IStudent Nutrition Services Disposal of Excess Food

Background Information:

During the September Board meeting, a question was asked about what are the regulations in regard to excess or leftover foods. The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development provides guidance on this issue in their School Nutrition Programs Administrative Handbook. That guidance is copied below:

Leftover Foods

Schools should plan and prepare meals with the goal of serving one reimbursable lunch, and if applicable one reimbursable breakfast, per child per day. However, with fluctua­tions in attendance and participation, leftovers are likely. If a school has leftovers on a frequent basis, menu planning and production practices should be adjusted to reduce leftovers. All alternatives permitted by program regulations and State and local health and safety codes should be exhausted before discarding food. Options may include using leftovers in subsequent meal services, offering "sharing tables", or transferring food to other sites.

Where it is not feasible to reuse leftovers, excess food may be donated to a nonprofit organization, such as a community food bank or homeless shelter which is exempt from tax under section SOl(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501 (c)(3), e.g. soup kitchens or homeless shelters. The cost of such donated food is an allowable operating cost of the school food service account. If schools choose to donate leftovers, documentation of the quantity and costs of the foods that were donated, as well as the name(s) of the receiving organization(s) must be kept, and ensure local health depart­ment rules and regulations are followed.

Currently we have schools that will, on Friday's, take what leftover produce or sandwiches they have to the food bank.