TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Presenter Notes
Slide 1
Welcome
Slide 2
The purpose of today’s training is to review how to use CACFP Tools of the
Trade. These companion resources to the CACFP meal pattern include
the Crediting Foods Guide, the Food Buying Guide and the Grains/Breads
Chart.
Slide 3
In your packet you will find these handouts that will be discussed during
today’s training; the handouts include the Grains/Breads Chart, a page
from the Food Buying Guide that we will use later in our session, and the
CACFP Meal Pattern Requirements.
Slide 4
First, we’ll talk about creditable and non-creditable foods. What are
creditable foods? Creditable foods are foods that count towards the
CACFP Meal Pattern. They are determined to be creditable by the USDA
based on nutrient content, their function in a meal (how they fit one or more
of the meal components) and compliance with USDA and WV Leap of
Taste standards and regulations.
Creditable foods must also be in compliance with the FDA’s Standards of
Identity. Standards of identity define a given food product, its name, and
the ingredients that must be used, or may be used, in the manufacture of
the food. In a few minutes, we will speak briefly about a food that is
sometimes served in centers that does NOT have a standard of identity.
Slide 5
Non-creditable foods do not count toward meeting meal pattern
requirements for a variety of reasons. Does this mean we can never serve
non-creditable food items? No. Many times these types of foods do supply
extra calories - that may or may not be needed by the children at your
center.
An example of a non-creditable food that you might choose to serve to
provide extra calories would be ice cream. Or, you may choose to serve
eggs at breakfast to contribute additional protein to the meal.
At snack time, you might serve two creditable food items to meet meal
pattern requirements, such as vanilla wafers and milk. To improve the
taste, texture and acceptability of the snack, you might add pudding as a
third item.
Slide 6
Again, creditable foods are foods that may be counted toward meeting
meal pattern requirements for a reimbursable meal. Non-creditable foods
are those that do not meet the criteria for creditable foods and therefore do
not count toward meeting meal pattern requirements.
For example, gelatin on its own is not creditable; however, if enough fruit is
added to the gelatin, the fruited Jell-O IS creditable towards the
Fruit/Vegetable meal component.
Slide 7
The Crediting Foods Guide is a supplementary resource that provides
information on creditable foods.
The Crediting Foods Guide is used to determine what foods are creditable
towards the CACFP meal pattern; keep in mind, however, that not all foods
in the Crediting Foods Guide are allowable under the West Virginia Leap of
Taste Nutrition Standards. For example, any cereal that contains more
than 6 grams of sugar per serving does not meet LOT standards and
cannot be used.
Each meal component (M/MA, F/V, Grains, and Milk) has its own section
within the Crediting Foods Guide. Each section includes a general
overview, a listing of food items and a selection of questions and answers
addressing issues with that particular component.
Slide 8
The following slides illustrate how each meal component section is broken
down within the Crediting Foods Guide.
This slide is an example of the General Overview of the Meat/Meat
Alternate meal component section. The General Overview of each section
provides information regarding requirements for how each component may
be used in a reimbursable meal.
Slide 9
This slide shows an example of the Listing of Foods section for the
Meat/Meat Alternate meal component. The left-hand column indicates the
different types of foods that may or may not be creditable. The two center
columns indicate whether those foods are creditable or not. The far righthand column may provide additional information for a specific food item
regarding its credibility.
For example, let’s look at the second food item listed, “Cheese products”.
Is this item creditable? “No” is indicated. Why not? The Comments
section explains that while cheese foods and spreads have a Standard of
Identity, cheese products do not. What’s an example of a cheese product?
(cheese in a can, or cheese in a box)
As another example, let’s look at “Chicken Nuggets”. Chicken Nuggets are
creditable; however, as you see in the Comments section, “Only the edible
chicken portion is creditable as a meat. For breading/batter crediting, see
the grain/bread section.” How do we know the amount of meat and
grain/bread that is creditable? To answer this, we would need to refer to
the Child Nutrition (CN) label.
Slide 10
What is a Child Nutrition (CN) Label?
(Read each bullet point.)
Slide 11
This is an example of a label for Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks (Chicken
Nuggets). On this label you will see a smaller, rectangular box with “CNs”
printed on all four sides; this is the CN Label that provides the correct
crediting food information for this particular item in the CACFP.
Looking at this enlarged CN Label, how many chicken nuggets would you
have to serve to provide 2oz of M/MA and 1 G/B serving? (Answer: 5)
If you were serving 3-5 yr. olds, you would serve four chicken nuggets; for
1-2 yr. olds you would serve 3 nuggets, based on this CN label.
