Fill It Up the Right Way!

www.johnstalkerinstitute.org

John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition2013-2014

Fill It Up the Right Way!

Workshop Description


Sharpen your skills in weighing, measuring, and conversions in the kitchen.

This workshop offers 1 contact hour of professional development credits.

Learning Objectives


•Distinguish between volume and weight•Deliver consistent and correct portions

•Understand relationship between portion control and cost

Blast Off Activity

• Estimating portion size – by weight

• Will need 10 volunteers to create a 2 oz. ball of play dough

• How many volunteers over-portioned? How many under-portioned? Did anyone get an exact portion?

‘The Takeaway’

• Portioning is NOT an exact science.

• It is a process of obtaining the most accurate results possible.

• Limitations and challenges may include: limited time to serve, incorrect portioning tools, inaccurate scales/equipment.

Our Imaginary District for today . . .

• Welcome to Midland, MA! • Vital Stats:

4550 students 55% ADP for lunch2500 students eat per dayThree (K-5) schoolsTwo (6-8) Middle SchoolsOne (9-12) High School

A story of two Midland employees . . .

Cook/Manager “Anastasia” – Elementary (K-5) school - Motivated to reduce costs. Anastasia and her staff serve scant portions, significantly

smaller than the recommended guidelines. Anastasia justifies this practice by explaining that many

of her students are overweight. Anastasia: “These are young kids, they don’t need all

this food. Plus when we serve the larger portions there is too much wasted food, it goes right in the garbage.”

Server “Beatrice”– Works at a middle school (6-8) - Her serving line is very popular

with students and staff. Beatrice serves portions with a ‘heaping spoodle’, about 1.5

times the recommended serving sizes. Her manager has problems with ordering, and often runs out of

food before all students have been served. Beatrice: “What is going on with all these guidelines and limited

portion sizes? My kids are hungry. I worry about them going home not having had enough to eat.”

A story of two Midland employees. . .

Negative Consequences

• Anastasia Beatrice• Short on nutrition Overserving

• Exposure to audit Exposure to audit

• Costs unfairly low Cost overages

Required Calorie Ranges for Lunches

Grades K-5: 550-650 calories

Grades 6-8: 600-700 calories

Grades 9-12: 750-850 calories

Portion Size and Calories

• Beatrice serves 1.5 times the recommended portion. The calorie content of lunch jumps from 650 to 975 calories per day.

• 180 day school year• Overage of 325 calories per day• Overage of 58,500 calories per year. • If we use 3,500 calories to represent 1 pound, this

represents a potential weight gain of almost 17 pounds!

Volume vs. Weight• Why so difficult to understand and apply?

• It is largely a matter of terminology: Fluid Ounces (Volume) vs. Ounces (Weight)

• Even misunderstood in a popular expression: “A pint’s a pound the world around.”

VOLUME

Describes how big a space the ingredients fills:

Examples:

1 cup = 8 fluid ounces1 pint = 16 fluid ounces

NOTE: Teaspoons and Tablespoons are also volume measurements

IMPORTANT! Volume is a measurement of space occupied by an ingredient, regardless of what is being measured.

WEIGHT

Density is defined as the degree of compactness of a substance. It varies with each kitchen ingredient we use.

Examples of weight:

1 pound equals 16 ounces

1 ounce equals 28.349 grams

Ounce is often confused with fluid ounce. They are not the same, as an ounce is a unit of weight, and a fluid ounce is a unit of volume.

The Link Between Volume and Weight

• “Weight-to-Volume equivalent” is different for every ingredient in the kitchen.

For Example: • 1 cup broccoli florets weighs 2.5 ounces. • 1 cup spinach leaves weighs 0.7 ounces. The volume is the same, the weight is different.

Vs.

Frozen Vegetables and Fruits

• Packaged by Weight• Yield– Frozen vegetables that are steamed yield a cooked

weight of 92% of original frozen weight– Exception is frozen whole-kernel corn, which

yields close to 100%.

Costing Drained Canned Foods

• The USDA sets a minimum number of drained ounces of solid food per can.

• Best Method – calculate your own yields.

Reference: USDA, Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs.

Back to Anastasia and Beatrice in Midland. . .

Why does it matter?

Customer ServiceSituation A: • Consistent + Correct Portioning • Each customer receives correct amount • Rarely running out at the end of the line• Happy Customers/Students

Situation B: • Inconsistent Portioning • Inconsistency of customer service • Claims of ‘favoritism’ • Often running out at the end of the line • Unhappy Customers/Students

Portion Distortion!

350 calories!

It would take the average person 35 minutes of intensive gardening to burn these extra 305 calories

due to Portion Distortion.

790 Calories!

It would take the average person walking for 1 hour and 20 minutes to burn these extra 400 calories due to

Portion Distortion.

590 calories!

It would take the average person 1 hour and 30 minutes of weight lifting to burn these extra 257

calories due to Portion Distortion.

For More Information


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John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition is funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and

Secondary EducationNutrition, Health and Safety

Kathleen C. MillettExecutive Director

781-338-6479http://www.doe.mass.edu/cnp


John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition100 State Street, PO Box 9101Framingham, MA 01701-9101


[email protected]

phone: 508-626-4756fax: 508-626-4018



Documents

Fill It Up the Right Way!