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RI Team Nutrition Project: Upgraded Nutritional Requirements
for School Meals Will be Implemented Statewide by Fall 2009 or sooner!
When RIDE went out to bid for a statewide school foodservice contract
this past year, it had included a new set of more stringent nutritional
criteria for School Meals, called RI Nutrition Requirements 2009 or RINR
2009 (click here for RINR 2009). The RINR 2009 will result in healthier
school breakfasts and lunches for students that include more and a wider
variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains and reduced sodium levels.
While most RI school food service directors are already proactively piloting
the RINR 2009, 12 RI school districts have contractually obligated their
food service management companies to fully implement RINR 2009 this school
year.
Rhode Island was awarded a USDA Team Nutrition Project Grant to support the implementation of RINR 2009. The Team Nutrition Grant is funding the upgrade of the RIDE school meals accountability system so that compliance with the RINR 2009 can be monitored, as well funding school food service programs' access to Kids First's skilled chefs and dietitians who are offering free training and technical assistance to every school district. Adrienne DiMeo of RIDE, Finance, and Dorothy Brayley are serving as Project Co-Directors and are available to answer your questions and keep you updated.
Kids First Offers ServSafe Course for School Food Service
Staff at Reduced Prices
Kids First is pleased to announce that we are able to offer the ServSafe
Food Safety Managers Course for Certification and Re-Certification this
October. Although this course is no longer subsidized through federal
grants, we are able to offer it at significantly reduced prices. Our next
class, taught by Food Service Director, Solange Morrissette, will be held
as follows:
PLACE: Jenks Junior High school, Pawtucket
TIME: 2:30-6:30PM
DATES for CERTIFICATION: October 7, 14, 21, and 28 (ALL REQUIRED)
DATES for RE-CERTIFICATION: October 7 and 14 (BOTH REQUIRED)
COST: Certification is $145; Re-Certification is $50 Please contact
Patricia Diminico at pdiminico@kidsfirstri.org
for more information and to register.
Kids
First Offers Food Safety Inspection Service
Kids First will again be offering the Food Safety Inspection Service to
all RI schools and RCCI's for our third year. Each of the past two years,
we inspected over 150 sites with great success. We are also pleased to
announce that there has been no price change and therefore the cost per
site will continue to remain the same as the past two years.
John Fratiello, our State-approved auditor, will continue to fulfill all responsibilities associated with any Food Safety Inspections. He will make unannounced visits to inspect each site(s), in accordance with all rules and regulations of RI Department of Health, Office of Food Protection.
John Fratiello has a Culinary Arts degree from Johnson & Wales University and a Business degree from Bryant University. John has a career in food service that spans 25 years including fine dining and restaurant start-ups. For the last 12 years, he has worked in school food service, both in small and large accounts throughout Rhode Island and Connecticut, making him uniquely aware of the USDA National School Breakfast and Lunch program operations.
With John as our auditor, the Kids First commitment is to ensure that the students in our school system are served the safest food possible. Our unannounced audits will include teaching proper food handling procedures, suggesting safe food preparation techniques, and the implementation of HACCP (Hazardous Analysis of Critical Control Points) Systems. We will also provide a corrective action plan to help sites address any deficiencies. If you would like Kids First to provide these inspection(s) or you have any questions, please contact pdiminico@kidsfirstri.org.
Updated
RI Approved Product List is Available
The RI Approved Product List for Vending and A La Carte Foods in Schools
(and childcare too!) now includes an extensive list of distributors to
help get you connected with the healthier products. The updated list is
available for downloading from the Kids First Cafeteria Section of our
website. Visit the Kids First Lunch Lady! All
products on the list are in compliance with the "RI Healthier Beverages
and Snacks Law."
