National Institute is customer oriented and "user friendly."

Food and Nutrition, Dec, 1992 by Michael McAteer

When it comes to school meals, few people have as much experience as Josephine Martin, executive director of the National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI), which began operations at the University of Mississippi just over 2 year ago.

Nationally known as a leader in child nutrition and nutrition education, Martin served as state director of Georgia's school food service programs during the 1960's and 1970's, building a statewide system known for top-quality service and sound financial administration.

In 1976 and 1977 she was president of the American School Food Service Association (ASFSA). Before coming to NFSMI in June 1991, she spent a decade managing major education programs as associate superintendent of the Georgia Department of Education's Office of Special Services in Atlanta.

It's not surprising she has ambitious goals for NFSMI.

Responding to a need for training

According to Martin, the concept of a national food service management institute was first identified at an ASFSA "Planning for the Decade" seminar at Vail, Colorado, in 1976. At that time, ASFSA and the school nutrition programs were experiencing rapid growth and program directors perceived a need for training to bring new employees up to par.

"We wanted a national resource center to help operators develop and expand, to meet the school-day nutrition needs of children, and to help school nutrition programs be an integral part of the educational process," Martin explains.

Even though it did not materialize for over a decade, the institute remained a long-range goal. In 1989 Congress called for a feasibility study and in 1990 authorized the establishment of NFSMI with USDA funds.

Support for the institute at USDA and within Congress has continued to grow. USDA's 1993 budget includes $1.7 million for NFSMI, up from $1.3 million for 1992.

During 1990-91, its first year, NFSMI set up facilities at the University of Mississippi at Oxford and at the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg. It also established advisory boards and recruited a staff of 20 people with broad experience in school feeding, food service management, research, nutrition education, and training.

Designed to be customer oriented

School food service operators face some tough challenges in the 1990's and Martin and her staff are focusing on ways to help.

"We will be concentrating on research and training materials to help providers deliver programs that are consistent with the health objectives of the nation," she says.

"One of those objectives is to have meals served through the child nutrition programs conform with the Dietary Guidelines. Another is to provide nutrition education to more children--in preschool through grade twelve. The outcome of our efforts should be children with healthy food practices ready to learn."

One of the first goals of NFSMI, says Martin, is to develop a national network of professionals to conduct education and training. "Many states have very good training materials but lack a network that assures broad coverage of content and geographical area," she explains.

To meet this need, NFSMI will use a variety of approaches. In one effort this year, for example, the institute brought together 64 representatives from districts, school, and 29 states to teach them how to form networks.

Martin says NFSMI will also concentrate on marketing the child nutrition programs. It will work to increase participation in and support for school lunch and other programs, spread the word on the need for these programs, and conduct activites related to the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Another goal will be to help children understand why food choices are important. "We will stress the need for variety and moderation," says Martin. "We want children to realize why they may eat pizza two or three times a week, but not every day."

Among Martin's long-range goals for the institute is a national information center on child nutrition which could provide data through a computer network to food service directors anywhere in the country.

She also envisions NFSMI being instrumental in helping schools use computers to teach children about healthy food choices--for example, at learning centers located in school cafeterias.

Serving providers and children

NFSMI and the people it serves are operating in a much different climate than the early days of school food service programs. In addition to facing new challenges, they also have new opportunities.

"For instance, the amount of money going into school lunch is much greater than in the past, and there's a need for strict accountability," says Martin.

"Also, we must help schools communicate good nutrition to children who today are very different than in the past. They are much more diverse ethnically, and they have access to more food and information.

They're also more aware of the importance of nutrition to wellness and health than ever before.

"We must serve our customers as individuals," she adds. "They have more choices these days and the child nutrition programs must gain the competitive edge.