Frequently Asked Questions About the
Nutrition and Wellness
Policy
1.
Why are we
doing this?
The wellness policy is in compliance with Section 204 of
the Child Nutrition and WIC reauthorization Act 204 (Section
1112.36-1.7, NJAC 2:36-1.7 School Nutrition Policy and NJAC2:36-1.1-1.13 Biosecurity Policy.
2.
Does the "law" prohibit cupcakes and baked
goods?
The biosecurity policy requires that all foods sold, served, or
given out as free promotion anywhere on school property during the school day
be purchased from a local food vendor (or
cafeteria) to ensure the safety and quality of the foods.
3.
Are all of these restrictions necessary and
dictated by the "law" or is the district going overboard?
All of these policies must be
adopted by January 2007, the requirements of the policies dictate the
restrictions placed on foods served, sold or handed out as free promotions
during the school day.
4.
Why does my child have to adhere to this
policy, she is not overweight? The policy is to address the
importance of good food choices and physical activity for optimal
health.
5.
Please
define the "school day".
The "school day" is defined as
the time between the start of the first instructional period in school
until 20 minutes after the school's dismissal time.
6.
Can my
child still bring a lunch and anything they want like candy and soda?
You may send your child with any foods you would like, for the
past several years it has been our practice to discourage sending soda with your
child(ren) and we will ask
that they bring the soda home.
7.
Will my
child still be able to purchase his favorite lunches?
The lunches will be the same, the menus are designed following the nutritional
standards set by the Child Nutrition Program.
8.
What
variety of milk will be available, will flavored milk continue to be sold?
We offer all varieties of milk, whole (8 oz. only), 2%, 1%, fat
free and all flavored milk will be sold, flavored milk is 1% or 2% milk.
9.
Will my child's lunch choices be restricted,
for example, can she purchase three milks?
We do regulate a la carte purchases, and we discourage the
purchase of an excessive amount of snacks.
10.
Will my child be forced to eat foods she does
not like?
We participate in the child nutrition program, offering
five components to each meal, your child is required to take three
of these components and encouraged to eat them. We are certain your child will
find foods they enjoy on our menus.
11.
Can we send in foods for holiday and birthday
celebrations., like sugar free ice
pops?
It is recommended that foods that meet the nutrition
standards be sent in for birthday and holiday celebrations, ice pops are a food
of minimal nutritional value, sugar free (artificial sweeteners) is
not always the best option for children.
12.
Please provide more suggestions for these
parties:
100 Calorie Cookies and Crackers 100% Fruit
Snacks
Animal Crackers
Black & White Cookies
Cheese & Crackers
Cheese Sticks
Chex Mix
Cookies or
cupcakes that meet the criteria. Check
the package labels
Fruit Ices
Fruit Trays (sealed only)
Granola bars
Ice Cream Frozen
desserts: our ice cream vendor has a new line or products available which will
be only sold for birthday and holiday celebrations.
Jello
Kudos
Low fat mini muffins
Mini Bagels
Mini Brownie Bites
Mini muffins
Nutrigrain
Bars
Pudding Cups
Rice Krispie Treats
Small Bags of Pretzels, Popcorn, Kettle
Cooked Chips (all that meet the nutrition criteria)
Sun Chips
Veggies and Dip trays sealed only Yogurt Gogurt Pops
13.
What will be the impact on PTO fund raisers,
scout meetings, food vouchers, food coupons?
This policy applies to foods served,
sold or handed out as free promotions ONLY during the school day. After school and evening activities are not bound by these
regulations. Fund raisers must be approved by the building principal, and
food items cannot be sold during the school day. We are recommending school
related activities comply with the nutrition standards above.
14.
Will my
child miss out on memories and enjoyment of school events because of the cupcake
ban?
Food is a traditional part of
many special school events, such as Student birthdays, School wide
celebrations,
field day, promotions, etc., and food and beverages for these
occasions may be provided by parents/guardians for consumption by
our students. In these instances, it is recommended that the food
and beverages provided comply with all the dietary standards as
listed above, and may only be purchased from local retail vendors.
No homemade food items
will be permitted to be served.
Our goal is to reinforce the standards we are setting in
the cafeteria in the classrooms.
15.
What about
classes where food is used as part of a lesson?
Foods used to teach nutrition, food
science, or to demonstrate scientific principals are exempt from meeting the
standards as listed above. Foods used to support instruction in social studies,
geography, and world languages are exempt from meeting the standards as
listed above only if they are historically, socially, culturally, or
ethnically authentic, but every effort should be made to meet the
standards to the fullest extent possible.
