Moving Summer Meals In Rural VERMONT Simple, effective ways to make the SFSP work in your town! Summer Friends FUN Nutrition Learning Ending the injustice of hunger and malnutrition for all Vermonters 38 Eastwood Drive, Suite 100, South Burlington, VT 05403 802-865-0255 www.hungerfreevt.org
MOVING MEALS IN THE SUMMER: PRIMARY OBJECTIVES PROVIDE MEALS TO ALL CHILDREN: Currently, just 18% of Vermont children who qualify for free & reduced meals are participating in the SFSP. While federal programs provide reimbursement for meals served, it is up to sponsors to develop networks and infrastructure to develop economies of scale and see their programs grow. As sponsors move meals and add sites, they ll reach more kids with this important program. INCREASE REVENUE: Developing your capacity to transport meals to sites means more meals served, higher overall reimbursement, and lower per-plate costs. Result: the ability to sustainably finance your summer meals program! BUILD YOUR PROGRAM: Sponsors who efficiently move meals experience rapid growth and strong partnerships. Rather than worrying each year about whether they can afford to run or not, they build on past successes to hire extra staff, serve more meals and re-invest in their programs. THREE THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND YOU CAN DO THIS! SFSP sponsors from across Vermont contributed their expertise to this guide. It takes time and planning to get started, but you are not alone. DEVELOP A PLAN FOR EFFECTIVE OUTREACH. To be successful, your program needs to balance cost with revenue; and the best way to do that is to grow your program through outreach and activities. Your program can only grow if people know it s there, so make sure each site you re delivering to has a plan to attract kids and keep them engaged. CONSISTENCY IS KEY. Consistency in meal quality, meal delivery and clear communication gives a sense of professionalism to your program. If parents and kids feel they can depend on your service, they ll feel better about using it.
BEST PRACTICES: FOOD SAFETY AND THE SFSP GET SOME COOLERS: Large (80/100 quart) wheeled coolers are best for moving summer meals. You have a few options here: invest in all of them yourself, ask sites to provide coolers, or request donations from local businesses. You may also want to explore the option of borrowing coolers from meals providers who operate during the school year. 4 coolers/site (2 coming, 2 going): Coolers alternate each day, as full coolers are delivered and empties are picked up from sites for delivery the following day. Best practice: Attach an information sheet to each cooler (see insert, page 6). MAINTAIN PROPER TEMPERATURE: Coolers should be filled with ice packs or actual ice to keep prepared meals at a safe temperature. If you ve prepared a hot meal, you ll need heat packs instead. If meals are prepped and placed in coolers ahead of time, the coolers themselves should be stored in a walk-in refrigerator until delivery. TEMP MEALS LEAVING THE KITCHEN: There is a strict four-hour window during which these meals must now be served. There are two ways to manage this requirement: Discard all meals not consumed during the intended meal service. If meals are served more than two hours after delivery, temp them again to make sure they re still safe to consume. Exception: Whole fruits and vegetables are not required to maintain temp and may be used in a subsequent meal service. ALWAYS KEEP MILK COLD: This applies for milk being served either immediately, or for a future meal service. If milk is being kept on-site for a later meal service (i.e. breakfast the next morning), it must be stored in a refrigerator. PROPERLY TRAIN AND INFORM ALL STAFF: All staff must be trained in food safety by the SFSP sponsor. In addition, sponsors should use this training as an opportunity to make sure everyone understands how the program works, what times meals will be delivered and how to properly submit claims forms. IF MEALS ARE NO LONGER EDIBLE, QUICKLY DISPOSE OF THEM: Feel free to be creative (i.e. composting) : The most important thing is that spoiled food be promptly removed from the site. Food safety is essential to the success of any summer meals program, and the Vermont Agency of Education has issued guidance on how to make sure yours is in compliance with federal, state and local regulations. Should you have questions, Child Nutrition Programs staff are available at 802-828-2447.
ESTABLISHING MEAL DELIVERY/PICKUP DELIVER TOMORROW S BREAKFAST ALONG WITH TODAY S LUNCH: This allows you to make only one meal delivery per day, for two meals. This reduces cost, saves time and cuts down on equipment needed to move meals. This means breakfast is generally a cold meal (e.g. muffins, cereal, etc.). THREE WAYS TO MOVE MEALS TO REMOTE SITES: Have one delivery car/van deliver meals to all sites. If all sites are located along a main road, this is probably the easiest way to deliver meals. Develop several delivery routes, broken into geographical sectors. You ll want to consider this option if there are several sites in opposite directions. If necessary: arrange with sites to pick up meals from the kitchen at a set time. DELIVER WHERE POSSIBLE: Why? It s more difficult to separately reimburse site staff for mileage than to organize reimbursement from within kitchen operations. Also, site staff pickups almost always involve a loss of manpower dedicated to children s enrichment/activity programs. When available, try to work with departing kitchen staff to deliver meals to sites on their way home. IF YOU RE DELIVERING: Establish a route. It should be determined who will deliver meals; the route to which they are assigned; and the schedule they need to follow to deliver meals on time. Leave time for deliveries. It s important to be courteous to site staff, take time to answer their questions, and check to make sure there are no problems with meals delivered. For example, you ll want to leave no less than an hour for delivery to three separate sites. Considering the time it takes to load and deliver meals, this means meals prepared for an 11:30 AM meal service should be ready at least 90 minutes ahead of time. Try to be on time. Sites should know when to expect delivery (within a 15-20 minute window). IF SITES ARE PICKING UP MEALS: Work with site staff to determine (a) how many kids they expect to serve daily and (b) when they intend to pick up meals each day. This should be discussed before summer begins, with regular updates throughout. Any change in attendance should be communicated in a timely manner. Should sites fail to arrive at their stated pickup times, kitchen staff should not hesitate to insist they come on time.
