Nutrition Services

Each meal prepared at USD 207 is under the guidance of the USDA School Nutrition Program. The meals have specific amounts of required whole grains, meats or meat alternates, fruits, vegetables, and of course milk. The USDA has loosened requirements for meal modification that can be made within the meal pattern that we are serving. In other words, if your child is allergic to strawberries we can make the meal adjustment with another fruit. If your child has a lactose sensitivity, or egg or milk intolerance, we may have the substitutions available that do not affect the parameters of the meal requirements. Simply notify the nurse at your child’s school and she will notify us. If we have any questions or require additional information, we will contact you directly. Please note, these requests MUST come from you, the parent, and not from your student. The same is true for a request to discontinue modification. If your child comes in and says “my mom says I can’t have…” or “my mom says it’s ok for me to have that again,” we will be contacting you prior to making the requested change your child has just vocalized to us.

If a specific item changes in the meal pattern, and we are not able to make a substitution within the meal pattern, it is necessary to fill out a Medical Meal Modification form (found on the right-hand side). Form 19 B requires a signature of a licensed physician (MD or DO) OR a physician’s assistant (PA) or an advanced registered nurse practitioner (APRN) authorized by their responsible licensed physician before any modifications can be made. An example would be a food that causes anaphylactic shock and severe reactions that would cause life-altering reactions. The physician will give us guidelines on restrictions and substitutions to work with the planned menu and make the substitutions necessary. Another example is a gluten free diet. Grains are an important part of the meal pattern and to offer your child a “grain free” meal requires us to make a modification outside of the meal pattern and will require this form.

Once Form 19 B is filled out, and signed, return it to the school nurse. The food service manager or food service director will give you a call to go over the dietary restrictions and to discuss your child’s needs with your input. There are some instances that we need a week (5 days) to order the specialty food required. Working together is key to keeping your child safe and we may have to ask for further clarification.