Food Services Overview
By Mary A. Crisafulli
DELHI - Delaware Academy Central School District (DA) was recently accepted into the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program offering free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students. DA Food Services Director Christine Miller successfully registered DA in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program after applying for several years.
CEP is a meal service option for school districts in low-income areas. The program allows schools to serve free breakfast and lunch options to all students without collecting income eligibility applications.
According to the USDA website, schools eligible for the program must have 40% participation in Individualized Service Plans with the school. Miller said the last application they were at 39.6% and were denied. However, the percentage of participation was recently lowered and since the USDA had DA's previous application, Miller said the district was welcomed into the program. Starting November 1st the district will be offering free breakfast and lunch to all students.
"I have wanted to be CEP for years," said Miller. The department will be working to implement the new provisions throughout the year.
To qualify for a reimbursable meal by the state or federal standards breakfast must consist of an entree, fruit, and milk and lunch consists of a protein, starch, fruit, vegetable, and milk. In addition, students must take two breakfast items and three lunch items. Miller reported that if a student is not selecting many items she will often reach out to the parent and ask what can we offer to your child that they would like to eat lunch with us.
In addition to being a CEP school, DA has had a backpack program for many years. The program allows income-eligible students to receive a backpack full of food for the weekend. Backpacks are stuffed with two breakfast entrees, three lunch entrees, and one each of a grain, fruit, vegetable, and snack item. Miller said they started to hand out backpacks on Thursdays in case of an absent student they can get theirs on Friday.
The school also holds a giving account that runs off of donations that students who can not afford a second lunch can utilize to get extra food if needed.
Other food programs include a snack program for elementary students which Miller started a few years ago. The program includes milk, juice, or the snack of the day. The program was started to help parents out if they didn't have time to pack a snack they know its available for their child, said Miller. The snack is taken out of the child's lunch account funds.
The Farm to School program launched its NY Thursday initiative which includes a lunch option built from local farm fresh foods. The initiative was launched this year and so far a favorite food item has been the smoked trout risotto, said Miller. The district has partnered with 607CSA, Tyler Hymer, Delaware Academy & Windsor FFA, and Catskill Smokehouse to secure foods. Students from Mr. Abt's Digital Information and Production class prepare the local meals at the elementary school. The ongoing project for Mr. Abt's students is to produce short features about school happenings. Miller expressed some difficulty with NY Thursdays during winter months when it is difficult to secure fresh local food.
The school averages roughly 4,716 breakfasts and 9,505 lunch participants a month which includes second servings. The most popular items tend to be tacos, grilled cheese, and pizza. The state has complemented the DA salad bar at the high school for its variety of options that help reach recommended vegetable portions for students, reported Miller. "There is usually something for everyone to find," said Miller.
The board of education is scheduled for a special meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. at the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, 5 1/2 Main Street where it is anticipated the board will enter executive session to discuss terms of a contract.
The board will enter into its first budget workshop at its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. at the high school media library center.
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