Tips and Information for Districts Offering Complimentary Meals

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the way schools and districts have been offering meals to children across the state has changed dramatically. Food service staff have worked tirelessly to adapt and come up with many creative methods for meal service by schools.

The complimentary meals, free of charge to all families, are being offered as part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) emergency meal program – a response to the pandemic. The emergency meal program ensures compliance with the required law of offering meals on educational days. It is not part of the federal School Lunch Program, but a special program which offers meals to all children during this time of challenge.

Given the underutilization of this program by students and families across Maine, the Department is offering some tips that school/district nutrition teams can use to help increase participation by maximizing nutrition and appeal to students, adding flexibly for families, and by increasing promotion and communication:

Children’s preferences and favorites should be considered when planning menus.
Meals offered should be nutritious and appealing.
Flexible delivery methods are needed to accommodate working parents.
Volunteers from the community can be sourced to supplement food service staff.
Advertise as “complementary meals” or “emergency meals” (not as “School Lunch”).
Maximize communication by using your district’s social media and online platforms. Include photos of menus and featured ingredients.
Include delivery site information and picture of location (or a picture of the delivery vehicle).
Always reiterate that the meals are free for everyone!

If you need more information, support, and/or training, contact Maine DOE Child Nutrition Office at 207-624-6842.

REMINDER: USDA Food Orders Due on February 22nd

School Food Service Departments across the state are busy entering the orders for USDA food for School Year 2022. It is hard to believe we are in the process of ordering food for next school year! This is a friendly reminder that the USDA food orders are due by noon on February 22nd.

Directions to place food orders in the new CNPweb system are posted on our web page here: https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/nutrition/programs/fd. Once orders are placed, the Department will submit them to USDA for the bidding/purchasing process for Maine.

Thank you and great job to those that have completed the USDA food ordering process already.

If you have any questions or need support in this process, contact Maine DOE Child Nutrition at 207-624-6822.

Maine DOE Child Nutrition Team Announces Initial Transition to New Software Program to Streamline Claiming, Ordering, Applications, and Review

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Child Nutrition Team is excited to announce that a new software program called CNPWeb will launch this week and begin to replace NEO for all School Nutrition functions. CNPWeb will streamline the claiming, ordering, annual application and review process for all of the Child Nutrition programs: School Nutrition, Food Distribution, Summer Food Service and Child & Adult Care Food Program.

The new CNPWeb software will transition over, starting with the Food Distribution Program (FDP), also known as USDA Food on 2/4/2021.

All districts will need to submit a FDP application for approval and locations of delivery in CNPWeb. A webinar will be offered Tuesday, February 9th at 9:30am (register here) – This webinar will be recorded and available on Child Nutrition Training Webpage. Additional material and resources will be on the CNPWeb web page and in our weekly Child Nurtition listserv updates. This is in preparation for completing the annual USDA Foods order opening February 12, 2021. Applications must be in and approved to get a fair share of the USDA Food money before February 12th. All orders must be placed for SY22 food by February 22, 2021 to meet the USDA purchase deadline.

The remaining Child Nutrition programs are anticipated to transition to the new CNPWeb system during the spring of SY22.

Please make sure your School Department’s Food Service Director is aware of this message. It is important to meet the deadline for the federal food service programs so that all schools to get their fair share of money. More information can be found on the Maine CNPWeb web page https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/nutrition/programs/fd or by contacting the Maine DOE Child Nutrition Office.

Maine DOE Child Nutrition Team Provides USDA with Virtual Tour of Culinary Classroom

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Child Nutrition team provided a virtual tour and presentation of its Culinary Classroom recently in an effort to showcase to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) how the classroom has benefited Maine schools since its initial launch in September of 2019.

USDA helped fund the project as a way to improve Maine DOE’s capacity to provide Maine schools with additional skills and training with preparation and cooking as part of the national school meal programs administered through Maine DOE.

The call featured Maine DOE Chef Michele Bisbee and Maine DOE Director of Child Nutrition Walter Beesley who provided national representatives with a virtual tour of the culinary classroom including a look around the kitchen, a demonstration of how the equipment is used, and the various angles the state-of-the-art cameras can provide. The kitchen and its ability to present virtually and record provides multiple options for in-person, virtual, and online learning opportunities for school nutrition staff statewide.

Participants from the USDA included Administrator Pam Miller along with Kurt Messner, Regional Administrator from Northeast Regional Office; Christine Ruggieri, Deputy Regional Administrator; Cheryl Fogerty, Special Nutrition Division Director; Martine Cherry, Schools Branch Chief; and Jan Kallio, Community Nutrition Branch Chief. SNP Program Specialists, Deborah Roach, Susan Gentile, Pam Griffin, and Greg Piotrowicz along with Cynthia Tackett, Public Affairs Director and Heriberto Ortega were also in attendance virtually.

