Tag Archives: school cafeterias

Wordware, Inc. Announced That the Company Has Entered Into an Exclusive Partnership With FEEZEE

Wordware, Inc.  announced that the company has entered into an exclusive partnership with FEEZEE for proving online payment options to its clients in global market.

Wordware’s robust, reliable, and feature-rich School Lunch Software Mayflower LCS1000. FEEZEE is an integrated software platform that manages online payment features in many ways, its single high-security platform for any kind of business. FEEZEE allows end-users to control, manage, monitor, pay safely, prevent unwanted access, maintain compliance, and provide a robust audit trail. Secure payment processing on any device from a leading credit card payment processor.

Wordware’s School Lunch Software Mayflower LCS1000  are designed to integrate seamlessly with current systems, ensuring that existing credentials, readers, and user databases can be retained. The Wordware DataBridge is designed integrate data across multiple software applications within a School District. Our Databridge allows software applications to send information back and forth. The DataBridge allows each of these programs or portals to send information back and forth. With the DataBridge, a school does not need to maintain multiple databases of the same student list, they can maintain one and sync the rest with databridge.

Currently the LCS mayflower works seamlessly with hundreds of Student Information Systems. Many of our customers use Synergy, Infinite Campus, Power School, JMC, Skyward and more. The DataBridge has worked with every SIS that we have encountered.

  • Eliminate the need to maintain multiple databases
  • Maintain one database and sync the rest
  • One to many and many to one
  • Facilitate information for multiple departments within the district

“Wordware is excited to announce our partnership with FEEZEE, our exclusive online payment partner for School Lunch Software Solutions all over country,” said Manager  “We truly appreciate FEEZEE’s  expertise and are eager to support their growing channel partner network.  FEEZEE’s solutions, local knowledge, and experience complement our physical access product offerings for the market.

Under this best-of-breeds partnership, Wordware’s School lunch software platform is integrated with online payment gateway. FeeZee helps manage personnel access, online account management, credit card payment  etc. Wordware and FEEZEE will target customers in all kind of schools. These high customers require custom School Lunch Software with  policies that suit their individual needs and hassle-free deployments with seamless integration between software, hardware, and policies. • Easy online application • No complicated software to set up • No software or annual license fees FEEZEE Provides: • Secure, online payment processing from any mobile or internet capable device • Flexible payment options for your customers • An intuitive, easy to use interface • Reporting to help you manage payments • Customer receipts

About Wordware

Wordware, Inc., founded in 1983 and headquartered in Mendota Heights, MN, provides software applications for cafeteria sector. Wordware’s  LCS mayflower system is expandable to concessions, school store and could be integrated with Student information system, which makes perfect advance solution for your school. Wordware Inc, is the market leader in online Lunch payment system, most of the schools saves time and money using our unique and techno advance Lunch payment application software.  Lunch system makes your school to monitor money administration easier and will reduce time spent on managing the school meal service. Wordware Inc, Lunch payment system is a simple and secure way for schools to connect, transact and manage all their school payments solutions.

Contact Us. Corporate Headquarters: Wordware, Inc. 2526 Northland Dr: Mendota Heights, MN 55120; Email: Sales Information: sales@wordwareinc.com www.wordwareinc.com  call us at (800) 955-2649

About FEEZEE

FEEZEE is an easy to use payment processing solution that allows you to process credit cards, debit cards and ACH transactions with a simple interface launched right from your web site. FEEZEE does all the heavy lifting of payment processing so you can focus on the things you need to do to make your business successful. Don’t get bogged down with setting up merchant accounts, creating reports and managing software, let FEEZEE handle it and start accepting online payments today.

Solutions available for education and businesses that need to process payments electronically.Why FEEZEE? It’s easy. Contact sales@fee-zee.com, or call us at 844-5-FEEZEE (844-533-3933) for more information visit www.fee-zee.com

New Jersey School Breakfast and Lunch Program

Program Description

The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides cash assistance to states to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition service administers the SBP at the Federal level. State education agencies administer the SBP at the state level, and local school food authorities operate the program in schools.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.

General Program Requirements

For this benefit program, you must be a resident of the state of New Jersey.

Income eligibility guidelines are used to determine eligibility for free and reduced priced meals or free milk.

If you are earning at or below current Income Eligibility Guidelines, we encourage you to contact your school to fill out a school meal application. The school or local education agency will process your application and issue an eligibility determination.

If you are receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, your child automatically qualifies for free school meals. If you are eligible for unemployment compensation, you might also be eligible for free or reduced price school meals.

Because many programs offer services to families that may qualify them under other local criteria, we strongly recommend you contact the program in your community for more information and guidance.

Your Next Steps

The following information will lead you to the next steps to apply for this program.

Application Process

Schools send school meal applications home at the beginning of each school year. However, you may apply for school meals at any time throughout the school year by submitting a household application directly to your school. Your school will provide you with an application upon request.

Contact your state’s agency to participate.

