the same household during the pandemic, Gina and Caleb of Team “Sonday” from RSU 54, playfully named to showcase the mother and son duo, embraced the challenge and created breakfast and lunch videos to showcase the meals they had planned for the cook-off.
Two challenge ingredients were part of the competition, donated by Maine farms and producers, including rolled oats from Maine Grains in Skowhegan and ground beef from Common Hill Farm in Jackson.
The team did a great job showcasing the recipes they used which consisted of a strawberry shortcake smoothie for breakfast (what creative use of rolled oats!), and a Mexican inspired lunch, consisting of a taco mashup bowl and Mexican fruit salad. Check out the videos created by this stellar team.
Thank you, Gina and Caleb, for your dedication to this event and for being an annual participant in our Farm to School Cook-off since School Year 2017. Team Sonday will be awarded a breakfast and lunch plaque, as well as a certificate of appreciation for the longest running team to participate.
(Photo: Nutrition staff from Connor EUT School)
In recognition of May 1, 2020 being designated National School Lunch Heroes Day, Governor Janet Mills and the Department of Education have created a special thank you video for school nutrition teams, volunteers and all school staff across Maine, who have stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure Maine kids have nutritious and healthy meals while learning remotely at home.
Your efforts during this unprecedented time of need are truly appreciated! THANK YOU!
Dear Champions of Education,
Yesterday, Governor Mills issued a “stay at home” order, offering specific guidance around curtailing non-essential activities, gatherings, and travel. She also ordered schools to refrain from in-person, classroom instruction practices until after May 1st (or until further orders are issued).
As we close in on the third week of remote instruction, please know that your resilient leadership and ongoing efforts are making a huge difference for Maine students and families. While everything is so suddenly chaotic and unfamiliar to everyone, our schools continue to shine like a beacon of hope. I have received countless emails and messages from legislators, parents, community members, and students sharing their gratitude for the steady support, the nutritional services, and the deeply human connections that are provided by educators, counselors, and school administrators. I’ve heard anecdotes from teachers who have noticed increased participation and engagement from students who had previously been among the most disconnected and apathetic. The lesson in this phenomenon is an important one… they’re counting on you even when their outward behaviors disguise this fact.
Updates and information:
Silver Linings:
Thank you for all you are doing on behalf of your students, staff, and communities.
Pender
Maine –With the approval of yet another waiver to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and additional bulk packaging options, the Maine Department of Education has been able to add significant flexibility to its school food service programs, enabling schools to provide meals to students all over Maine, increasing the potential to reach even more hungry children in a more meaningful way.
The first waiver obtained by the Maine DOE expanded the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) allowing school districts and community partners to provide meals to students during extended remote learning due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Today Maine DOE received approval for a waiver to the requirement that National School Lunch Program participants must have a population of at least 50% who receive free or reduced- meals. Maine DOE requested flexibility to locate meal distribution sites in areas that do not meet the 50% criteria to ensure that any child can receive the meals they normally would on a regular school day during unanticipated school closures related to COVID-19. To maintain children’s access to meals, and to support families experiencing financial hardship, Maine DOE requested to waive the area eligibility requirements under 7 CFR 225.6(c)(2)(i)(G). This was approved by the federal Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
The Maine DOE has also been granted flexibility to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, allowing schools and community partners to prepare meals in bulk – multiple meals for several days in one package for children up to the age of 18.
Advanced planning of bulk meals is required to ensure that the meal pattern is met, and food will be stored and prepared in a safe manner. Bulk provisions would be provided for in home meal preparation.
Schools and community partners can now request approval from the Maine Child Nutrition team at the Maine Department of Education. For more information or to submit a request for an approval. Child.nutrition@maine.gov
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In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
(1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
(2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or
(3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
The Maine Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, religion, ancestry or national origin.