During the presentation, Beesley made a point to mention the many considerations are taken into account for trainings, for example providing different options for prepping and cooking with appliances that local school units would have handy, and not just using commercial grade appliances that may not be available in all school kitchens. “It is important to make our trainings relevant to school staff no matter what they have in their kitchen,” said Beesley during the presentation.

Another important aspect of the presentation was the many partnerships the Child Nutrition Team has been able to obtain and grow through its expansion of the culinary classroom. In addition to partnering with schools to provide trainings, they have also grown their partnerships with higher education institutes in Maine, and other industry professionals who use the kitchen as well.

The presentation was well received by our national school lunch partners, and garnered continued support for the kitchen and Maine DOE’s ongoing projects to support Maine Schools.

For more information about the Maine DOE’s Child Nutrition team and its programs visit their website. To see recordings of their trainings, visit the their YouTube Playlist or training website. For more information about the Culinary Classroom, contact Maine DOE’s Child Nutrition Team.

MEDIA RELEASE: Maine DOE Farm to School Cook-off Takes on New Format

people cooking in industrial kitchen — Competitors cooking the 2019/2020 Cook-off.

AUGUSTA –The Maine Department of Education, Child Nutrition team is holding its annual Farm to School Cook-off in SY 2021 as usual, except this year it will look a bit differently. The cook-off is a statewide culinary competition for teams of school nutrition professionals and students to promote local foods in school meals. This voluntary competition is made available to all school districts in the state.

On a “typical” year, the cook-off would involve three regional competitions that take place in locations across the state (including CTE culinary arts centers), and a finals competition in the Child Nutrition Culinary Classroom. To adapt to these ever-changing times, the format for the 2021 cook-off will be as follows:

Round 1– virtual cook-off (March 2021). Teams will submit videos of their breakfast and lunch meals to be posted on the Child Nutrition website, where voting will take place. The top three teams will advance to round 2.

The video presentation will include details on local ingredients, techniques used, feasibility, and anything else the team would like to share.

Round 2– final cook-off (May 2021). The top teams will compete in the Child Nutrition Culinary Classroom in Augusta! The 2021 Farm to School Cook-off champion will be awarded a plaque and the opportunity to be spokespeople in the 2022 cookbook. Please note all necessary precautions will be taken, including face coverings and social distancing of teams in the culinary classroom. The Child Nutrition team will be monitoring any changes needed to this format to ensure the safety of all participants.

Each team will prepare a breakfast and lunch meal within a specific time frame using at least three ingredients that are grown, raised, caught, or manufactured in the State of Maine and meet Summer Food Service Program meal requirements as well as one USDA food. Local eggs and local parsnips will be used as “challenge” ingredients in the competition. All recipes will later be shared in a Maine farm to school cookbook to be used in future summer meals programs.

Interested school districts can find more information and the link to register on the Maine Child Nutrition website. The registration deadline is December 18, 2020. For more information on Maine’s Farm and Sea to School program, visit https://www.maine.gov/doe/farmtoschool.

PRIORITY NOTICE: USDA Extends School Meal Flexibilities Through 2020/2021 School Year; Webinar Available 10/14 at 1pm

The State of Maine has accepted 12 waiver extensions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allowing for continued flexibilities in the federal Summer Food Service Program/Seamless Summer Option (SFSP/SSO) programs through the 2020/2021 school year. Originally set to expire on December 31, 2020, the waiver extensions will allow schools and other local program operators to continue to leverage SFSP/SSO federal food service programs to provide no cost meals options to all children through June 30, 2021.

The waiver extensions allow school nutrition teams across the state to continue partnering with community organizations, to prepare and package food, set up food delivery service with school transportation teams, and create community pick-up locations (among many other methods) to ensure families have safe options for receiving food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are really pleased that USDA continues to extend these necessary waivers to assist school nutrition programs across Maine with the funding and options they need to feed Maine kids during the pandemic,” said Walter Beesley, Maine Department of Education (DOE) Director of Child Nutrition. “We continue to work closely with district and school leaders to ensure they have the resources and state-level support needed to continue their work.”

The Maine DOE is hosting a Child Nutrition webinar tomorrow 10/14/2020 at 1:00pm. School and district leaders, and school nutrition staff can register to attend this webinar here.

The first round of USDA waivers for school meal programming began in March of 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when schools around the country switched to emergency remote learning. The waivers have been extended numerous times throughout the summer and again this fall, with the most recent extension coming in late last week, that allows the flexibilities to continue through the end of the current school year.