Slide 12
Going back to the outline of the Crediting Foods Guide, we have discussed
the General Overview and Listing of Foods sections.
The third section, the Q & A, provides commonly asked questions and
answers for each meal component; it may be helpful to review this section
before planning meals. (Read a couple of questions from the M/MA
section.)
Slide 13
In summary, when a child care center wants to incorporate a particular food
item into their menu, they need to check the Crediting Foods Guide to
ensure the food item is creditable with four simple steps:
1. Determine the meal component category the food item would fall
under;
2. Look up the particular food on the list (Is it creditable? Yes or No?);
3. Read the Comments section for any pertinent, additional
information; and
4. Refer to the Leap of Taste Standards to ensure the food item may
be used.
So that is a quick look at the Crediting Foods Guide and some of the
important information it has to offer you.
Slide 14
Next, let’s discuss our 2nd Tool of the Trade: The Food Buying Guide is a
food source library that will help you determine how much of a certain item
you need to purchase and prepare for a designated number of children in
order to meet the CACFP meal pattern requirements. In that way, the Food
Buying Guide can help you with your food budget; it is also helpful when
completing the center’s production records.
The Food Buying Guide is divided into four main sections that correspond
to the CACFP Meal Pattern: Meat/Meat Alternates (Section 1),
Vegetables/Fruits (Section 2), Grains/Breads (Section 3) and Milk (Section
4).
Slide 15
Each component section defines the component and provides examples of
foods that can be credited towards the meal pattern; in addition, it provides
information regarding weights and yields, portion sizes, and the quantities
of food to purchase, based on the form of the food. All of this information is
detailed at the top of each FBG page by the same six column headings.
(Read through column titles on slide.) Let’s take a look at each of the six
columns individually.
Slide 16
Looking at the first vertical column, Food As Purchased, we see that
column 1 indicates the name of the food item and the forms in which it is
purchased. (Individual foods are arranged in alphabetical order by type of
food.)
For instance, ham is listed under pork, mild cured. Within each type, foods
are listed according to the forms in which they appear in the market - fresh,
canned, frozen or dehydrated.
Slide 17
Column 2, Purchase Unit, tells you the basic unit of purchase for the food.
For most foods, the guide lists “1 pound” as the purchase unit.
For some processed foods, the guide lists an institutional pack and in many
cases a smaller pack along with the net weight of the pack’s contents.
For example, the listing for canned asparagus cuts and tips includes
information on two can sizes: No. 10 can (103 oz) and No. 300 can (14 ½
oz).
Slide 18
Column 3 shows the Servings per Purchase Unit, EP (Edible Portion).
USDA came up with all the numbers you see in this guide by testing and retesting foods. The numbers are based on average yields from good quality
foods prepared in ways that result in a minimum of waste.
For example, the purchase unit (Column 2) for fresh cranberries is listed as
1 pound. Column 3 indicates there are 15.6 (1/4 cup raw, chopped fruit)
servings per pound. It is our recommendation that the Servings per
Purchase Unit (in this case, 15.6) be rounded down to 15 - to ensure that
enough food is purchased and prepared.
If whole cranberries are cooked with sugar added, how many servings per
pound are there? (11.1) How about cooked, strained cranberries with sugar
added? (9.9)
Slide 19
Column 4 shows the Serving Size per Meal Contribution. It describes a
serving by weight, measure, or number of pieces or slices.
An item such as a piece of cooked chicken is given an approximate serving
size in measure (e.g., 1 breast half without back), with the weight in
parentheses.
If you look in Column 4 in the red highlighted section, you see weights of
2.4 oz. cooked chicken with skin and you also see 2.0 oz. cooked chicken
without skin.
In your centers, you may choose to serve 1 oz. or 1 ½ oz. cooked poultry
with skin. In that case, you would look at the information in the green rows.
Presenter click.
If your wish to serve chicken without skin, you would use the information
found in the purple rows. Presenter click.
As you can see, it is very important to read the descriptors in each section!
In a few minutes, we will show you how all these columns work together to
determine how much of a certain food item you need to prepare for a
designated number of children.
Slide 20
How many of you here today serve 100 or more children at a meal in your
center? (If no participants serve over 100, Column 5 does not need to be
explained in detail).
Column 5 shows Purchase Units needed for 100 Servings. For example,
20 pounds of fresh chicken breast would be required to serve one hundred
1.5 oz servings of cooked poultry without skin.
Numbers in Column 5 have been rounded up to help ensure enough food is
available for one hundred servings.
Slide 21
Column 6 provides additional information regarding the food item. It is
unlikely that you will have need of this particular column.
