REGION 9 ESC

Child Nutrition Programs/Contacts

• Child & Adult Care Food Programs – Donna Moore
• National School Lunch Program – Travis Neville 
• Summer Food Service Programs – Donna Moore 
• Seamless Summer Option for Schools – Donna Moore 

Child Nutrition Field Services

This federally funded program assists districts and charters with a comprehensive plan of action for compliance with USDA regulations governing child nutrition.

The “National School Lunch Act” defines its purpose:  “It is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress, as a matter on national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the nation’s children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agriculture/commodities and other food by assisting the states, through grant-in-aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of food and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs.”    

The Region 9 Child Nutrition Program extends this congressionally approved assistance to districts and charter schools in areas such as: USA/TEA regulations, cooperative food purchasing/bidding, labor management, production planning, quality food preparation, menu substitution, reduction of fat in menus, selective food choices, recipe selection and expansion, equipment pricing and purchasing, rearrangements, advice on new installations, and many other areas requiring effective and efficient school food service management.

Food Purchasing Cooperative

The Food Service Purchasing Cooperative provides member districts with access to a multi-regional purchasing pool, resulting in increased cost savings for child nutrition products.  In addition to the cost savings for food products, cooperative participation also reduces costs associated with the advertising and bidding processes.  Administration of commodity processing provides assistance in tracking product availability for commodity processed items.  

Services provided:

• Access to multi-regional purchasing pool, resulting in cost savings
• Commodity processing assistance and training
• Nutritional analysis for each food product sold through the cooperative
• Coordination of food purchasing activities with other ESCs to meet legal procedures required for food purchasing bids
• Liaison services between food vendor and district/charter to resolve concerns or delays

Additional supplemental cooperatives are provided to assist member districts and charters in the areas of computerized nutrition analysis of menus, cooperative commodity processing, and menu planning.

Menu Planning Cooperative

The menu planning cooperative is designed to provide assistance to school district/charter personnel in menu planning for the child nutrition program.  Technical assistance is offered to assist districts/charters in meeting established nutritional requirements.   

Services provided:

• Menu design for district/charter child nutrition programs to meet established nutritional requirements as outlined in the SMIs