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Region 8 Education Service Center
Child Nutrition & Adult And Child Day Care Centers
Region 8 ESC’s Child Nutrition Program provides school districts, as well as Child and Adult Day Care Food Programs with a comprehensive range of technical services designed to assist our contracting entities to meet federal, state and local program requirements under the direction of the United States Department of Agriculture and Texas Department of Agriculture.
Through Region 8 ESC’s Child Nutrition Program the districts and staff in Region 8 are provided the latest information from the Texas Department of Agriculture, technical assistance, and professional development.
Region 8 ESC child nutrition staff provides technical assistance to National School Lunch and Breakfast Program and Child and Adult Food Programs participants in preparation for Administrative Review, training during the school year and also offers summer workshops for administrative and campus child nutrition personnel. Technical assistance efforts may be supported by on-site visits, telephone calls, faxes, emails, etc.
Region 8 workshops cover many areas, included but not limited to, Financial Reports, Healthier US School Challenge, Community Eligibility guidance, Food Production Records, Scratch Cooking, Famer to School and Farm to School.
Through our workshops, your staff will receive information that will strengthen their knowledge to help assist with the districts program performance of the contracting entity.
The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is authorized by §12.0027 of the Texas Agriculture Code to administer the 3E's Grant Program to promote better health and nutrition programs and prevent obesity among children in this state. The objective of the program is to increase awareness of the importance of good nutrition, especially for children, and to encourage children's health and well-being through Education, Exercise and Eating right. TDA’s 3E's consists of two grant program categories:
Establishing the 3E's Grant Program (E3E) - a program that incentivizes the creation of new nutrition education programs in any childcare institution or community organization.
Expanding the 3E's Grant Program (X3E) - a program that rewards the expansion of existing nutrition education programs in public schools only.
**ATTENTION: ALL CONTRACTING ENTITIES**
The new "Declare or Decline COVID-19 Meal Service Waiver Options Form" must be submitted by ALL CEs to indicate plans to use or not use waivers as described in the Form Instructions and the COVID-19 FAQs.
USA Rice Federation- a newsletter designed specifically for school nutrition professionals! The quarterly newsletter includes rice-centric recipes with crediting information, education materials designed for students, general nutrition or foodservice tips, and rice recipes to make at home!
Points to consider before contracting with a
Food Service Management Company
Services We Offer
The School Nutrition Program staff at ESC-08 is available to assist all entities.
Community Eligibility Provision
Computer Skills
Corrective Action Plan Support
Counting and Claiming
Culinary Skills Training
Direct Certification/Direct Verification
Director’s Roundtable
Eligibility Guidance--Verification
Farm Fresh Initiative: Garden-Based Learning
Farm Fresh Introduction
Farm Fresh Initiative: Local Products Challenge
Financial and Inventory Management
Food Production Records
Food Buying Guide
Fundamentals of United States Department of Agriculture Foods for National School Lunch Program
HART Program
HACCP
Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Point
Kitchen Math
Manager’s Academy
Managing Food Allergies in School Nutrition
Marketing
Meal Appeal and Presentation
Meal Patterns/Offer vs. Serve
Menu Planning
National School Breakfast Program
National School Lunch Program
P-EBT
Procuring Local Foods
Professional Development to meet Professional Standards
Program Management
Provision 2Technical Assistance for Administrative Reviews, off-site and on-site
Recipe Development and Evaluation
Seamless Summer Option and Summer Food Service Program
Selling Your Products to Schools
Smart Snacks
Web Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM)
Wellness
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement (English)
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
(1) mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
(2) fax:
(202) 690-7442; or
(3) email:
program.intake@usda.gov.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Region 8 ESC
4845 US HWY 271N
Pittsburg, TX 75686
Main: 903-575-8551
Child Nutrition Department: 903-575-2671
