AnAfternooninNepal

ConcordHighSchool
FoodserviceMealProject
KeeneStateCollegeDieteticInternship16-17
KayleighHill
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Table of Contents Menu

Development.........................................................................................................................2-4
Theme and menu ......................................................................................................................2
Budget.......................................................................................................................................2
Recipes ..................................................................................................................................3-4
Production..............................................................................................................................4-6
Standardized Recipes................................................................................................................4
Production Sheets......................................................................................................................4
Forecasting ...............................................................................................................................4
Cost Analysis of Recipes..........................................................................................................4
Purchasing Sheets.....................................................................................................................4
Service Diagram.......................................................................................................................5
Over & Underproduction Tracking ..........................................................................................5
Leftover Plans...........................................................................................................................5
Work Distribution & Equipment Utilization............................................................................6
Final Event Food Cost..............................................................................................................6
Customer Satisfaction Tool ......................................................................................................6
Marketing ...............................................................................................................................7
Final Report........................................................................................................................8-10
Budget......................................................................................................................................9

Appendix (supporting documentation)

A- Standardized Recipes & Nutrient Analysis
B- Production
C- Evaluation
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Menu Development

Theme
The Concord school district has a growing population of immigrant students from all around the
world and these students often complain about the meals served in Concord Middle School because they
either; cant eat them (due to cultural/religious restrictions many of them said they did not eat cow meat
or dairy), or they are not familiar with the food and do not enjoy the bland taste of USA food, a direct
quote from a student. The food service director and I discussed different ways to incorporate their
preferences and different cultural foods into the cafeteria, we decided to begin a series of special lunches
that include foods from the countries where the majority of the students used to live (Nepal, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Pakistan, Sudan, etc). My meal project was the kick off meal to this new idea. I started with
Nepali food because when I met with a focus group of students from the middle school, the majority of
them were from Nepal. They expressed that they would enjoy Momos, a common Nepali fast food and
Lo Mein, among many other traditional meals, most of which were too complicated to make in a school
setting or were primarily made of fried dough.

Menu
Nepalese Lo Mein
Momos
Pineapple and Mango

Budget
I was not given a budget but was expected to remain within the government guidelines so that the
meal would be a reimbursable one. 50% of what is charged for a reimbursable meal, which in the case of
Rundlett would be $1.38. For this meal, I was given some leeway of an extra 20% of the reimbursable
meal. Leaving us with a $0.96/student budget ($242) budget for the total amount served, this does not
include foods that were not used fully and will be used at a later time, e.i the Lo Mein noodles.

Labor Cost: This meal required one extra hour of labor for the cafeteria staff, fortunately they
offered up their time as volunteer work and there were no additional labor costs.

Supplies: The Concord Middle School cafeteria is fully equipped, aside from the needed steamer.
This however is an expensive piece of equipment that would not be purchased for this meal and so we
made due with what the kitchen already contained.

Recipe Development
Recipes were determined after meeting with a focus group of refugee students at Rundlett Middle
school. They were excited to express their likes and dislikes in the school cafeteria. They provided us with
a long list of foods they commonly eat at home and wished to see in their school lunch. The majority of
the students were born in Nepal or of Nepali descent. Collaboration and final decision making occurred
between myself, the food service director and the head chef at the middle school. The chef is a
professional chef and had made Lo Mein many times in the last school that he worked for so he did not
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feel the need to test that recipe. We did, however, test the Momos to see if they were a feasible option to
make for a large amount of students.

Recipe Brainstorming and focus group findings were attached (can be found in my original meal project
packet).

See Appendix A: Nutrient analysis and Standardized Recipes

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Meal Production

Standardized Recipes: See Appendix A

Both standardized recipes and production sheets are uncommon in the Concord School District as
they have not yet implemented a book of standardized recipes and have not conducted a nutrition analysis.
Each school runs their kitchen a little differently (some better than others) and some of the schools have
more experienced and creative chefs that enjoy getting creative. The Rundlett Middle school where I
conducted my meal project has a chef, named Joe, that used to work in an upscale restaurant and then in a
private boarding school - so following a recipe in a classic way is not his style, though he is very good
about staying within budget and forecasting meals. On the day of the meal, he had written the ingredients
on a scrap piece of paper and estimated the amounts based only on his discretion. He made a nearly
perfect amount of food. I had to scramble to identify amounts of everything.

Production sheets: See Appendix B

Both Production sheets were created after the meal was completed as I did not assume this cafeteria was
run differently than the high school - Joe is given more freedom due to his status as a chef.