The first four columns are the most commonly used columns by child care
centers.
On the next several slides we are going to demonstrate how to use these
four columns for different food items.
Slide 22
We are now going to work together on a few classroom activities. This slide
provides us with a little information about the imaginary child care center
we are going to use when we do our calculations. We see the numbers
and ages of the enrolled children and what meals are served each day at
the center.
Let’s start with breakfast: We know that child care centers are required to
serve three components for breakfast. What are they? (milk,
grains/breads and fruit/vegetable component)
For the purpose of this activity, we are not going to address all 3
components, instead we will focus on the amount of fruit/vegetable
component that must be prepared for the number of children in attendance
at breakfast.
How many 1-2 year olds are enrolled at the center? (10)
There are also eight 3-5 year olds and ten 6-12 year olds.
For this activity, ALL enrolled children are actually present for breakfast.
Slide 23
Presenter may read the slide as is. Then:
We are now going to look in the Food Buying Guide for fruit cocktail to
determine how much we need to prepare for breakfast.
Slide 24
Note that in the FBG we find fruit cocktail in the Fruit/Vegetable component
section. Fruit cocktail is described as “Fruit, Mixed, Canned”.
Across from the description found in column one, you will find three
different purchase units (in column two) for this particular fruit cocktail:
# 10 can, # 2 ½ can and # 300 can.
A Room to Grow CC, generally purchases fruit cocktail in #10 Cans. We
will be using the information across the top row to establish how many # 10
cans we need to prepare.
Slide 25
When looking across the top row of information for #10 cans, what is the
serving size indicated in column 4? (1/4 c. fruit and juice).
Referring back to our meal pattern requirements, we need to serve the 1-2
yr. olds a ¼ c., but the rest of the children will receive ½ c. serving. So our
next step is to determine the total number of ¼ cup servings needed for all
age groups.
At this point, the presenter may want to use a large tablet to work through
the following calculations, with input from participants.
For our ten 1-2 yr. olds we need 10 (¼ cups) of fruit cocktail;
For our eight 3-5 yr. olds we need 8 (1/2 cups) of fruit cocktail. How many
¼ cups would we need for this age? (16)
For our ten 6-12 yr. olds we need 10 (1/2 cups). How many ¼ cups would
we need? (20).
How many total ¼ cup servings do we need to serve for breakfast?
(10+16+20=46)
Referring to the FBG (column 3), a number #10 can provides 46.9 (¼ cup)
servings. So…
How many #10 cans do you need to open? (1) (Since this calculation is so
close - if you have not planned for any walk-ins that day - you may want to
purchase more than 1 #10 can. You could just buy a smaller can size to
make up for any extra servings of fruit cocktail needed.)
Fresh Cantaloupe Worksheet Activity: Presenter distributes worksheets
and asks participants to take out their FBG handout page, along with the
meal pattern handout.
Using the same method we just used to determine the amount of fruit
cocktail needed at A Room to Grow CCC, you will complete this worksheet
for Tracy’s Playhouse Child Development Center. Presenter reads the
scenario to participants, noting in particular the number of children in each
age group and that this center tries to purchase the larger 40 oz. size of
cantaloupe.
(Presenter allows time for completion, and then reviews the process with
participants by using the tablet.)
Slide 26
Presenter may read this slide as is. Then:
We are now going to look in the Food Buying Guide for ground beef to
determine how much we need to prepare for lunch.
Slide 27
In the FBG we find ground beef in the Meat/Alternates section.
Ground beef is described in column one as “Beef, Ground, Fresh or
Frozen”. The lean to fat ratio is also included in the description. A Room to
Grow CC uses the 80/20 lean to fat ratio of ground beef.
You will find only one purchase unit in column two and that is “pound”.
The Food Buying Guide indicates two different serving sizes in column 4.
What are they? (1 oz. and 1½ oz.)
At this child care center, we are serving 3 different age groups with 3
different required serving sizes: 1 oz., 1 ½ oz. and 2 oz. Because of this,
the easiest way to calculate the amount of ground beef needed is to
determine how many ounces of meat we need for all the ages groups.
For our purposes today, we will use the top line (1 oz.) in the Food Buying
Guide. How many one ounce servings of cooked, lean meat can you get
from one pound of 80/20 ground beef? (11.8 servings in column 3)
At this point, the presenter may want to use a large tablet to work through
the following calculations, with input from participants.
For our ten 1-2 yr. olds, we need 10 x 1 ounce = 10 ounces of ground beef;
For our eight 3-5 yr. olds, we need 8 (1 1/2 oz.) of ground beef. How many
ounces would we need for this age? Multiply 8 x 1.5 ounces = 12 ounces.
