Powered by NutriStudents K-12
Powered by NutriStudents K-12
Menu Freedom is an intuitive, self-operated software system that streamlines management of nearly every facet of a foodservice program. It includes:
If you have an Internet-enabled computer and Internet access, you have all you need to use Menu Freedom. While our menus include some scratch-cooked items, no special equipment is needed to prepare the recipes.
Foodservice directors report many benefits:
Any foodservice operation can benefit from using Menu Freedom, including schools, childcare centers, healthcare, assisted living, senior dining programs, and detention centers. It’s especially helpful for any school, facility, or organization providing meals under the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, or the Child and Adult Food Care Program.
There is no limit to the number of foodservice professionals within your organization/district who can access the system under a single license. In addition, you can email recipes to other foodservice staff in your building or district. Keep in mind, however, that Menu Freedom recipes and menus are protected by copyright laws and are only for use by our licensees. They cannot, at any time, be shared with others who are not your foodservice employees. It is the foodservice director’s responsibility to notify us when an employee is no longer with the organization, at which time they will no longer have access to the system.
No long term contract, month-by-month subscription – unsubscribe any time, money back guarantee. Subscription rates for four schools or less is $324/month; Each additional school is $54/school/month.
You can build your menu rotation in minutes by choosing weeks from our extensive library of USDA-compliant, student-approved menus. If you don’t like a menu day, a meal or an ingredient, simply swap it out for another in the system. You can also build your own menu weeks by choosing a combination of our chef-created meals or your own favorite recipes that can quickly be added to the system from our ingredient database.
Menu Freedom includes USDA-compliant menus for every age and every meal; breakfast, lunch, snacks, after school dinner, and more. Menus for the National School Lunch Program are available for 4-day, 5-day and 7-day weeks. Menus complaint for the following criteria are also available:
Our recipes are developed by a skilled team of chefs led by our executive chef and founder, Nancy Close. Nancy applies her culinary training, restaurant experience, over 30 years in school foodservice, and vast knowledge of the USDA nutritional guidelines to create healthy, vibrant meals. All menus are certified to all the nutritional guidelines for sodium, calories, fat, whole grains, vegetable subgroups, etc., and are verified by our registered dietitian. Menus are also repeatedly taste-tested by kids and adults and refined as needed.
Menu Freedom recipes are scalable to the size of your population, with easy step-by step instructions. If you have an internet-enabled computer and internet access, you have all you need to use Menu Freedom. While our menus include some scratch cooked items, no special equipment is needed to prepare the recipes. Some users have reported that food prep is easier with Menu Freedom and time saved with menu creation, purchasing support, reporting and training can be redirected to preparing meals.
Yes, we love commodities and use them extensively in our recipes. In fact, using Menu Freedom, you can quickly and easily predict just how much of all your USDA Foods to order for the upcoming school year — potentially saving thousands of dollars and unused commodity foods.
The system automatically verifies compliance with the federal nutrition program in which you participate. Menu Freedom menus are updated regularly to keep step with USDA nutritional guidelines. We continuously monitor discussions by congress and the USDA to understand how changes will affect our users and menus. Menu Freedom also allows you to set your own custom nutrition standards.
Nutritional analysis and compliance confirmation are integrated into the Menu Freedom system. Whether a menu week is compiled of our recipes or yours, the system flags non-compliant menu weeks and will not permit that week to publish until it is compliant. For further confirmation, our registered dietitian confirms the nutritional compliance of all the system-provided menu weeks.
No, Menu Freedom is everything you need! Nutritional analysis is built into Menu Freedom. The only exception may be if your state requires you to use a particular software for submitting menu weeks for administrative review.
Menu Freedom menus were developed to provide organizations/districts/schools with choices regarding menu ingredients. For example, some recipes offer multiple choices for the Meat/MA component. A chicken nugget recipe may contain 4 options that include 4 different chicken nuggets all meeting 2 oz. meat/ma and 1 oz. whole grain-rich equivalent. You have the freedom to select the chicken nugget you prefer, the chicken nugget that is available, or the chicken nugget offered in your awarded food/distributor bids. Because specific ingredient products vary from one user to another and Menu Freedom is not involved in your meal preparation, we are unable to provide CN/nutritional labels. You will need to remove the CN label from the boxes of your meal components and keep on file. If the product is not a CN labeled item, a product formulation statement (PFS) must be on file to ensure meal pattern compliance. Menu Freedom can assist you if a product formulation statement is difficult to locate. We recommend you keep the most current CN label, PFS, and ingredient listings on file.
Yes, our menus are based on ingredients produced in the U.S. The specific products you specify, however, may vary slightly depending on regional availability and products carried by your distributor. In general, our market baskets are comprised of nationally available products, USDA Foods (commodities), and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Menu Freedom is very easy to use. We provide thorough initial onboarding and training. The Menu Freedom team is available via phone, chat, or email to assist you anytime. In addition, all users have access to an extensive user’s guide and there are tutorial videos embedded within the system to help.
Yes, for a reasonable fee, we can conduct in-person training with you and your staff. It is, however, often more effective and efficient for your staff to participate in a live webinar with our Menu Freedom team, usually at no cost to your organization.
Menu Freedom, formerly known as NutriStudents K-12, was established to extend the expertise and intellectual property of CKC Good Food®, a school food catering company specializing in delicious, nutritious meals that kids love. Founded in 1990, CKC has grown to serve more than 110 public charter and private schools, daycare centers and nonprofit organizations in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan market. Each regular school day, CKC provides over 35,000 breakfasts, lunches, after-school snacks and dinners meeting federal nutritional guidelines for children.
For over 30 years, CKC Good Food has formulated proprietary recipes, processes, methods and tools which fundamentally alter the quality and nutritional standards of foodservice for all types of organizations. Our recipes have been taste tested extensively by kids and adults and have been enthusiastically received by clients, setting a new standard for the highest quality, delicious, nutritious food provided at highly competitive prices.
Menu Freedom is available nationwide as a value-added enhancement to the Sourcewell food distribution contract. In addition, the School Superintendents Association (AASA), is a strong proponent of Menu Freedom for its’ ability to streamline foodservice operations, increase participation and help programs adhere to budgets.
Sourcewell, formerly, the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA), is a cooperative purchasing organization that solicits contracts on behalf of school districts and other public and nonprofit agencies, and ultimately saves them time on the bid process and thousands of dollars through access to volume discounts. A no-cost, liability or obligation membership is all that’s needed to start saving time, money and effort in the procurement process. If you’re not already a member, join today at Sourcewell-mn.gov. Menu Freedom is a value-added enhancement to the Sourcewell-awarded contract for school foodservice distribution.
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