January / February 2012

New Website Launched!

After many months of programming, writing, reading, and editing, we are excited to announce the unveiling of CNOPS’s NEW WEBSITE! The website is still at the same location meals4kids.org, but with a more clean and user-friendly format. On the website you will find:

• The Resource Sharing Library, a place for child nutrition professionals to share helpful information with one another such as a popular recipe or event idea
• The CNOP Spotlight, stories about local people making changes in their community to make breakfast or summer meals available for more kids
• Maps of summer meal site locations
• The ability to order or download free materials
• As well as available grants and more!

You may also notice that we’ve rebranded our Breakfast Brainstorm Newsletter to Fresh Focus! We hope that this now all-inclusive title will adequately reflect the broad range of topics including summer meals and child nutrition policy.

We hope you are as excited as we are about all of these changes!

Resource Sharing Library Makeover

As a part of CNOP’s website redesign, the Resource Sharing Library has a new look too! We wanted to make sure the Resource Sharing Library was user-friendly and a place that people felt confident going to for materials. The resource sharing page still allows you and your colleagues the opportunity to share ideas and tools that are working in your community. You have the ability to easily share recipes, menus, flyers, presentations, photos, videos, press clippings, and more directly to our web page. We will include your name and community along with your submission so that others will know the source of these great ideas. If you don’t see a material you are looking for, let your peers know. The Resource Sharing Library allows you to post requests for a specific materials.

New! You spoke and we listened. After the launch of the Resource Sharing Library last year we received feedback that it would be useful to allow comments on materials. Therefore, the new Resource Sharing Library houses a comment section, allowing you to provide feedback on how the materials or recipes worked in your district. For example, if you y modify a recipe for allergies or something you can now post that information for others.

We hope that you find the new look and features of the Resource Sharing Library useful! If you have suggestions for additional tools you would like to see on our website, please let us know.

View the Resource Sharing Library

Submit materials now

ATTENTION: Anyone who submits to the Resource Sharing Library NOW will automatically be put into a monthly drawing for a chance to win some great breakfast incentives!

CNOP Spotlight: School Nutrition Director, Maria Hall, from Walpole, MA

In the Spotlight

This month we are featuring a new School Nutrition Director who is doing great things in her district. To learn more about how Maria Hall launched a breakfast program district-wide in Walpole and used grant funds to makeover her high school cafeteria, check it out here!

Time to Kickoff Summer!

Though it is just starting to feel like winter outside, it is now time to start thinking about Summer Meals! For those less familiar, the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides free meals to kids under 19 while school is not in session. These meals are served at sites like parks, schools, or community centers in areas where either:

• School data indicates that 50% or more of the students attending the local school are eligible for free or reduced price meals, or
• Census data indicates that 50% or more of the kids live in a household whose income is at or below 185% of the poverty level.

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming an SFSP site this summer, give us a call or send an email!

Want to learn more about SFSP and start planning for the summer? February 14, 2012 is this year’s SFSP kickoff, held at the Hogan Center at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester from 9am to noon. Please join us to hear two great speakers sharingtheir success stories from last summer, an update from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, announcements of this year’s grant categories, and a chance to win free billboard space this summer! If you are interested in attending, please email Dennis at Dennis_Mercier@projectbread.org.

The 2nd Annual School Breakfast Video Contest: Eat. Film. Screen.

We are so excited to announce the 2nd Annual School Breakfast Video Contest: Eat. Film. Screen. Due to the success of last year’s contest (47 submissions, to be exact!), this year’s competition has grown to also include middle school students in on the video-making fun!

Middle and high school students throughout Massachusetts are invited to develop a 30-second video to promote eating a healthy school breakfast. The contest will launch on March 5th, 2012, during National School Breakfast Week. Students will have 30 days to submit their videos online to SchoolTube.com, a safe online space for teachers and students to share media. The winning video will be featured on WHDH-TV’s “Urban Update.” Prizes also include:

• 8GB Ultra HD Flip Video™ Cameras(for individuals or groups of four or fewer)
• A $1,000 Visa gift card to be spent on the winning class or club
• Monetary prizes for the 2nd and 3rd place winners.

We encourage you to promote the video contest among students, teachers, and staff within your school! To order promotional posters or to receive specific contest guidelines and information please visit the site page here.

Status Report on Hunger in Massachusetts

Every year Project Bread releases a report on the current status of hunger in Massachusetts. Sometimes it is easy to forget that there are many families struggling to put food on the table. Yet, the number of households in Massachusetts facing hunger continues to climb. Last year, the rate of households that were food insecure reached its highest peak (since this data has been recorded) of 10.8 percent.

This year’s Status Report shows that while the median income for wealthy residents continues to rise, due to an increase of high-paying technology jobs and a decrease in manufacturing jobs, the median income of struggling families continues to steadily fall, and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow. The growing income gap and varying challenges around the state, have required a new way of thinking about hunger. Project Bread believes that no one response fits all situations, and focusing on solutions that strengthen communities and the individual is the best way to make a sustainable impact.

To learn more about the Status of Hunger in Massachusetts, download this year’s full report here.

Don’t Let Language be a Barrier

As school districts across the state are well aware, the number of children who are eligible for free or reduced price meals is growing rapidly. While many families are turning to school meals when their income dwindles due to reduced work hours or a lost job, there are plenty more that are not aware that this option is available to them because the application is not available in their native language.

Most districts translate the application into English, Spanish, and any other language spoken commonly in the community. However, households that speak a less common language may be falling through the cracks.

All families should have the ability to apply for school meals, regardless of whether or not the school district has the resources to translate the application. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a standard school meal application on its website in 33 different languages. Do not worry if this application form is not identical to the one you are using in your district. It was updated in July 2011 and captures all of the required information from the applicant.

If you are unclear what language a parent or guardian speaks, you can provide him or her with USDA’s “I speak” checklist. This form has the sentence “I speak (name of language)” in 33 languages with a checkbox next to each. You can ask the applicant to check the appropriate box so that you can provide the appropriate school meal application.

Free Online Training Course!

In the fall of 2009 Governor Deval Patrick signed an Executive Order requiring state agencies to follow the EO 509 Nutrition Standards, ensuring healthy meals and snacks are provided to their clients and patients. If your agency buys or prepares food for your clients on a daily basis, you can participate in a free online course.

FREE 5-module course for Massachusetts staff who buy or prepare food. Modules include: Fiber, Salt, Healthy Snacks, Healthy Beverages, and Healthy Cooking.

Each module will take about 30 minutes to complete and you will receive a certificate upon completion. To register, send an email to dph@framingham.edu with the following information:

• Your email address
• Your organization