For our ten 6-12 yr. olds, we need 10 (2 oz.) of ground beef. How many
ounces would we need for this age group? Multiply 10 x 2 ounces = 20
ounces.
How many total 1 ounce servings do we need to prepare for lunch? We
need to now add up the ounces required for each age group:
So…10+12+20=42 ounces are required to ensure meal pattern
compliance.
Referring to the FBG (column 3), we have already established that we get
11.8 one ounce servings from one pound of ground beef. So we now need
to divide our 42 total ounces needed by the 11.8 servings of cooked lean
meat we can get from one pound of ground beef: 42/11.8 = 3.56 pounds.
You would round up to 4 pounds to ensure enough food is available.
85/15 Ground Beef Worksheet Activity: Presenter distributes worksheets
and asks participants to take out their FBG handout page, along with the
meal pattern handout.
Using the same method we just used to determine the amount of ground
beef needed at A Room to Grow CCC, you will complete this worksheet for
Up with Kids Child Care Center. Presenter reads the scenario to
participants, noting in particular the number of children in each age group
and that this center purchases 85/15 ground beef.
(Presenter allows time for completion, and then reviews the process with
participants by using the tablet.)
Slide 28
The final “Tool of the Trade” that we are going to review today is the
Grains/Breads Chart. This tool is used to ensure that you are serving
adequate amounts of grains/breads food items in order to meet meal
pattern requirements.
The Grains/Breads Chart is comprised of two pages; on this slide we have
combined the two pages to allow you to better see the entire layout.
Just about any grains/breads food item that you might want to serve in your
meals and snacks is listed on this chart. (There are also a few items on this
chart that we would not necessarily encourage, such as “toaster pastries”.)
You will see that the food items are divided into several different groups
and are categorized from Group A to Group I.
Pull your Grains/Breads Chart from your handouts and take a couple of
minutes to look at the food items and how they are divided into groups.
(Presenter allows a brief period for participants to peruse the chart.)
Looking at your chart, in which group would you find breads, buns and
sweet crackers? (B)
Where would you find cooked breakfast cereals? (H)
How about dry cereals (I)
Where would you find hard pretzels? (A)
Plain cookies? (C)
Saltine crackers? (A)
Cookies with nuts, raisins, chocolate pieces and/or fruit purees? (E)
In what group do you find rice and pastas (H)
All of these items that we just discussed are creditable ONLY if the first
ingredient indicates that the food item is what? (ENRICHED or WHOLE
GRAIN)
Let’s take a look at ingredient lists for a few grains/breads items.
Slide 29
Here you see the ingredient lists for three grains/breads items that you
might use in your centers: a snack cracker, a bread and hard pretzels.
These ingredient lists were taken from the bottom of the Nutrition Facts
Labels.
Of the three labels, how many are not creditable in the CACFP? (The
bottom label) Why? (The ingredient list indicates the first ingredient as
“wheat flour” – neither enriched nor whole grain.) You may be surprised to
learn that this is a label for pretzels that we often find served in child care
centers. Be sure to read your ingredient lists first when purchasing a
grains/breads item.
Slide 30
Now that we are aware that all grains/breads items must be enriched or
whole grain, let’s pull out our grains/breads chart as we begin a classroom
activity. Remember, this grains/breads chart must be used hand-in-hand
with the CACFP meal pattern and the Nutrition Facts Label for the food
item.
The purpose of this activity is to determine the amount of grains/breads we
must serve to meet meal pattern requirements for snack.
At this point, the presenter may want to use a large tablet to work through
the following grains/breads calculations, with input from participants.
What is the serving size of grains/breads that is required at snack for the
1-2 yr. olds? (1/2 serving) 3-5’s? (also 1/2 serving)
And for the 6-12 yr. olds? (1 serving)
Our next slide provides a label for a salted snack cracker. Using the meal
pattern requirements for snack, the label for the snack cracker and the
grains/breads chart, we are going to determine the number of crackers
needed for each age group.
Slide 31
As you see on our snack cracker label, the ingredient list indicates that this
particular cracker is, indeed, enriched. So we may proceed to use this
product for snack.
Next, looking at your Grains/Breads chart, in which group (A-I) do you find
snack crackers? (Group A) Presenter clicks to make Group A appear on
the slide. (Snack crackers are indicated as “Savory Crackers”.)
