What is a reimbursable meal?
A reimbursable meal is a federal formula which helps each district determine whether they receive a monetary reimbursement from the federal government for each meal given to students. All students are only allowed one reimbursable meal for breakfast, and one for lunch. We consider any extra items a la carte, and you must pay for them. In order to get that reimbursement, we must follow the USDA guidelines and the “Offer versus Serve” program. The lunch and breakfast programs are a little different, so let’s just start with lunch.
There are different requirements for different age groups for certain components. For example, at the high school level, we need to offer 10 to 12 bread/grain servings each week. At the middle school we need to offer 8 to 10 bread/grain servings each week. At the elementary level, we offer 8 to 9 servings of bread/grain items each week.
Example one of a reimbursable lunch:
The main item is whole grain spaghetti with meat sauce. We put the pasta and meat sauce on the student’s tray. Because it contains a bread/grain component and the meat component, the student then only needs to take a serving of a fruit or vegetable to meet the minimum requirement for a reimbursable meal. We will not charge your student to take a carton of milk or other item offered as part of the regular lunch, such as one breadstick.
Example two of a reimbursable lunch:
The main item is chili. The chili counts as the meat/meat alternate item. Students would have to take two more components for us to count that as a reimbursable meal. They could choose from an 8 oz. carton of milk, a serving of fruit, a serving of vegetables, or a serving of a bread/grain item. Again, one of the three components on their tray has to be a serving of a fruit or vegetable.
Breakfast:
At breakfast, we must offer four food items from three required food components:
Offer vs. serve at breakfast requires students to take three of the four items offered, including at least 1/2 cup of fruit and/or vegetables.
Example one of a reimbursable breakfast
Whole grain pancakes, ½ cup fruit, and a carton of milk.
Example two of a reimbursable breakfast
Cereal (1 oz container), one piece of toast or one package of graham crackers, one carton of milk, and ½ cup of fruit.
We train our kitchen staff to ensure that each tray holds a reimbursable meal.