F02.03 Fruit and Veg Qs and MPC Report (G2a, G3)

APPENDIX F02.03. FRUIT AND VEGETABLE
QUESTIONS AND MEAL PATTERN
CREDITING REPORT (GROUP 2A, GROUP 3)

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FRUIT AND VEGETABLE QUESTIONS AND MEAL PATTERN CREDITING REPORT
OMB Control Number: 0584-xxxx
Expiration Date: xx/xx/20xx

This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service in understanding school food purchasing practices, the nutritional quality of
school meals and snacks, the cost to produce school meals, and student participation and dietary intakes. This is a mandatory collection and FNS will use
the information to monitor program operations. This collection does not request any personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974.
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of
information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-[xxxx]. The time required
to complete this information collection is estimated to average 1.5 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden
estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and
Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314 ATTN: PRA (0584-xxxx). Do not return the completed
form to this address.

EMS Fruit and Vegetable Questions and
Meal Pattern Crediting Report for Menu Planner
Note: After the Menu Survey has been completed in the Electronic Menu Survey (EMS) for a given
school, a nutrition coder will review the completed forms in the EMS and follow-up with the school
nutrition manager (SNM) on critical missing data. The nutrition coder will then generate the Meal
Pattern Crediting Report, which will list all unique foods reported on the Reimbursable Foods Forms
(for both lunch and breakfast) across the target week. The nutrition coder will then send the SNM a
link to the EMS to complete a series of questions about fruits and vegetables as well as the Meal
Pattern Crediting Report. The new questions and the Meal Pattern Crediting Report are shown below.
We have not included the SNMCS-I questions that asked about whether students are allowed to
select multiple servings of the same fruit or vegetable. These data were not used in the SNMCS-I
analysis (at the request of FNS) and will not be used in the SNMCS-II analysis so that comparability
can be maintained.
Fruit and Vegetable Questions
The following questions ask about the maximum number of fruit and vegetable items students are
allowed to choose as part of reimbursable meal. Please note that we are not asking about how many
items students have to take for a meal to be reimbursable, but what they are allowed to take. If
there is no limit on servings of fruits or vegetables, please check “unlimited.” If the maximum number
of fruit or vegetable servings allowed varies depending on the day or the serving line/food station a
student uses, please enter the highest number allowed.
1. For reimbursable lunches, what is the maximum number of servings of fruits and vegetables
(including 100% juice) that students are allowed to take?
MARK ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SERVINGS
STUDENTS CAN TAKE AT LUNCH
a.

Fruits, including 100% juice

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| SERVINGS

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Unlimited

b.

Vegetables, including 100% juice

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| SERVINGS

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Unlimited

2. For reimbursable breakfasts, what is the maximum number of servings of fruits and vegetables
combined (including 100% juice) that students are allowed to take?
MARK ONE RESPONSE
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SERVINGS
STUDENTS CAN TAKE AT BREAKFAST
a.

Fruits and/or vegetables, including 100% juice

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| SERVINGS

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Unlimited

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE QUESTIONS AND MEAL PATTERN CREDITING REPORT

Instructions for Completing the Meal Pattern Crediting Report
This report includes all unique foods that you reported were prepared and served in reimbursable
breakfast and lunch menus each day during the target week. We need you to complete this report to
provide information about how the foods were credited in the planned menus. Instructions for completing
the report are provided below. Please ask your SFA director for assistance completing this report, if
needed. Click the “View Example” button to see examples of how to enter information. If any entrée items
were sold outside of reimbursable meals during the target week, these items are also included at the
bottom of this report.
1. For each food item and portion size listed, please enter—in cups or ounce (oz) equivalents—the
creditable amount of each meal pattern food group contributed by one portion.
2. If a food item contributes to more than one meal pattern group or vegetable subgroup, be sure to
enter the amount contributed to all applicable meal pattern groups.
3. In some cases, the meal pattern contribution will be the same as the portion size, but this will not be
true for all menu items or menu items that contribute to more than one meal pattern group.
4. Note that some fruits and vegetables do not credit the same amount as the volume served (for
example, 1 cup of a food item does not always credit as 1 cup). Below are some examples:
•

Dried fruit credits as twice the volume served, so a 1/2-cup portion size would credit as 1
cup of fruit.

•

Raw leafy greens (for example, raw spinach) credit as half the volume served, so a 2-cup
portion size would credit as 1 cup of dark green vegetables.

5. When a food item contains grains, enter the oz. equivalent that it contributes in the “Grains” column.
Check the box in the “Whole Grain-Rich” column if the food item meets the whole grain-rich criteria. If
you are unsure whether a food item is whole grain-rich, please refer to the following USDA guidance:
https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/WholeGrainResource.pdf
6. If a food item does not contribute to any meal pattern groups, check the box in the “Not Creditable”
column.
7. The report has shading in some columns to indicate that the meal pattern group(s) is not usually
applicable to the specific item reported. You can, however, enter values in the shaded cells if needed.
8. For items prepared from a recipe, the school was asked to provide recipe information. You can view
the recipes that were submitted by clicking on the “View School Recipes” button at the top of the
report.
9. For self-serve or made-to-order food bars, enter the meal pattern contribution for “1 serving” from the
bar. The school completed a form that listed all of the foods offered on the bar. You can view the food
bars by clicking on the “View Self-Serve/Made-to-Order Food Bar Forms” button at the top of the
report.
10. Note that fluid milk offerings are excluded from this report.
11. For any entrée items that were sold only outside of reimbursable meals during the target week (as
reported on the Form for Non-Program Foods Sold by Food Service), please enter information on the
number of cups of fruits and/or vegetables included in the entrée.

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Meal Pattern Crediting Report for Breakfast and Lunch
View School Recipes
SFA Name:
School Name:

View Self-Serve/
Made-to-Order Food
Bar Forms

Target Week:
Unique Foods Reported on Daily Breakfast and Lunch Menus

Meal Pattern Contributions
Vegetables (cups)

Food Item

Portion
Size

Food
Description

Manufacturer/Brand
Name & Product Code

USDA
Food

Recipe

Fruits
(cups)

Dark
Green

Red/
Orange

Legumes

Starchy

Other

Meats/Meat
Alternates
(oz eq)

Grains
(oz eq)

Whole
GrainRich

Not
Creditable

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Unique Entrees Sold Only Outside of Reimbursable Meals (as reported on the Form for Non-Program Foods Sold by Food Service)

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