Beef up
school meals
Resources for K-12 school nutrition professionals to plan, prepare, and promote beef in school meals. Whether meals are served in lunchrooms, multipurpose rooms, classrooms, or prepared in a central kitchen, you’ll find kid-approved recipes, preparation tips, nutrition information, and promotional tools to help meet standards and keep students excited about what’s on the menu.
Recipes
Scalable, nutritious, and kid-approved.
Operational Resources
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Direct-to-School Beef Procurement Toolkit
The Direct-to-School Beef Procurement Toolkit is a brief guide for school employees to acquire and serve more local beef in school meals.
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Food Safety: HACCP Plans
Follow safe handling protocols with this handout that details procedures and recommendations based on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans for beef.
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USDA Food Buying Guide
A resource to help school food service professionals accurately plan and purchase food for their meal programs.
Includes a Food Buying Guide Calculator for determining precise ordering amounts and a Recipe Analysis Workbook for meal pattern compliance.
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Beef Resource Guide
This guide for school foodservice professionals includes information on beef cuts, storage and prep, a meat and meat alternative (M/MA) crediting guide, and more!
Know Your Beef
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K-12 Foodservice Facts
Learn about the nutritional value of beef and reviews beef quality grades, label claims, and the difference between grass- and grain-finished beef.
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Decoding the Label
A quick resource to learn about different beef labels you may see in your grocery store or on a menu.
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Understanding Quality Grades
Learn more about what beef quality is best for your cooking needs.
Meal Site Displays
Download ready-to-use posters, banners, and other visuals to promote beef and healthy eating in lunchrooms, multipurpose rooms, classrooms, or any school meal site.
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Beef in Schools Banner
Proud to have beef on the menu? Show it with this banner!
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Beef in Schools Poster
A fun and educational poster students can learn from.
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Retail Beef Cut Chart
Download this helpful resource to identify cuts of beef and their recommended cooking methods.
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Power Up School Lunch
Download this educational flyer to print in your cafeteria, classroom, office, and more!