16.
My child's teacher uses candy in his special
education program. How will this change?
This policy does NOT apply to:
medically authorized special needs diets pursuant to 7 CFR Part 210; school
nurses using foods of minimal nutritional value while providing health care to
individual students; or special needs students whose Individualized Education
Plan (IEP) indicates their use.
17.
Are calories or portion sizes considered when
determining which foods that meet these standards?
No, the grams of fat, saturated fats, trans-fats and sugar
as the first ingredient are the primary consideration, portion sizes are used
when preparing the lunches. A la carte items sold are single serve.
18.
What about
ice cream, can we still purchase ice cream?
Ice cream and frozen desserts
will be available. All ice cream/frozen desserts will meet the standards
for sugar, fat, and saturated fat as listed above; in the middle and high
schools, 40% of ice creams shall be allowed to exceed this standard. The ice
cream vendor has a new line of ice creams which meet these standards.
19.
Is exercise
a part of the wellness policy?
The Oxford Central School will
provide nutrition education and physical education programs, consistent with the
New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards, that
foster lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical activity, and will
establish linkages between health education, school meal programs, and
related community services. School personnel shall actively promote
student physical activity during the school day beyond the required
physical education periods.
OXFORD TOWNSHIP BOARD OF EDUCATION
Foodservice Biosecurity Management Plan
What is “Food Biosecurity”?
Introduction
“Food Biosecurity” is the
protection of food from bioterrorism or any intentional use of biological and
chemical agents for the purpose of causing harm.
How Does “Food Biosecurity
Differ from “Food Safety”?
“Food Biosecurity” focuses on
ways to limit the opportunity for someone to intentionally contaminate food for
the purpose of causing harm or death. “Food Safety” focuses
on ways to limit naturally occurring food contaminates and those caused by cross
contamination and time/temperature abuse.
What is Our “Food Biosecurity Management Plan”?
Our “Food Biosecurity
Management Plan” is our District’s way to prepare for the threat of bioterrorism
or a crisis emergency to our foodservice operation.
This “Food Biosecurity
Management Plan” contains policies and procedures to minimize the risk of
intentional contamination of food and reduce the risk of illness or death in our
school community.
Our plan includes strategies for preventing threats and
incident of product tampering and food contamination. It also
contains step by step actions to implement if a biosecurity or crisis incident occurs.
This manual has been developed as an emergency readiness plan to help
protect the lives and health of the children and adults in our school
environment.
This plan is in compliance with N.J.A.C. 2:36-1.13 and
the USDA’s “Biosecurity Checklist for School Foods
Service Programs.
Holiday & Birthday Foods That Meet
the
Standards set by the Wellness Policy
Ice creams and frozen desserts that meet the nutritional standards (can be purchased
and stored in the cafeteria). Please note we are not
permitted to store any foods that were not purchased from our
vendors. Please do not ask the cafeteria ladies to store
outside foods. Thank you.
Please read the Nutrition Labels to avoid sending in
foods that contain nuts or peanuts.
100 Calorie Cookies and Crackers
100% Fruit Snacks
Animal Crackers
Black & White Cookies
Cheese & Crackers
Cheese Sticks
Chex Mix
Cookies or cupcakes that meet the
criteria. Check the package labels
Fruit Ices
Fruit Trays (sealed only)
Granola bars
Ice Cream Frozen desserts: our ice
cream vendor has a new line or products available which will be only sold for
birthday and holiday celebrations.
Jello
Kudos
Low fat mini muffins
Mini Bagels
Mini Brownie Bites
Mini muffins
Nutrigrain
Bars
Pudding Cups
Rice Krispie Treats
Small Bags of Pretzels, Popcorn, Kettle Cooked Chips
(all that meet the nutrition criteria)
Sun Chips
Veggies and Dip trays sealed only
Yogurt Gogurt Pops
Please DO NOT send the
following items to school for holidays and birthday celebrations.
They WILL NOT be served to the students and sent home with
your child.
Homemade baked goods (cookies, cupcakes)
Home prepared items such as vegetable or fruit
platters
Foods of minimal nutritional value, i.e. gum, candy,
water ices (ice pops that do not contain fruit or fruit juices), soda or any
carbonated beverages
Juice drinks, i.e. HiC,
Hawaiian Punch
Food items that are not sealed, i.e. Dunkin Donuts,
Munchkins, or donuts.
We are recommending that muffins, cupcakes, desserts or
ice creams that do not meet the nutritional standards for fat and
saturated fat not be sent.