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Home > 'Go for your life' Canteen Advisory Service > Menu planning
Menu planning
Once you have assessed your existing menu and decided on what changes could be made, it is time to plan the and make the changes to the menu. When planning a new menu, or making changes to your existing menu, consider the following points:
Is the menu healthy?
- Use the ‘Go for your life’ Healthy Canteen Kit – Food Planner and Canteen Manual when planning new foods to include on your menu. These resources can be downloaded from www.education.vic.gov.au.
- Include fruit and vegetables in some form every day on lunch and snack menus (canned and frozen options may be suitable if not in season).
- Ensure all staple ingredients and products such as breads and cereals are high fibre and dairy foods, spreads and sauces are low or reduced fat.
- Limit high fat spreads.
- Use low fat cooking methods as standard.
- Use lean meats.
- Read labels and check prepared recipes to see that they are healthy and suitable.
Variety and range of foods on the menu
Children don’t need a large range of choice, however they do need a variety of different foods across all five food groups. This can be achieved by limiting the menu to a smaller range of foods, but providing variety by having a daily or weekly special (eg a hot prepared dish or burger). This can also:
- Reduce the cost of goods to the canteen.
- Save preparation time if there is limited staff or volunteers.
- Allow more time to prepare fresh foods, trial new healthy products and plan promotions.
- Provide a variety of different food textures and colours.
Also consider the different seasons when planning your menu. It is a good idea to have at least 2 different menus - summer and winter. Providing hot foods and drinks in winter, such as soups, and chilled choices in summer, such as chilled fruits and beverages, as well as allowing for appropriate seasonal produce, will ensure children get the most enjoyment, quality and variety out of the menu, while keeping canteen food costs lower.
Serving size
Children have different nutrient and energy requirements to adults. Also, the canteen will be providing food for children of differing ages and appetites. Take this into consideration when purchasing pre-packaged products and when serving prepared foods. For example, half sizes of healthy meals are a good idea for smaller children, mini salad rolls using dinner rolls, mini pizzas using french sticks and nibble bags of bite size pieces of vegetables and cheese rather than a salad plate. “Mini” items are a novelty for students too.
Does the menu offer foods culturally appropriate for your school community?
When planning the menu consider the needs of different cultural groups within your school in respect to traditional foods and any food taboos or special cultural food practices. For example, Kosher foods, Halal foods and vegetarian needs.
Is the menu practical?
When choosing items to include on the menu, consider:
- Do you have the equipment, time and resources to prepare new menu item?
- Is the new recipe/menu item simple and easy to prepare?
- Does the new menu item require new ingredients not on your current supply list? Are the ingredients relatively inexpensive?
- Will the cost to purchase and/or prepare the item allow a realistic retail price and profit margin?
- Do you have the space to store the new menu item?
- Does the menu item require extra packaging?
- Can excess quantities be stored or frozen effectively?
- Does preparation of the item in the canteen comply with food safety and hygiene procedures?
Acknowledgement
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