FRESHAMPTON
“Freshampton, the School Nutrition Service of Northampton Public Schools”
Menus
Important Menu Update
Last minute menu changes are occurring frequently and are out of our control due to food supply chain issues.
Menus on this website may not reflect these changes.
We appreciate your patience and understanding. Thank You!
School Meal Modification Request
If a meal modification is requested for your child/student, please complete the following form and submit the form to your school nurse. Thank you!
April Harvest of the Month: Dairy
Fun Facts about Cows
- It takes about 5-7 minutes for a cow to be milked.
- Cows have 32 teeth total, but they do not have top front teeth.
- Cows can smell up to 6 miles away.
- Dairy cows are creatures of habit and dairy farmers do their best to make sure these routines are kept daily.
Fun Facts about Milk
- U.S. dairy farms produce roughly 21 billion gallons of milk annually.
- All 50 states in the U.S. have dairy farms.
- Dairy farmers are paid by the hundredweight (100 pounds), not by the gallon. There are approximately 8.6 pounds of milk per gallon.
- 99 percent of all U.S. households purchase milk. The average American consumes almost 25 gallons of milk each year.
- About 72 percent of the calcium in the U.S. food supply comes from dairy foods.
- To get the amount of calcium in an 8-ounce glass of milk, you’d have to eat seven oranges or six slices of wheat bread.
- Fresh milk will stay fresher longer if you add a pinch of salt to each quart.
Fun Facts About Cheese & Other Dairy Products
- The natural yellow color of butter comes mainly from the beta-carotene found in the grass cows eat.
- Americans eat more than 300,000 tons of yogurt per year.
- About 300 varieties of cheese are sold in the United States.
- The most popular cheese in America is Cheddar.
- Vanilla is America’s favorite ice cream flavor.
- It takes 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese.
- It takes 12 pounds of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream.
- It takes 21.8 pounds of milk to make one pound of butter.
Learn More About Local Dairy
This Month Freshampton is highlighting Cream Cheese from Cabot!
Origin Story of Cream Cheese
In 1872 William Lawrence, a dairyfarmer from Chester, New York, attempted to make Neufchâtel, a tangy, crumblier cheese product that was popular in Europe at the time. Instead he accidentally added an excessive amount of cream and created a richer, more spreadable cheese, which would eventually be called “cream cheese”.
Dairy Recipes
Adult Meal Prices School Year 2023-2024
Adult Breakfast:
$3.00 (plus 7% MA Meals Tax) = $3.21
Adult Lunch:
$5.00 (plus 7% MA Meals Tax) = $5.35
Create your MySchoolBucks account to conveniently view your student’s cafeteria purchases, check their balance, and securely pay for a la carte items.
Important Update from MySchoolBucks “Fee Changes”
Thank you for trusting MySchoolBucks as your online payment portal for cafeteria payments. We are proud to partner with your program and thousands like yours, in delivering convenient and secure payment, communication, and account management services to busy families across the US.
Due to rising payment processing interchange fees and continued increases in operational costs, we’re updating the MySchoolBucks program fee that parents and guardians pay at checkout to $3.25 for all cafeteria credit/debit card prepayments beginning on March 7th. If your district accepts e-checks, the program fee for electronic check payments will increase to $2.75 per meal payment on the same date. This adjustment to our program fee for school meals is necessary to continue providing you and your families with the best and most secure online payment experience, while continuing to maintain the highest levels of data privacy.
The program fee is designed to cover the costs of providing the optional MSB services and includes a variety of items, including payment processing costs, live parent and school support, compliance and information security requirements, as well as the software used to manage meal payments.
We recognize that fee updates during the school year can be disruptive, but we can no longer absorb these cost increases without negatively affecting the service we provide. Our intent for increasing our program fee is to be less impactful to your families than a one-time fee.
We recognize that fee updates during the school year can be disruptive, but we can no longer absorb these cost increases without negatively affecting the service we provide. Our intent for increasing our program fee is to be less impactful to your families than a one-time fee.
Offer vs. Serve Policy for Lunch
A school lunch that is eligible for federal reimbursement must offer 5 food components for each meal served (milk, fruit, vegetables, grains and meat/meat alternatives. Students may decline 2 of the required 5 items offered but must select either a ½ cup fruit or vegetable or a ½ cup combination of fruit/vegetable with their meal. In addition to the fruit or vegetable, the student must select at least 2 additional food components in full amounts offered in order for the meal to count toward the reimbursable offer vs serve meal. The price of the meal will not be determined by the number of components the student chooses. The lunch is priced as a unit whether the student declines 2 items or chooses all 5 items. Field trip bag lunches or special occasion meals in the classroom contain all 5 food components and are exempt from this policy.
Offer vs. Serve for Breakfast
A school breakfast that is eligible for reimbursement shall offer 3 food components (milk, fruit and grains) that consists of a minimum of 4 items. Students may decline 1 food item, but must select at least ½ cup of fruit or fruit combination. After choosing the ½ cup of fruit, students must select the other food components in the full amounts to count toward the reimbursable offer vs. serve meal. The price of the meal will not be determined by the number of components the student chooses. The breakfast is priced as a unit whether the student accepts all 4 items or declines.
Non Discrimination Statement
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil
rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of
race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age,
or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with
disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g.,
Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or
local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice
and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027,
USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online
at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-
0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by
writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address,
telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient
detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an
alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA
- mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or - fax:
(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
3. email: program.intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.