Welcome to the VT AOE Seasonal Cycle Menu Toolkit!
A letter from the Author:
This project was initiated by the Vermont Agency of Education Child Nutrition Programs to support School Nutrition Program Managers and Directors. The Toolkit may especially benefit those Food Service Managers and Directors who are just starting out as well as those who want to begin using a cycle menu that incorporates local and seasonal foods.
In addition to cycle menus this project also includes many additional tools for Program Managers, Directors and Staff to execute menus successfully.
The initial research for this project included searching through real menus from Vermont School Meals Programs. As a result, the Seasonal Cycle Menu Toolkit is a composite of all the wonderful foods and menus that are already being prepared in Vermont schools.
A small team of School Nutrition Program Directors took time during the development of this project to review and provide feedback to the contents and scope of the work. These Directors include Gretchen Czaja, Erika Dolan, Heather Torrey, Karyl Kent, and Harley Sterling. The project was also guided by the Vermont Agency of Education Child Nutrition Programs staff Jennifer Hutchinson and Ailynne Adams, whose input and expertise were invaluable.
VT AOE Child Nutrition Program and I wish you all the best in your pursuit of great school meals. We hope that this tool is helpful to you!
Sincerely,
Kathy Alexander, Director of MAUSD and ANWSD Food Service Cooperative
Seasonal Cycle Menu Instructions and Overview
The following materials offer information about the menu planning process and menu standards for child nutrition professionals. To begin using the tool, read all of these documents to gain a clear understanding of how the menus were developed and gain knowledge about what additional information you will need to gather or access in order to successfully execute these menus.
9 Principles of Menu Development for Child Nutrition Programs
Key Factors in Successful Menu Production
Seasonal Cycle Menu Crediting Notes
CN Label and Product Formulation Statement Tips
Tips and Tools for Crediting Recipes
Breakfast and Lunch Food Cost Worksheet
The Seasonal Cycle Menu Toolkit is composed of four interconnected sections:
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Printable Seasonal Cycle Menus with Meal Components
We recommend downloading the Printable Seasonal Cycle Menus with Meal Components and making a copy for your use, saving the originals for future reference. You may then make changes and customizations for each of the menus to meet the specifics of your school. Customizing these menus is encouraged, however, it is important to be mindful that the menus are carefully developed to meet meal pattern requirements. Changes made must be reviewed to ensure that the meal pattern requirements are still being met. In addition, once menus are altered, the corresponding menu production records will also need to be reviewed and updated.
Fall Seasonal Cycle Menu with Meal Components
Winter Seasonal Cycle Menu with Meal Components
Spring Seasonal Cycle Menu with Meal Components
For each Seasonal Cycle Menu, the Menu Planning and Production Records Tools are prepopulated with the Cycle Menu for that season. Each Menu Planning and Production Record Tool will generate production record worksheets which can be printed for use in daily menu production. There is also a blank Menu Planning and Production Record Template for users who customize menus. Review the instructions for using menu planning and production records found at the top of the section to change and customize this tool as needed.
Completed USDA Certification Worksheets are provided for each Cycle Menu. These certification worksheets may be needed during School Nutrition Program Administrative Reviews.
Many standardized recipes are included as part of this Toolkit. These recipes come from a variety of sources including USDA Recipes, VT School Cookbook, and recipes from School Nutrition Programs in Vermont.
The above materials are also organized into seasonal subpages for Fall, Winter, and Spring.
Additional Resource Links
The USDA SNAP Seasonal Produce Guide is a resource for creating seasonal changes to a cycle menu by exchanging vegetables according to seasonality.
To access a worksheet for calculating grain contributions from a recipe, navigate to the Food Buying Guide Grains Section and click on, "Worksheet for Calculating Grain Contributions Using Grams of Creditable Grains," in the list of grain crediting options.
The USDA Food Buying Guide is a tool to assist menu planners to determine food quantities to meet meal pattern requirements, make purchasing decisions, and include crediting information on production records. For a thorough understanding of how to use the USDA Food Buying Guide, the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) offers an online series of classes specifically about how to navigate and use this tool.
Please feel free to contact us with questions or to let us know how this tool is working for you.