A: While there are truly lots of things that are taken into consideration when planning a menu. The top three items that are reviewed consistently are:

Taste and item recognition – Before adding a product to a menu, we ask ourselves, is this something that kids will recognize. Also, if the product is something that kids recognize, does the product taste like something that they know and like. We accomplish this through taste tests with students of all ages, as well as looking at what restaurants and families are currently serving to kids.
Complies with USDA guidelines – The USDA, through top nutritionists and dieticians, has developed standards to help guide schools in providing well-balanced and nutritious meals for students of all ages. There have many many USDA revisions that have occurred over the past few years to the NSLP and NSBP. Examples are:
- All grains served through the NSLP and NSBP are whole grains.
- Our school lunch program offers fruits and vegetables every day.
- The amount of sodium and saturated fat are limited for each item served.
- A la carte items sold have to meet certain guidelines that limit the types of snack options that can be sold during the school day.
Cost –Like any business we must be diligent with our budget. Food costs are always considered anytime an item is being considered for our menu. When we add items to our menus, we procure items in such a way that we can get the best cost per case purchased. The more cases of an item we tell a manufacturer that we will purchase, the better the price we get per case of that item. This helps to keep the final price to our customers lower.

Below is a more in-depth list of considerations that we make:

We have certain requirements for items that must be on our menus each week. The guidelines below show what we must follow in planning our menus. Most people don’t realize when looking at our menus, is that we have to offer the following each week:
- Dark Green vegetables (Broccoli, Spinach, Kale, Romaine Lettuce)
- Red or orange vegetable (Tomatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Red Peppers, Carrots, Acorn, Butternut, or Hubbard Squash, Pumpkin)
- Legumes (Beans, peas, lentils)
All items must be grown domestically –There are a few items that are very hard to get from the United States, which would include mandarin oranges and pineapple. These items are typically brought into the United States from our vendors.
Availability of the product for an entire school year – This depends on if a manufacturer’s physical production of an item can keep up with our demand.
Storage space – We must ask ourselves if we have enough dry, cooler, and/or freezer storage to bring in and hold the number of cases needed at each school for an item.
Transportation – Because not all SCCSD schools can cook food on-site, we must transport a lot of hot and cold food from our main kitchen each day. This can be challenging because we must ensure that all food is held at the appropriate temperatures in order to keep the food safe to eat.
Allergies – Every year we get manufacturing labels and labels from the cases of food themselves, to ensure what ingredients are included in the products we purchase. When a new item is delivered, we always look at what allergens in a product.
Cooking equipment and technical skill – When purchasing a new product, we also must ensure that we have the equipment to cook that item. If we do have the equipment to cook it, we also must make sure that we have the skill to be able to prepare that item.
Non-meat items– As our population increasingly looks to more plant-based and less animal-based foods, we are always searching for items that help students meet those requirements.

Frequently Asked Meal Questions

Q: What guidelines do the school lunch and breakfast programs follow?

Q: What items are required to be offered on the menus each day?

Q: What things are taken into consideration when planning school menus?

Q: My child does not get enough calories to sustain them during the day. I feel that the lunch program does not offer enough food, how can they get larger portions or more food?

Q: Why are there not more desserts offered on the menu (this is the one we get most from the students)?