This is the Help section for the Alliance Smart Food Planner, where you can find Frequently Asked Questions. If you have any other questions, please contact us.
What is the Smart Food Planner?
What can I do with the Smart Food Planner?
How do I work with Recipes?
How do I work with Meal Plans?
How do I work with the Smart Snacks Product Calculator?
Who can I contact if I need further assistance?
What is the Smart Food Planner?
The Alliance’s Smart Food Planner is a one-of-a-kind tool providing enhanced product search functionality and the ability for school and site staff to view interactive sample menus and recipes. In addition, this tool provides information on trainings, hot topics and breaking news, and seamlessly integrates the Alliance’s popular Product Calculator.
What can I do with the Smart Food Planner?
The Smart Food Planner is your one-stop-shop for browsing products and recipes, and finding meal plans that align with federal child nutrition program standards. Click on a category below to learn more about what you can do with the Smart Food Planner.
You can navigate to the Recipes section either from the Home Page or from the top navigation menu.
Once in the Recipes section, you can search by Keyword or Category, or browse featured recipes.
Click on a recipe to see more details about it or leave a comment. From the recipe page, you can view the ingredients, preparation instructions or comments from your peers. Just like products, you can also save recipes to lists or print them.
You must be logged in to save a recipe to a list. You will be prompted to log in when you select “Save to List” or you can log in at any time from the top navigation button that says “LOG IN/REGISTER.”
To access your saved recipes, go to “ACCOUNT” and select the appropriate list. From your Account, you can also export your recipes and print them or email them to a colleague.
How do I work with Meal Plans?
You can navigate to the Meal Plans section either from the Home Page or from the top navigation menu.
Once in the Meal Plans section, you will be prompted to select a Plan Type (ex. Breakfast, Lunch, Supper) and then also an Audience (ex. Elementary, Secondary).
Some meal plans are hyperlinked to recipes from the Recipes section for easy access. Just like products and recipes, you can link save meal plans to lists or print them.
You must be logged in to save a meal plan to a list. You will be prompted to log in when you select “Save to List” or you can log in at any time from the top navigation button that says “LOG IN/REGISTER.”
To access your saved recipes, go to “ACCOUNT” and select the appropriate list. From your Account, you can also export your recipes and print them or email them to a colleague.
How do I work with the Smart Snacks Product Calculator?
You can navigate to the Smart Snacks Product Calculator from either the Home Page or from the top navigation menu.
The Product Calculator is one of the Alliance’s most popular tools. It allows you to answer a series of questions about a product to determine if it product meets the USDA's Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards. Results from this Calculator have been determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be accurate in assessing product compliance with the Federal requirements for Smart Snacks in Schools.
You can also save and print compliance reports for your records.
Who can I contact if I need further assistance?
For additional questions about using the Smart Food Planner or to submit a recipe or meal plan that has been successful at your school or site, please contact us.