Complaints of discrimination must be filed at the office of the Maine Human Rights Commission, 51 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0051. If you wish to file a discrimination complaint electronically, visit the Human Rights Commission website at https://www.maine.gov/mhrc/file/instructions and complete an intake questionnaire. Maine is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
The Maine Department of Education (DOE), in collaboration with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, recently launched two sets of videos to help support Maine school nutrition programs around the state. Links to the two sets of videos are available below:
The Team plans to continue building the video series by incorporating Maine dairy and seafood, among other proteins, in school recipes as well as other educational videos in the near future.
The Department would like to extend a special thank you to the people who made these videos a success:
In addition to the videos, the Child Nutrition Team also offers in-person and webinar trainings. The next culinary training will be on February 21st and will be geared towards new and trending school breakfast ideas. Check out all their training opportunities in the Child Nutrition calendar, you can also stay up-to-date on child Nutrition news by joining the Child Nutrition email list.
All of the the videos are available on the Maine DOE’s website here: www.maine.gov/farmtoschool. For more information about the Farm-to-School Program, please visit this website.
Hannaford Supermarkets announced a $1 million donation as part of its new “Fuel Kids at School” initiative that is designed to directly address food insecurity and improve access to fresh and healthy food for children.
“Children can’t be at their best if they’re hungry—or thinking about where their next meal will come from. It is our hope that Fuel Kids at School will take us one step further in nourishing our communities, one child at a time,” said Mike Vail, President of Hannaford. “We want access to food to be easy for kids. Locating food pantries where they are—at their schools should make a lasting and deep impact on child nutrition across our five states.”
Hannaford, in partnership with area hunger relief organizations, will establish over two years, 90 school food pantries across Maine and other northeast states. In Maine, Good Shepherd Food Bank received nearly $300,000 to establish school-based food pantries in 30 Head Start preschools throughout the state.
“The correlation between access to nutritious food and early childhood development and learning makes Head Start locations the ideal match for our next phase of school-based pantries,” said Kristen Maile, President of Good Shepherd Food Bank. “We know that expanding our pantry sites to serve pre-school-aged children and their families will play an important role in ensuring a bright future for Maine’s youngest citizens.”
Designed to serve as a vital and convenient resource to students and families in need while also increasing access to healthy and nutritious food, the in-school pantries are dedicated spaces where students can select food they enjoy according to preference and cooking abilities to provide nourishment both during the day and after the school day.
“The Fuel Kids at School funding, with its focus on Head Start programs, will enable us to make nutritious food readily available to more families at risk of hunger in the critical years before their children enter the public schools,” said Kathryn Sargent, Executive Director of the Locker Project.
The announcement took place in conjunction with a donation of $1,000 in school food pantry staples to the East End Children’s Workshop along with chef-prepared food for the parents and students at the local pre-school.
Hannaford Supermarkets has a longstanding commitment to supporting hunger relief in its communities. In 2018, Hannaford donated nearly 26 million pounds of food throughout the Northeast, including 5.3 million pounds in New York; and raised $1.1 million in partnership with its shoppers to feed individuals in need through the annual Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger program. Earlier this month, Hannaford announced that it has donated more than $1 million to non-profits throughout New York and New England as a result of its reusable bag program, a portion of which is dedicated to hunger relief organizations and has funded more than 1.8 million meals to date.
Students, teachers, school garden coordinators, and school nutrition staff from Manchester School in RUS 14 along with representatives from The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry and the Maine Department of Education participated in a day of activities to celebrate growing, harvesting and eating local food on Monday November 4th.
The event included education about the importance of local food and the relationship schools are developing with local farmers to provide fresh, quality fruits, vegetables, and produce to Maine schools. Students worked with recently harvested carrots from their school garden to prep, cook, and sample fresh carrot curry soup and carrot muffins.
A fixture at the Manchester School for the past 20 years, the School Garden has become a big part of the community providing fresh produce for the school nutrition program, local shelters, as well as students, staff, and community members who provide a helping hand in keeping the garden going.