Program Contact Information

For additional information, please visit the New Jersey School Nutrition Programs page.
Or visit the following websites:
USDA’s National School Breakfast Program
USDA’s School Lunch Program

 

Here’s One Way to Improve School Lunches

Alice Park @aliceparkny

March 23, 2015
Yellow Dog Productions—Getty Images For many children, half their daily calories come from school lunch With so many children getting about half of their daily calories from school meals, it’s critical that school cafeterias provider healthier options. The latest research suggests one way to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables

 

If everyone had a personal chef, we’d all eat better. And if every school had a chef overseeing its recipes and menus, then kids would eat better too, right?

That’s the idea behind the latest study published in JAMA Pediatrics. With 32 million children in the U.S. eating school lunches—some of those at schools where pizza is considered a vegetable—there’s a movement to bring healthy food to the school cafeteria. But could a chef really make a difference?

MORE: Here’s What School Lunches Around the World Look Like

The answer, as Juliana Cohen from the Harvard School of Public Health and her colleagues found out, is a resounding yes. The First Lady’s Chefs Move to Schools program and the Smarter Lunchrooms movement have pushed two new ways of bringing healthier fare to students: by hiring chefs to work in school cafeterias, and by something they called a “smart café” system: strategically placing healthy foods like fruits and vegetables more prominently in lunch lines.

To test each strategy, as well as the two methods together, Cohen went to 14 schools in low-income Massachusetts urban areas and watched what 2,638 students in 3rd grade through 8th grade put on their trays and ate during lunch for seven months. Some schools were randomly assigned for the first three months to work with a chef to develop and modify recipes, some simply focused on the placement of healthy food, and some did both. The scientists studied what was left on the students’ plates as a way to determine what and how much of their food the students were eating.

MORE: Michelle Obama Bites Back at Critics of Her Healthy School Lunch Standards

At the chef schools, the chances that the students selected fruit from the lunch line increased threefold compared to schools without a chef’s influence, and the odds that they actually tried some of the fruit increased by 17%. Researchers saw similar boosts with vegetables; students in the chef schools were nearly three times as likely to choose veggies, and 16% more likely to actually eat them.

When the researchers looked at the schools that used both the chefs and the smart café strategies, the results were more mixed. Interestingly, the combination did not significantly affect the chances that students would grab fruits, but it dramatically increased the odds that children would pick up vegetables, compared to schools without either intervention.

“We were quite surprised to see that when we looked at the combined smart café and chefs, there was no additional benefit beyond the impact of the chef,” says Cohen, a research associate in the department of nutrition. “Really it’s the impact of the chef that is driving the increase in consumption. We also saw that chef schools also increased selection as well, so there is a double benefit in these schools.”

What the results highlight is that smart architecture and strategic placing of healthier foods in more prominent positions isn’t enough to get kids to eat them. But having a chef prepare school lunch does the trick.

MORE: Lunch Brought From Home is Unhealthier Than Cafeteria Food

At the schools assigned to use a chef, the chefs tested new recipes and gave out samples for students to try, as well as encouraged them to try new things, presumably those containing more vegetables and fruits. “Knowing that the chef inspired the recipes can change the mentality around cafeteria food,” says Cohen. “And having the chefs there showed the kids that the school cared about them, and cared about what they were feeding them.”

MORE: Most Schools Still Don’t Meet Federal Nutrition Standards

Cohen doesn’t see hiring full time chefs as a realistic or practical option for most school districts, but does suggest having several districts pool their resources to share a chef for training and nutrition education. At the schools in the study, some saw cost savings because the chefs not only revamped menus but helped staff with inventory control and more efficient use of their supplies. “They will gain long-lasting skills,” she says, noting that once they are trained, cafeteria staff could come up with their own additions and modifications to menus over time.

There won’t be a single easy fix to improving school lunches, and each school may need to find its own solution, but if Cohen’s study proves one thing, it’s that when it comes to getting kids to eat something — anything — taste is key. Even if it’s nutritious, if it tastes good too, students will eat it.

National School Lunch Program

Information about applying for and administering the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).


Program Information

What is the National School Lunch Program?

The National School Lunch Program is a federally funded program that assists schools and other agencies in providing nutritious lunches to children at reasonable prices. In addition to financial assistance, the program provides donated commodity foods to help reduce lunch program costs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) External link opens in new window or tab. is responsible for overseeing the program nationally. In California, the program is administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division.

What are the benefits of participating in the program?

For children, the National School Lunch Program provides a nutritious meal that contains one-third of the recommended dietary allowance of necessary nutrients. For parents, the program offers a convenient method of providing a nutritionally balanced lunch at the lowest possible price. For schools, the program enhances children’s learning abilities by contributing to their physical and mental well being. Studies have shown that children whose nutritional needs are met have fewer attendance and discipline problems and are more attentive in class.

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What type of lunch must be offered?

Please see our School Menu Planning Options page for meal pattern information and our Meal Patterns and Menu Planning page for complete information.

What is involved in operating a National School Lunch Program?

