Menu Planning

Menu Planning Factors to Consider

Menu Your menu is the single most important factor in a foodservice operation. A menu determines all aspects of operations and affects the success or failure of the department.

Food Preferences Menu planning should take into consideration the food preferences of large populations within your district, including: Cultural differences of students Food habits and beliefs of different ethnic or religious groups Current fads, such as gluten free, organic, sandwich wraps While not required, you may want to plan menus around certain populations that are prevalent in your school district.

Target Audience It is important to understand the groups that make up your target audience. The needs and preferences of your audience will be a determining factor in menu planning. Your school population could include any of the following groups: High school Middle school Elementary Vegetarian Kosher

Trends Staying abreast of current food trends is important. Students want foods that mirror current trends Current trends include: Foods with flavor profiles or pairings, where foods are paired together, based on their major flavor components Sweet/sour is a common pairing of fruit and acid Lemon/parsley is a common pairing in Middle Eastern foods Lemon/oregano is a common pairing in Greek foods Tomato/cumin/chili are common pairings in Mexican foods Sandwiches made with tortillas (wraps) Ethnic food choices

Types of Service The types of meal service in your operation affect the menu items you plan and serve. You will need to consider the types of service, amount of labor and equipment available in your program when planning menus. Some examples of types of service are: Cafeteria style Self-service bars Family style Grab n’ Go Kiosks Vending machines Breakfast in the classroom Satellite Vended meals

Types of Menus Standard Menus and Offering Choices You will need to consider the types of menus you offer in your district. Standard menus – no choice or straight serve May be dependent on age of students. Offering choices – multiple lines Implementing Offer versus Serve. Will need to make sure all students have access to all components of a reimbursable meal. Offering multiple menu items to increase choices.

Types of Menus Salad Bar Menus If students can select all components for a reimbursable meal, will need to have accurate Point of Service. May need to consider pre-portioning items to ensure correct portion sizes are taken.

Cycle Menu Advantages Cycle menus are carefully planned menus that are rotated according to a definite pattern The use of cycle menus is the easiest method of providing interesting, well-accepted meals at minimum cost. Some advantages are: Advantages: Minimizes menu planning time Increases labor efficiency through improved coordination & organization Reduces repetition of menu items Promotes standardization of preparation procedures Simplifies purchasing (forecasting more accurate) Takes advantage of purchasing seasonal variations in foods Improves inventory and cost control

Cycle Menu Disadvantages The use of cycle menus may cause some difficulties if not planned properly. Some disadvantages to watch out for are: Disadvantages: Menu cycle may be too short Seasonal variation in food availability is not considered Drafting seasonal cycle menu may be time consuming

Ingredients Access to key ingredients plays a role in menu planning. Using USDA Foods (commodities) lowers the cost of foods in most instances. Menus may need to be adjusted if USDA food items are not in stock or in the amounts you need for your schools. Plan menus around produce that is in season. Available from DOD Available from Farm to Schools Locally sourced

Facilities and Equipment Menus are usually determined by the available equipment Kitchens without proper equipment, storage, and prep space severely limit the possible menu choices that can be offered. Lack of storage space (refrigerator/freezer space, storeroom space) limits the amount of food that can be kept on-site. Limited storage space results in having to rely on more frequent deliveries. Lack of equipment can limit ways to prepare and hold meals, e.g. hot or cold food items. Inadequate prep space may mean scratch cooking is limited.

Preparation The amount of time or equipment needed to prepare foods greatly impacts menu planning. Amount of prep space is a determining factor in whether to use convenience foods or do scratch cooking Batch cooking helps to provide the highest quality food items and can help control food cost. Cooking too far in advance and hot holding can affect the quality of foods.

Number of Employees and Skill Level Not having a skilled staff will limit the types of foods you may put on a menu. If staff turnover is high, or you have a staff will little or no kitchen experience, you may have to rely heavily on convenience foods. The more convenience foods you use, the less labor you will need. The more scratch cooking you do, the more labor you will need. Amount of labor used to prepare meals will affect food cost.

Food Costs Menus should be “costed out” to determine food and labor costs. This helps you to decide what menu items to keep and what menu items to get rid of. Evaluate your menu to determine high cost days. If a high cost menu item has low sales, you should replace the item with a more popular, lower cost item.

Type of Meal Service With limited resources and staff, you may want to consider a simple serve menu. Implementing Offer vs Serve is required at the lunch meal for high school grades. Designing menus that allow OVS require more food choices.