PLAN FOR CHANGES ALONG THE WAY CHANGES IN ATTENDANCE: Summer sites may experience increased or decreased enrollment over the course of the summer. Delivery receipt forms (see insert, page 6) are a good way to identify overall trends and adapt daily meal preparation and delivery. Another way to further avoid waste is to arrange with sites to contact the kitchen each day at a certain time (e.g. 8:30 AM) to communicate any sudden changes. FIELD TRIPS: While sites should indicate planned field trips well in advance before summer programming even begins some opportunities for off-site travel may come up over the course of the program. Sites should indicate these changes to kitchen staff (and the SFSP sponsor) as soon as they occur, and at least one week in advance SFSP sponsors must report these changes to the Agency of Education. While it may be possible to offer a hot lunch on a field trip, it s often practical to prepare bag lunches instead. Either way, all meals remain subject to the same safety standards as any other meal service. Meals will need to be stored in coolers until their consumption. COMMUNICATION = RELIABLE SERVICE = STRENGTHENED PARTNERSHIPS The biggest key to identifying problems and solutions is communication. Do all you can to be proactive in establishing and maintaining effective communication. Information sheets, emails, phone calls all of this is important. If you establish a culture of openness, your partners will follow.
A FEW TIPS TO IMPROVE SERVICE: Place an information sheet on each delivery cooler (to remain there throughout the summer) with helpful information for site staff, including proper serving temperature, portion sizes, sponsor contact information, etc. Have site supervisors fill out and sign a delivery receipt form each day upon delivery. This will allow you to confirm that all meals were properly delivered. Include a comments section where site staff can indicate any problems they ve encountered and give an estimate of how many meals they need for the following day. At pre-summer training, ask site sponsors to share their summer schedules (expected numbers, field trips, etc.), use that information to map meal planning for the summer. This can give a wider perspective on your overall program and help avoid surprises. STRENGTHEN PROGRAM FINANCES LOWER COST + HIGHER REIMBURSEMENT: Federal reimbursement for summer meals is higher than for all other federal meals programs. It s time to think of summer as a time to support year-round feeding! MANAGE LABOR AND FOOD COSTS: Summer food programs often allow for reduced labor and food costs compared to the school year: In summer, kitchen staff often only prepare meals for delivery. Where there s no on-site meal service and clean-up, paid staff aren t required to stay on as late in the day. Once meals are packed and prepared for delivery, departing kitchen staff may be assigned a delivery route on their way home. Occasional cold meals (e.g. sandwiches for field trips) generally cost less than meals prepared during the school year. SAVE MONEY ON THE ROAD MAKE THE MOST OF EACH DELIVERY: The cost of delivering meals is ultimately a fixed cost you have to price it into your overall program but you can lower it through proper investments in planning and equipment. SPEND LESS TIME ON THE ROAD: Lots of care should be devoted to setting up a route (or routes) for summer delivery, before the program begins. DELIVER MEALS ONCE A DAY: Extra coolers allow you to (a) deliver breakfast and lunch at the same time, and (b) swap coolers out each day with new meals. This prevents having to carry the same coolers back and forth each day.
ATTENDANCE = STABILITY GROWTH LEADS TO SUCCESS: Since reimbursement is on a per-meal basis, growth occurs as more children participate in the SFSP. This involves lots of outreach at the community level: posters, banners, school announcements and word-of-mouth. This effort should occur early and often your program s success depends on it! DON T WAIT TO EXPAND SERVICE: With weak participation, it s hard for any program to thrive. When more kids eat, reimbursement checks grow : With more money coming in, your confidence in the program will increase. EMPOWER YOURSELF AND YOUR COMMUNITY CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM: It gives a sense of professionalism to your program, thereby reducing stigma and making people comfortable counting you as a reliable partner. MEAL QUALITY, MEAL DELIVERY, AND COMMUNICATION: When people sense consistency in these three areas, they will count on you to prepare and deliver healthy, free meals to the children under their care. Now watch your program grow!
SUMMER MEAL SATELLITE SUCCESS STORIES Steve Marinelli, Food Service Director, Milton Town School District: Having the ability to transport summer meals not only provides access of nutritious meals to children; it also makes my program sustainable. Kathy Alexander, Director, Addison Northeast Food Service Cooperative: Summer is one of the best times to make meals available to children because fresh, local foods are plentiful. With summer meals we can avoid interrupting Kathy Cookson, Director, MASP (Morristown After School Program): The ability to transport summer meals has made it possible for our program to create community meeting areas where children have access to nutritious food each day while receiving educational and enriching activities. important food access, and we can also help expose kids to fruit and vegetables; creating food and nutrition education opportunities with every meal. There is nothing as gratifying as arriving at a summer meal site to a group of children eager and happy to dive into lunch. HUNGER FREE VERMONT IS HERE TO HELP! We offer personalized technical assistance, templates for outreach materials, and can connect you with summer food providers in your area. Contact us EARLY for help developing your summer strategy! Derrick Lambert, Summer Child Nutrition Advocate 802-865-0255 dlambert@hungerfreevt.org Proud Ally of No Kid Hungry These institutions are equal opportunity providers.