The waivers include: 

COVID-19 Response #59 – Nationwide waiver to allow SFSP and SSO operations through SY 2020-21 – extension
COVID-19 Response #60 – Nationwide waiver to extend area eligibility waivers – extension #3
COVID-19 Response #61 – Nationwide waiver to allow non-congregate feeding in SFSP/SSO – extension #5
COVID-19 Response #62 – Nationwide waiver to allow parents and guardian to pick up meals for children – extension #5
COVID-19 Response #63 – Nationwide waiver to allow meal pattern flexibility in SFSP/SSO – extension #8
COVID-19 Response #64 – Nationwide waiver to allow area eligibility for closed enrolled sites in SFSP/SSO – extension #2
COVID-19 Response #65 – Nationwide waiver to waive first week site visits in SFSP – extension #2
COVID 19 Response #66 – Nationwide waiver of meal service time restrictions in SFSP/SSO – extension #2
COVID 19 Response #67 – Nationwide waiver to allow OVS flexibilities in SFSP – extension #2
COVID 19 Response #68 – Nationwide waiver of area eligibility in the CACFP at risk afterschool care component – extension
COVID 19 Response #69 – Nationwide waiver to allow reimbursement for meals served prior to notification of preapproval and provide flexibility for preapproval visits in SFSP – extension
COVID 19 Response #70 – Nationwide waiver to allow meal pattern flexibility in the Child Nutrition Programs – extension #5

All Maine children 18 and younger can apply to have a breakfast and lunch at no charge through the school in their community. Families interested in applying can do so by contacting their local school to complete a meal benefit application. The data from this form also supports other opportunities for local schools/districts such as educational grants and additional state subsidy for educational purposes.

Maine DOE’s Child Nutrition team continues to process SFSP applications on an ongoing basis.  View an interactive map of schools providing meals through SFSP. Districts interested in applying for the SFSP can do so by contacting the Maine DOE’s Child Nutrition Team. 

PRIORITY NOTICE: Maine DOE Celebrates Extension of 9 USDA Waivers that Provide Maine Children with Better Access to Food

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) received confirmation on Monday, August 31st that 9 waivers from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be extended, allowing continued flexibility in the way that school districts and other non-profit, community organizations can offer meals to children 18 years of age or younger.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Maine DOE, in partnership with Maine schools, has sought continued flexibility in federal school meal programs so that schools can continue to provide Maine children with easy access to food, even when they are not at school.

The 9 waivers all apply to the USDA Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which was established as a way to ensure that low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals during the summer months, when school is not in session. Throughout the pandemic however, flexibility in this program, granted by the USDA, has allowed schools to provide meals to children while they are learning remotely.

Through the flexibility of the SFSP, school nutrition teams across the state have partnered with community organizations, prepared and packaged food, set up food delivery service with school transportation teams, and created community pick-up locations, among many other methods, to ensure families have safe options for receiving food. The 9 waivers will allow schools to continue providing meals with this same flexibility as the school year begins.

The first round of waivers began in March of 2020 when COVID-19 started spreading throughout the United States, and schools switched to emergency remote learning. The waivers have been extended numerous times throughout the summer, with word of the most recent 9 happening early this week.

The 9 waiver extensions, which apply to all 50 states and U.S. territories, became effective on Sept. 1, 2020 and will extent to Dec.31, 2020.

Nationwide Waiver to Allow Non-congregate Feeding in the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option – EXTENSION 4 (#54)

Nationwide Waiver to Allow Parents and Guardians to Pick Up Meals for Children – EXTENSION 4 (#55)

Nationwide Waiver to Allow Meal Pattern Flexibility in the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option – EXTENSION 7 (#53)

Nationwide Waiver of Meal Service Time Restrictions in the Summer Food Service Program – EXTENSION (#50)

Nationwide Waiver to Allow Offer Versus Serve Flexibilities in the Summer Food Service Program – EXTENSION (#51)

Nationwide Waiver to Waive First Week Site Visits in the Summer Food Service Program – EXTENSION (#49)

Nationwide Waiver to Allow Area Eligibility for Closed Enrolled Sites in the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option – EXTENSION (#48)

Nationwide Waiver to Allow Summer Food Service Program through December 2020 (#56)

Nationwide Waiver to Extend Area Eligibility Waivers – EXTENSION 2 (#52)

Maine schools are excited about their ability to continue providing more meal flexibility to all children in their communities. The DOE Child Nutrition Team has been working with school nutrition teams and district leaders across the state to ensure they have the most updated guidance for school meal programs as the 2020/2021 school year begins. The team also continues to process SFSP applications on an ongoing basis.  View an interactive map of schools providing meals through SFSP.

Districts interested in applying for the SFSP can do so by contacting the Maine DOE’s Child Nutrition Team.

School Food Service Webinar for Superintendents 9/2 at 1pm

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

Mother and Son Team Up for Virtual Farm to School Cook-off

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.

MEDIA RELEASE: In Celebration of School Lunch Heroes Day, Maine’s Governor and Department of Education Release Special Thank You Video

(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!