Types of Meals The type of meal you are serving will be a determining factor in your menu planning. Breakfast Lunch Snack Supper Summer Feeding

Key Resources

USDA Website The USDA Menu Planning Tools is a great webpage. You can browse by subject: recipes, menu planning, best practices. The site includes many resources that will assist you in menu planning. Link to USDA Website http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/menu-planning/menu-planning-tools/menu-planning-tools-school-food-service

Link to USDA Food Buying Guide The Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs has all of the current information in one manual to help you buy the right amount of food and the appropriate type of food for your program(s), and determines the specific contribution each food makes toward the meal pattern requirements. Established base quantity for ingredients: Raw As purchased Edible portion Yield Serving size Link to USDA Food Buying Guide http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/food-buying-guide-for-child-nutrition-programs

Food Buying Guide Calculator Link to Online Food Buying Calculator http://fbg.nfsmi.org/Default.aspx This calculator figures out the amount of food you need to buy, based on the type of food and the serving size. It is extremely helpful in determining amounts of food to purchase. To use the calculator, select the food from the Food Categories pull-down menu or choose from the Top 10 food item list.

Food Buying Guide Calculator Page 2 Use the Item Description to select the desired food item for your planned menu. Because vegetables credit by cups, the Serving Unit as a cup has been chosen. Notice that the fresh broccoli is already trimmed and ready-to-use. Therefore, in the notes section you see that 1 pound of broccoli is equal to one pound of ready-to-cook broccoli. Next, choose a serving size and the number of desired servings.

Food Buying Guide Calculator Page 3 Because only one serving size is planned for the vegetable for lunch, ¾ cup is chosen as the serving size in order to meet the minimum vegetable serving size for grades K-5 or grades 6-8. 125 as the number of servings planned is entered. After entering the serving size and number of servings, click on “Add to List”.

Food Buying Guide Calculator Page 4 The FBG calculator automatically calculates that you need to purchase 13.25 pounds of fresh, ready-to use broccoli in order to serve 125 – ¾ cup servings of broccoli. Notice that the FBG rounds up to the nearest whole purchase unit or next ¼ pound. This creates a shopping list that you can print or email. You can also add more food items, edit food items and remove food items.

Menus

Team Nutrition Menu Planning Tools This USDA Team Nutrition webpage provides many sample menus from other states that are compliant with NSLP and SBP requirements. Many of them just need a slight tweaking to fit your needs in Michigan. If you are new and don’t want to start from scratch, you can use these resources as a great starting point. Link to Menu Planning Website http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/menu-planning/menu-planning-tools/menu-planning-tools-school-food-service

Ohio – Menus That Move: Cycle Menus and Recipes “Ohio – Menus That Move” are highlighted on the next slides. Ohio is one of our “sister states” in the USDA Midwest Region. From this resource, you will find cycle menus for Fall, Winter, Spring ,and Summer, featuring local foods in season. Each season contains 5 weekly menus for grades K-8 and 9-12 with meal components and nutrient standards. Menus meet the Target One sodium levels. Link to Menu Planning Website http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/menu-planning/menu-planning-tools/menu-planning-tools-school-food-service

Ohio – Standardized Recipes “Ohio – Menus That Move” include standardized recipes that are available for the menu items listed.

Ohio – Nutrient Profile A nutrient analysis, using approved USDA software, has been done on all the Ohio menus.

Ohio – Certification Worksheets The 6 cents certification worksheets are all completed for the Ohio menus. Depending on the menu item, you may need to adjust these numbers to match the specific item you are serving.

Recipes

Tips for Recipes There are many sources for recipes on the internet. Because there are specific meal patterns and nutrient targets that must be met for child nutrition programs, you must ensure that all recipes are standardized and credit correctly for the school meals served. Always remember: Utilize USDA resources Source carefully Adapt as necessary

Recipe Resources There are many online resources for recipes… Link to Michigan Team Nutrition Website http://www.youtube.com/user/miteamnutrition1 Link to Washington State “Scratch Cooking” Website http://www.k12.wa.us/ChildNutrition/Programs/NSLBP/pubdocs/ChildNutritionRecipeBook.pdf Link to Vermont FEED Website http://www.vtfeed.org/materials/new-school-cuisine-cookbook Link to USDA: What’s Cooking? Website http://www.whatscooking.fns.usda.gov/ Link to Recipes for Healthy Kids: Cookbook for Schools http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/recipes-healthy-kids-cookbook-child-care-centers-0 Link to Provo District Farm To School Recipes http://www.farmtoschool.org/resources-main/provo-city-school-district-recipes-with-local-food-items Link to National Dairy Council Website http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/ChildNutrition/Pages/NutritionBreakfast.aspx Link to School Meals That Rock Website http://www.pinterest.com/schoolmealsrock/school-recipes-that-rock/

Annual USDA Food Availability Don’t forget to check yearly to see what USDA Foods (commodities) are available for you to use in menu planning.

Legislation Requirements Sec. 9 of the National School Lunch Act Meals must reflect the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) Sec. 201 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 Regulations based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (IOM)

Final Rule-Meal Patterns Link to USDA Meal Pattern Nutrition Standards http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/nutrition-standards-school-meals

Summary Your menu is the single most important factor in a food service operation. There are many factors to consider when planning a menu. Use the many resources available when planning your menus.