Shooting for the top - North Carolina school food service

Food and Nutrition, Oct, 1987 by Kent Taylor

Shooting For The Top

North Carolina has a strong commitment to excellence in public education, and that commitment extends to school food service.

This year the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has developed a new recognition system for school food service, called the Awards for Excellence Program, that supports this commitment to quality.

The new system helps measure how well programs and resources are being managed.

Sets new standards for food service

A 1986 summer conference to set agency goals identified the need to revise the state's obsolete awards program for school food programs.

"So much has changed in child nutrition in the past 10 years, we felt we had to restructure our awards program to make it more meaningful," says George McCullen, state child nutrition regional coordinator. McCullen chaired a committee of five state school food service employees who were assigned to change the awards system.

"Since the state was in the process of rewriting goals and setting standards for excellence in public education, we wanted to relate our awards system to the highest level of achievement," he adds.

"We surveyed other states to see what kind of incentive systems were out there. Ideas from other states were helpful in our planning. Most states we surveyed were very interested in receiving our final awards package."

Criteria developed for several areas

Standards for excellence were developed to assist school food service managers attain maximum effectiveness in several critical program areas, including financial management, food production and service, sanitation and safety, labor, promotion and merchandising, participation, nutrition education, and personnel management.

Committee members developed the criteria and documentation needed in each area. To let school food service directors know exactly what was expected to meet the criteria, they identified specific goals and the number of points schools would earn by accomplishing them.

Since McCullen had experience as an auditor, he was responsible for the sections involving labor, financial management, and personnel. Others on the committee drew on their expertise in areas such as food production and sanitation to develop measurable standards.

Julie Stewart, assistant director of child nutrition for the state, wrote the nutrition section since she had experience as a dietitian.

"Schools are now doing much more nutrition education than in the past," Stewart says. "We wanted to reward those staffs that routinely present nutrition information to students and participate in nutrition training."

New system was ready by fall

Current and retired child nutrition staff and several local food service directors helped evaluate the proposed system and made suggestions. After a busy summer of work by the awards committee, the final product was presented to all school superintendents and child nutrition directors.

To explain the new system and answer any questions, the state staff held special training sessions. They asked for schools to send documentation on their programs by April so awards could be sent back for presentation at ceremonies by the end of the school year.

Only two schools received a plaque this year, the highest award offered. Other winners received framed blue, red, or white ribbon certificates, depending on the number of points earned.

As McCullen explains, some school staff think the standards may be too high, but he feels they are appropriately challenging. "We are trying to recognize true excellence, not just give out awards," he says.

Top performers are recognized

To receive full credit under the new criteria, cafeterias must maintain a sanitation grade of 98--high for a food service establishment. Other standards require that labor costs don't exceed 35 percent of total revenues and that at least 90 percent of elementary students participate in the lunch program.

Points are also awarded if the school is involved in other child nutrition programs, such as the Summer Food Service Program and the Child Care Food Program.

Under the promotion and merchandising standards, the school must utilize a variety of merchandising techniques, such as using garnishes found in the School Recipe Portfolio, a full-color recipe book produced by several Southeast states and USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).

Schools are also recognized for providing a pleasant, attractive dining environment with points awarded for colorful walls, plants, seasonal decorations, student artwork, and a screened dish-return area.

In order to receive full credit for promotion and merchandising, students and parents must have the opportunity to provide input into the school lunch program. Students and parents can get involved in activities such as menu planning, taste testing, nutrition education, and cafeteria improvements.

John Murphy, North Carolina state child nutrition director, praises local school food service staff for what they are accomplishing in this area, often with limited funds.