Forecasting
Informally done at Concord Middle School due to small school size and lack of a record keeping
when it comes to recipes and nutrition. The number of students to be served was based on the history of
student daily participation in the hot meal station and the total lunches served per day. On an average day
the middle school serves 250-260 meals depending on staff participation. The Food Service Director, Joe
and I discussed how much of everything to buy, aside from the government chicken, soy sauce, olive oil,
peas and ginger - of which we had on stock already. We decide to purchase more than would be needed so
that Joe and I would have the freedom to experiment and taste test different recipes and cooking methods.
I was told by Donna that this was considered a special event and there was room in the budget to do a
little extra to make the meal authentic and unique.

Costing: Of recipes per ingredient and per serving - See Appendix B

Purchasing invoices: See Appendix B

Purchasing for this meal was done a week in advance, except for the purchasing of fresh produce, this was
done 3 days in advance due to the delivery schedule and the desire to have the produce as fresh as
possible.

Service diagram:
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Tracking for overproduction or underproduction

There was a high likelihood of underproduction for two reasons;
1. Overproduction would prove to be wasteful in this situation, as explained below and
2. Since this is a middle school it is expected that many of the children would not try something new
and unfamiliar so production was kept to a minimum. We made 250 servings which is half of the
student population of 500 and about, on average, how many students purchase meals on a
Thursday.
We had a perfect amount of Momos and we overproduced the Lo Mein.

Plan for leftovers

The plan was, to not have any, as Joe the Head Chef stated. In the event that we did he said he
would freeze the Lo mein and make it into a soup for the teachers the next day. We purposefully made the
very minimum for the Momos because if they did not go the day of, they would not hold and would need
to be thrown out. Assuming they were not taken home by any of the kitchen workers.

Employee work distribution and equipment utilization

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Everyone remained in their usual positions, following the schedule they normally had except that
I was making Momos and interacting with the students instead of helping to serve - Joe stepped in and
helped out at the serving line.

Table 2
Task Momos Lo Salads Sandwiches Pizza Snack/ca Dishes General clean up
Mein shier
setup

Employee Me Joe Laurie Tee Joan Betty + Tee Everyone

(chef) Laurie

Final food cost for the event

The final cost for all the food purchased and all the food that already existed in stock was $421,
for all the food that was actually used, the meal was $178. $149.63 of which was all bought the day
before.

Customer Service Survey: See Appendix B

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Marketing

How the advertising was done

The advertising was done via the refugee students making posters to hang around the school,
during the announcements made in the morning and during announcements made at lunch (the principal
goes to every lunch and speaks over a microphone the entire meal announcing events and keeping
children in check. Though according to the surveys the students would have appreciated more advertising
for the meal as some kids were not aware of the event and did not bring money to buy lunch though they
would have liked to.

Signage: See Final Report

Theme decoration
I brought in Nepalese prayer flags, Buddha heads and a world map from home to decorate the
cafeteria with. I brought in the map and small star stickers so that students could place a star where they
were born and so that they could see the diversity of their school. The principal announced that I was
doing this at the beginning of each lunch period and I monitored the map and handed out stickers - it was
a large success and the kids were excited to see where their friends and classmates were coming from. I
also created a Powerpoint that was projected on the cafeterias announcement digital board, the
Powerpoint had a wide variety of facts about Nepal with eye catching pictures. Lastly, the refugee student
group made large Nepal flags that they hung all over the cafeteria, to show their pride and support. All
advertisement attached below.