Directly across from the list of food items in Group A is the serving size
required for each age group. For the small children, ages 1 though 5 yrs,
we need to provide a ½ oz. serving of grains breads. How many grams of
grains/breads does ½ serving equal? (11 grams)
For the school-age children, we must provide 1 serving of grains/breads.
How many grams of grains/breads does 1 serving equal? (22 grams)
Keeping in mind that we need 11 grams for the younger children and 22
grams for the older children, let’s look at the top of the Nutrition Facts
Label. Here you will see some important information: the serving size for
this type of snack cracker and the equivalent amount in grams. This label
indicates that 16 crackers = 30 grams.
In the next slide we will show you how to determine the number of crackers
for each age group, using this information.
Slide 32
Once again, our cracker label indicates that 16 crackers weigh 30 grams.
For our quick calculation, it would be a good idea to calculate how much
each individual cracker weighs. We would do this by dividing 30 by 16,
which gives us 1.875 grams per snack cracker. Presenter click.
Our younger children, ages 1 -5, require ½ serving as indicated in the
snack meal pattern. As you see on the grains/breads chart, ½ serving
equals 11 grams. If each snack cracker equals 1.875 grams, how many
crackers would you need to serve to meet the 11 gram requirement? 11
grams (the weight per serving) divided by 1.875 grams (the weight per
cracker) equals 5.86 crackers. We would need to serve the children 6
crackers. Presenter click.
The school-age children, ages 6-12, require 1 serving as indicated in the
snack meal pattern. How many crackers must be served to them to meet
meal pattern requirements? (12 snack crackers)
When a participant provides the correct answer, ask him/her how they
arrived at the number; then recap with the following:
- On our first example, we determined that each snack cracker
weighs 1.875 grams.
- According to meal pattern requirements, this age group must be
provided 1 serving.
- Our grains/breads chart indicates that 1 serving equals 22 grams.
- 22 grams (the weight of one serving), divided by 1.875 grams (the
weight of one snack cracker), equals 11.73. You cannot serve 11.73
crackers. Round up to 12. Presenter click.
Are there any questions about how we arrived at these numbers?
Next, we will try out our skills with another grains/breads item, using our
Tools of the Trade: the CACFP meal pattern and the grains/breads chart.
Slide 33
Our next grains/breads item is vanilla wafers. As you see on the label, the
ingredient list indicates that this particular cookie is, indeed, enriched. So
these cookies are fine to use for snack.
Next, looking at your Grains/Breads chart, in which group (A-I) do you find
vanilla wafers? (Group C, Cookies, plain) Presenter clicks to make Group C
appear on the slide.
Directly across from the list of food items in Group C is the serving size
required for each age group. For the small children, ages 1 though 5 yrs.,
we need to provide a ½ oz. serving of grains breads. How many grams of
grains/breads does ½ serving equal? (17 grams)
For the school-age children, we must provide 1 serving of grains/breads.
How many grams of grains/breads does 1 serving equal? (34 grams)
Keeping in mind that we need 17 grams for the younger children and 34
grams for the older children, let’s look at the top of the Nutrition Facts
Label.
What is the serving size indicated on the label for vanilla wafers? This
label indicates that 8 cookies = 30 grams.
With that information, let’s determine the number of cookies for each age
group.
Slide 34
Remember, our cookie label indicates that 8 cookies weigh 30 grams.
Once again we need to calculate how much each individual cookie weighs.
We would do this by dividing 30 by 8, which gives us 3.75 grams per vanilla
wafer. Presenter click.
Our younger children, ages 1 -5, require ½ serving as indicated in the
snack meal pattern. As you see on the grains/breads chart, ½ serving
equals 17 grams. If each vanilla wafer equals 3.75 grams, how many
cookies would you need to serve to meet the 17 gram requirement?
17 grams (the weight per serving) divided by 3.75 grams (the weight per
cookie) equals 4.53 cookies. We would round 4.53 up and serve 5
cookies. Presenter click.
The school-age children, ages 6-12, require 1 serving as indicated in the
snack meal pattern. How many vanilla wafers must be served to them to
meet meal pattern requirements? (10 cookies)
When a participant provides the correct answer, ask him/her how they
arrived at the number; then recap with the following:
- On our first example, we determined that each cookie weighs 3.75
grams.
- According to meal pattern requirements, this age group must be
provided 1 serving.
- Our grains/breads chart indicates that 1 serving equals 34 grams.
- 34 grams (the weight of one serving), divided by 3.75 grams (the
weight of one snack cracker), equals 9.07 cookies. Round up to 10
cookies. Presenter click.
Are there any questions about how we arrived at these numbers?
Slide 35
I/we hope you have enjoyed this training and found it helpful. Are there any
questions?