FSM Rotation:

Service Improvement Project

Ashley Chong
NUTR 702
Food Service Management Rotation

● 4-week cycle menu

● Follow the Child and Adult Care Food Program guidelines
● Orders made biweekly
Identify the Problem
● Primary: significantly increased total cost of orders despite having
to serve fewer children
○ Biweekly order for 15-20 children: $1,500

● Secondary: concerns that ordering numerous large bulks of food

increases the likelihood of food waste in the kitchen
Data Collection and Analysis

Estimated Total Cost Total Cost by Cooks

Order 1 $1019.66 $1500

Order 2 $868.03** $1500

Table 1. Estimated total cost calculated from menu and actual total
cost of order form by Cooks, for a serving size of 15-20 students.
**Does not include the cost of 3 baked products, which instead will be purchased
from a local bakery.
Suggested Improvements
● Hold a review session of best practices for the cooks to help them stay
within their budget while adhering to the CACFP guidelines

● Adjust the menu in next cycle

○ Reduce variation of foods ordered
■ Fruits: 18
■ Vegetables: 17
■ Protein: 11
○ Transition to canned or frozen options, particularly for fruits and
vegetables
Action Plan
1. At the next meeting with all the cooks from the agency, my preceptor will follow up to see if
additional cooks have a budget problem so she can continue to monitor them.

2. Data will be collected from all sites about their total costs for the biweekly orders to
compare for any significant differences.

3. Preceptor will hold a review session for best purchasing practices and food safety for
handling and storage of foods (e.g. reviewing how to freezer and thaw foods).

4. In the next meeting to discuss the draft of the new menu, my preceptor will go through each
day’s meals and snacks to confirm or change with the cooks.

5. Implementation of suggestions will be observed in order forms and menu.

6. Data of order forms and survey of cooks to see if the problem persists will be collected for
evaluation.

7. Analyze data to see if the problem has been corrected. If needed, further modification and
action is taken.
Evaluation
A survey will be conducted after the implementation of the new menu and
training to observe if it yielded the intended outcomes.
● Order form
● Food waste
● # of cooks still with problem

If problem persists, need to monitor those sites.

● Menu may need to remodified
● May have to create an order form for them
Utility for Continuous Improvement Plan
● Help cooks to stay within their budgets for all future orders

● Establish a trend on what the sites normally spend

○ Can help to inform which sites may need more assistance
○ Sites that consistently are able to stay within their budget while adhering
to the menu can provide tips for those who are struggling to do so

● Can be adopted to other sites who may also be experiencing similar

problems.