Educational tools and

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Final Report

Narrative
The meal production began the day before the meal, I spent the majority of the day
hand-wrapping Momos. The chef and I quickly made the filling using a food processor and then I
practiced making the dumpling-like Momos using different techniques until I found the method that
worked the best and was the most efficient. From there I wrapped Momos for about 4 hours before getting
some help from the rest of the kitchen staff - many of which stayed passed their normal hours to help. We
made a total of 500 Momos, as we predicted there would be 260 students interested in getting lunch and
each student would receive two dumplings. The day of the meal event myself and the chef arrived at the
school early and began experimenting different ways to steam the Momos (as the middle school does not
have access to a steamer). We finally decided on baking them for 5 minutes at 250 degrees before placing
them in the Holding Warmers. We created a steaming table environment using water, false bottoms and
pan covers. We put the Momos in our steamers and let them slowly steam for two hours before being
served. Next, we boiled the Lo Mein noodles and chopped and stir fried the vegetables that would be
going in the Lo Mein dish. We cooked chicken that was put in about of the dish, while the remaining
was kept vegetarian. Chef Joe quickly diced the pineapple and mango, with his expertise cutting skills,
right before lunch was to begin. While lunch was being served, I stood at the front of the cafeteria where I
had a map and stickers for any students that wished to come up and place a sticker where they were born.
The student's loved this activity and many of them showed surprise at where their classmates were from.
At the same time, there was a slide show of Nepal facts circulating across the cafeteria TV and the
Principle was announcing both the special meal and explaining what was on the screen.
What could have been done better:
The Momos were not supposed to be baked before they were steamed, if the kitchen had
had access to a steamer then there would have been fewer comments from the Nepalese
students that said we had not cooked the Momos correctly.
There is not enough staffing or time for this sort of project to be done without another
intern or an extra hand, so buying pre-made Momos and a steamer would be the only
way to recreate this meal without hiring extra help. That is a major flaw of this meal.
What was done well:
The theme of honoring the different nationalities represented in the Concord Middle
school was a great addition to the regular line-up of meals. Many of the refugee students
expressed that they struggled to assimilate to normal American school food and this was
one way to show that they are respected and welcome in the school.
The Lo Mein was done perfectly, Donna had originally wanted to use regular USDA
pasta but Joe and I argued that it would decrease the quality and undermine the purpose
of the meal. To keep authenticity, Lo Mein noodles were needed.
The marketing of the meal was successful. Through flyers, student-made posters, and
decorations and through the morning announcements, the students came prepared to buy
lunch if they so desired.
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Pictures
Right to left- Momos, Lo Mein and Cooked Momos, Flyer, Making the Momos, World Map
that students used to place stickers where they were born, Nepal Flags that students placed around the
cafeteria.

Customer Satisfaction Survey: See Appendix C

This was given out the day after the meal event. Each homeroom was given the survey and
instructed to let the students have at least 5 minutes to complete it. Not all teachers remembered to do
them, and a few teachers said that they did not end up having enough time in their class to administer
them. So out of the 500 or so students in Rundlett Middle school, I got 150 completed surveys. 71% of
the students stated that they did not get hot lunch, leaving 21% that had the meal. Out of the group that
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enjoyed the Nepal lunch, 82% said they liked it and would like to see this sort of event done every month.
18% said they did not like the meal, most of which claimed they didnt like the way it looked or that they
did not like trying new foods. There were a few responses from some of the Nepal children that said that
we did not cook the Momos correctly but they appreciated the try. One student inquired why we had to
make other cultures meals special when they are normal meals to the students from those countries - he
was thinking ahead of the rest.
Did not eat hot lunch: 106/150 = 71%
Liked Hot lunch: 36/150 = 24% or 36/44 = 82% of those who tried the lunch
Did not like the meal: 8/150 = 5% 0r 8/44 = 18% of those who tried the lunch
Almost every survey answered, even the ones from the students who did not partake in the meal,
expressed that they would enjoy monthly Around the World meals so that they could learn more about
their fellow peers that immigrated to Concord, NH.

Teacher Appreciation: See Appendix C

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Appendix A: Nutrient Analysis and Standardized Recipes

Whole Meal Nutrition Analysis

Nutrients Value

Calories 374 kcal

Fat 126 kcal

Sat. Fat 18 kcal

Protein 48 kcal

Carbohydrate 200 kcal

The macronutrient distribution of this meal turned out to fit within the AMDRs and was
relatively low in calories, leaving the kids room to add extra fruit and vegetables and drinks to
their meal.*

Due to the large amount of olive oil and sesame oil the meal had a strong polyunsaturated fat
presence and a much smaller saturated fat content.*

*This data is assuming that the students ate the pineapple and mango sides and that they did not
supplement the meal with any additional snacks or drinks.
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Appendix B: Production
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Appendix C: Evaluations

Survey
Meals from Around the World Survey
Nepal

1. Did you try the Momo (chicken dumpling)? Yes No

2. If no, why? ______________________________________________
3. Did you try the Lo Mein? Yes No
4. If no, why? ______________________________________________
5. Overall how would you rate this meal? 1 being I didnt like it and 5 It was
delicious ___________
6. Did you enjoy the themed meal? Explain your answer.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________
7. Would you like to continue having special meals with different nationalities each
month? Yes No
8. What did you like about this week's meal?
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
9. What didn't you like?
________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________

Thank you!