The Department has received inquiries concerning the procedures for allowing vendors to provide lunches to students.
After reviewing the appropriate State and Federal laws, rules and regulations in this area, and consulting with appropriate Federal officials, the Department offers the following recommendations:
a.) Parents/guardians of school students may place and prepay food orders with restaurants for lunches for their children only.
b.) The lunches may either be sent with the students each day or may be delivered to the school campus by the parents/guardians or an employee of the restaurant.
c.) If deliveries are made to the campus by the restaurant, the district must ensure that the restaurant employee’s presence on campus is solely for the purpose of delivering pre-paid food orders to the campus for pick-up by the appropriate student and not to solicit and make additional food sales.
d.) Under no circumstances shall the above recommendations be used to permit:
1.) private food vendors from engaging in the cash sale of food items on a district’s campus (e.g., a food catering truck, etc.);
2.) students calling private food vendors from the campus and placing lunch orders,
3.) the implicit “approval” of any private food vendor as a sanctioned “a la carte food service” vendor absent a contract between the district and the vendor to that effect, which meets the requirements of 7 CFR § 210.16, and
4.) the storage or preparation of meals delivered to the school campus for students purchased from an outside vendor.
Any questions about this Memo may be addressed to Ms. Wanda Shockey, Director of the Child Nutrition Unit, at (501) 324-9502.