Monday, May 3, 2010

Welcome to School Food Service!

Healthy Cooking Demonstrations

This session will provide suggestions for the improvement of student nutrition and how food service directors can make immediate enhancements to their programs. Attendees will sample a newly developed recipe and the importance and discuss the importance and benefits of this kind of recipe. A simple cookbook with recipes that have been tested in local cafeterias will be provided to all participants. The recipes can be used throughout NM school districts to enhance student nutrition programs in the state.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Down to Business: What's New and Other Info to Do Your Job!

What's New at the USDA?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

It's Showtime: Tools to Nourish More Healthy Bodies and Minds

Part I: What Goes On Behind the Scenes

Today's school nutrition director has a myriad of responsibilities. Several of these can be satisfied, though, by meeting one objective: Feed more kids! It's easy to say, but not so easy to accomplish. The financial realities of running a school meals program are generally kept secret from the public and your customers: You don't want to look like money-grubbing business people when you're feeding hungry children! If you don't get clear about the business aspects of your program, however, you won't have the wherewithal to feed those hungry kids. In this session we'll take a closer look at what works and what doesn't to balance that budget of yours and keep you out of the red. Then we'll talk about the importance of sharing this information- and this responsibility- with your serving staff.

FoodPlay Productions

FOODPLAY and nutritionist, Barbara Storper, MS, RD,  demonstrate fun ways to make nutrition come alive at school and help get kids to go for the healthy food offerings!

Part II: Writing a Script that Delivers Your Message

In the world of school lunch, the emphasis nowadays is on nutrition. But the need to bring in more customers has not gone away. No one relieved you of that duty when they said, "Only feed kids what's good for them." But how do you do both? Employing better marketing techniques is a good place to start. This session will help you brush up on those tried-and-true advertising and marketing skills. You'll come away from this session with a "Checklist for Success," a list of what you're doing well and what you need to work on. You can tackle these challenges with detailed "how-to's" that will be provided to help you improve and promote your school nutrition program.

Part III: Rehearsing Your Staff Members to Play Their Roles

Does your serving staff groan when the students arrive? Do they feel angry when the children are rude or complain about the food? Do they sometimes talk back to the kids? They need help! Your servers' behavior can make or break your school nutrition business, so it shouldn't be left up to them to decide how to treat customers. In this session you'll discover how you can train servers to interact with customers in a positive manner and why it profits them, and your department, when they are nice to the kids. You'll also explore some proven methods for dealing with customers' complaints that will leave customers and servers feeling better about each other.