The lunch program must be open to all enrolled children. Free or reduced price meals must be provided to those children who qualify for such benefits according to specified family size and income standards. Agency staff must verify income on a percentage of those children receiving free or reduced price lunches to confirm their eligibility. Records must be kept to document that the lunch program follows all federal and state rules and regulations. Some of the records that must be kept are:

  • Meal production records and inventory records that document the amounts and types of food used.
  • The number of lunches served each day, by site and by category (free, reduced price, and full price).
  • Applications submitted by families for free and reduced price meals, by site, and a description of the follow-up actions taken to verify eligibility.
  • Records of income, expenditures, and contributions received.

The CDE periodically conducts a comprehensive review of each agency’s lunch program. Those agencies that annually receive $500,000 or more in federal funds (from all sources) must also be audited each year.

How do we get paid?

The National School Lunch Program is operated on a reimbursement basis, with agencies paid on the number of meals served. Agencies submit a monthly reimbursement claim form, available on the CDE fiscal Nutrition Services-School Nutrition Program Web page, to the CDE. After the Department reviews the form, the claim is sent to the State Controller’s Office, where the check is issued. Agencies typically receive reimbursement within four to six weeks after submitting the reimbursement claim form.

Agencies that participate in the program are reimbursed from two sources: the USDA and the State of California. State reimbursement is paid for all free and reduced price meals. Federal reimbursement is paid for all free, reduced price, and paid meals. Visit our Rates, Eligibility Scales, and Funding page for current rates.

What types of agencies may participate?

Public and private nonprofit schools are eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program. Also eligible are public and private nonprofit licensed residential child care institutions (e.g., group homes, juvenile halls, orphanages).

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Where can we get assistance?

Nutritionists and program staff from the CDE are available to provide free technical assistance and guidance on how to operate a National School Lunch Program. Assistance is available on such topics as menu planning, proper food storage and preparation, record keeping and reporting, and clarifying federal and state regulations. Visit the School Nutrition Program (SNP) Primer External link opens in new window or tab. Web page for resources, materials, and technical assistance in the administration and operation of the SNP.

Whom do we contact?

Please see the county list of School Nutrition Programs (SNP) specialists in the Download Forms section of the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS). You may also contact the SNP Unit Secretary by phone at 916-322-1450 or 800-952-5609.

Spotting Trends Based on ‘What We Eat in America’

Using a computerized dietary-intake survey program and serving-size aids, interviewers are able to help volunteers recall their dietary intakes. (USDA-ARS photo taken by Stephen Ausmus)

March is National Nutrition Month. Throughout the month, USDA will be highlighting results of our efforts to improve access to safe, healthy food for all Americans and supporting the health of our next generation.

The U.S. food supply is abundant, but many consumers are experiencing nutritional shortfalls. Some are overfed but undernourished at the same time. Observing trends in U.S. diets is possible based on food-consumption data collected during the annual “What We Eat in America/NHANES” dietary-intake survey.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is responsible for the consumption interview, one of several components of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The dietary survey is managed by researchers at the Food Surveys Research Group in Beltsville, Md., part of the ARS Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center.

Each year, the “What We Eat in America” computer-based dietary interview is used to ask more than 5,000 individuals nationwide about the foods and beverages they consumed. The participants’ dietary supplement intakes also are collected.

Research nutritionists then translate “what’s eaten” into “nutrients consumed.” The survey data—after analysis—provide insights into the population’s nutrient-intake status, such as overconsumption, nutritional shortfalls, healthy snacking and poor eating.

Here are some of the dietetic trends based on “What We Eat in America” survey data collected in 2011-2012.

—On average, U.S. individuals are getting only about half their daily recommended intake for dietary fiber and potassium. And well over one-third aren’t getting their recommended calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin A from foods and beverages.

—More than 90 percent are not getting their recommended vitamin D from foods and beverages. Based on supplement use tracked, about one-fourth took a supplement containing vitamin D, and more than half of women aged 60 and older took one.

—Lunch is the meal most frequently skipped. On any survey day, one in five individuals did not eat lunch.

—On a given day, more than half of individuals ate at least one food or beverage that was obtained from a restaurant. The proportion is higher for young adults. Two-thirds of those aged 20 to 39 ate food or beverage obtained from a restaurant. When consumed, restaurant foods and beverages contributed more than 40 percent of daily calories.

—Overconsumption also is a problem. Based on the survey data, individuals consumed 3,500 milligrams of sodium on a given day, which is about one-third more than the recommended maximum for adults with no known risk factors.

Essential vitamins and minerals help the body stay healthy and function properly. “What We Eat in America” data results are informative to consumers and professionals. To keep up with what’s trending based on “What We Eat in America,” visit the USDA-ARS Food Survey Research Group Web site.

A man and woman looking at the Sodium Intakes of Americans chart

The dietary survey data show that U.S. adults consume on average about one-third more than the maximum daily sodium intake recommended, or more than 1.5 teaspoons of salt daily. (USDA-ARS photo taken by Peggy Greb)

Posted by Rosalie Marion Bliss, Public Affairs Specialist, Agricultural Research Service, on March 31, 2016 at 11:00 AM