To optimizing the growing season, the Garden features a hoop house and raised beds that allow students and school staff to grow fresh produce for almost the entire year-round. The Garden is also rooted in the curriculum, providing a bases for many lessons from science to English, and community development. “The learning continues even though we’re not out in the soil,” said Stacy Sanborn, 4th Grade Teacher and School Garden Coordinator. Staff members from the Manchester School wrote grants and utilized local volunteers, and local experts to put the hoop house in place, and it has been a huge success for them.
It was an exciting day of activities drawing TV cameras and photographers to capture students happily engaged in chopping, cooking, and learning for the very purpose of celebrating a moment that is quickly moving across Maine. The Manchester School in Windham is one of the more than 400 Maine schools that participate in a farm-to-school program.
The collaboration between the Department of Education and The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry continues this fall. The two departments are producing a series of public service announcements to showcase how more Maine farms can establish relationships and sell their produce to Maine schools.
For more information about the Farm-to-School Program, please visit this website.
Last week, the Maine Department of Education’s Child Nutrition Team hosted its very first hands-on training in the newly built Child Nutrition Culinary Classroom.
Maine Schools in attendance had the opportunity to learn from Child Nutrition Chef Michele Bisbee about different steps they could take to prep vegetables more efficiently. During the class, participants learned how to use small equipment that can help speed up kitchen preparation.
The class also worked on developing skills that will help save time in the kitchen, enabling them to focus on providing more meals that have been cooked from scratch.
The Maine Department of Education’s Child Nutrition Program is excited to announce the official launch of Maine’s Harvest of the Month (HOM) Program. The program was piloted in schools in Spring 2019 with participation from over 165 schools state-wide. The full roll out of the program begins this fall for School Year 2020.
PROGRAM BACKGROUND
Harvest of the Month (HOM) is a nationwide marketing campaign promoting the use of seasonally available, local products in schools, institutions, and communities. Each month, a different local product is highlighted and participating entities pledge to serve the product and promote it through educational materials and activities. The program launched in California and has been replicated by dozens of other states across the country. With Maine’s participation, all New England states now have Harvest of the Month programs.
FARMERS AND LOCAL PRODUCERS
One of the major goals of the Maine HOM program is to support Maine farmers and producers, and therefore Maine’s local economy. To help School Food Service Directors successfully source each month’s product, a list of participating producers has been created to help them connect with local farmers, providers, and distributors. Farmers and producers who provide HOM products to schools have the chance to be highlighted on the DOE website, HOM social media, etc. We would like to add more producers to the list for School Year 2020!
SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE
Participating School Food Service Directors are asked to take a pledge to serve the monthly HOM product at least two times per month in their cafeterias. In addition to this, they pledge to display HOM promotional materials, such as posters, fun facts, and stickers for students who have tried the HOM product. Featured recipes are also provided each month. They also agree to participate in evaluations so that local produce procurement can be tracked and to analyze the success of the program. Local products may be sourced directly from farms, farmer cooperatives, and distributors. When buying produce directly from a farm or farmer cooperative, School Food Service Directors may take advantage of the Local Produce Fund, which reimburses $1 for every $3 spent on local produce.
Agriculture and Education in Partnership
The Maine Department of Education and Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry have been exploring more ways to connect farmers and food producers with their local school districts. “School food service programs and local farms can go hand and hand, which is why the Maine Bureau of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is pleased to collaborate with DOE’s Harvest of the Month program,” according to Nancy McBrady, Director of the Bureau of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Resources. “This program allows participating schools to purchase local, nutritious foods which helps boost farm incomes while educating students about local agriculture. The program directly links School Food Service Directors with participating farmers and producers in their community and the Bureau is thrilled that the Local Produce Fund can assist School Food Service Directors in ordering even more local produce. The Bureau encourages local producers to sign up to be a Harvest of the Month source for schools today!”
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BEING A HOM SOURCE FOR SCHOOLS,
CONTACT:
Robin Kerber
Farm and Sea to School Coordinator
robin.kerber@maine.gov
OR SIGN UP HERE ( www.maine.gov/doe/harvestofthemonth/producers)
Maine DOE Newsroom 