Production and Customer Menu Creation

NFSC 430: Foodservice procurement and management Skill Area: Foodservice Assignment Title: School Lunch Menu Assignment Description: We were to act as if we were the Foodservice Directors of an elementary school district in a city of our choice. We were to make a product menu and a customer menu for our elementary school students over 5 days that will include breakfast and lunch in excel. The requirements for breakfast included one side, one fruit, and two entre options. For lunch one side, one vegetable, one fruit/dessert, and two entre options. What I Learned: In this assignment I learned about creating production menus, customer menus, school lunch standards, serving sizes, reproducibility, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, and creative writing. Reflection: This assignment gave me an appreciation for the work that goes into menu development. Planning cost efficient and age appropriate meals and having them still be nutritionally adequate is not a simple task. The second aspect of this assignment was format. The use of Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint were important and increased my skills with both programs. Relevance to the profession: The opportunity to influence nutritional variety for the youth is important. As Registered Dietitians in school foodservices, you can use this as an opportunity. The skills I have obtained through this assignment will help me in developing production menus and customer menus in all areas of foodservice throughout my career. I enjoyed this process and could see myself doing further menu planning in my career.