Little Larry, a seven-year-old beanpole of a boy in second grade, has an absolute weakness for ice cream.
After he struggles through whatever meal his parents are forcing him to eat each night, he asks for a serving of the cool and creamy dessert – he cannot get enough. And Larry has no favoritism for any particular flavor, be it Rocky Road or Pistachio.
Here’s where the story gets interesting. You see, Larry found a new way to enjoy ice cream without his parents’ permission.
Little Larry’s Secret Discovery of A la Carte Ice Cream
On a Monday like any other, Larry was standing in the lunch line at school, trying not to drop his newly filled tray of Sloppy Joes when he saw it there in the cold case: a single serving cup of vanilla ice cream.
As Larry neared the case, his eyes shifted left and right, certain his parents would barge in to snatch it from his hands should he touch it. He snagged the frozen serving and entered his student ID into the POS terminal with a record-breaking speed never seen from a second grader.
He only felt safe once he was seated at his lunch table where he dove into his sweet treat.
As they sat around the dinner table that night, Larry and his family discussed the day and, just as they always did, Larry’s parents asked him what he had eaten for lunch. He grinned while he chewed on a big bite of green beans, exclaiming he’d eaten Sloppy Joes.
Later that night, Larry’s father Fred logged into his son’s meal account to check that there were plenty of funds to cover the child’s meals for two weeks. If there’s one thing Fred can’t stand, it is a low-balance notice in his inbox.
Fred noticed his son’s meal account information hadn’t been updated. Instead of solving the problem, he chalked it up to a technology delay and headed to bed.
Fred Loses His Cool Over a Lack of Real-Time Syncing
Larry continued to buy ice cream with his lunch all week long. It was a dream come true. He started believing that his parents had actually come around; maybe they were now as fond of ice cream as he was!
But Larry would soon find out that his parents weren’t as cool as he thought.
Larry was vibrating with excitement as he walked into his house after school. He couldn’t wait to ask his father when they could plan an outing for a cold treat. Instead, he found his father at the kitchen counter looking very grumpy with a furrowed brow.
Fred told Larry about the low-balance notice he had received that morning. Larry spent two weeks of lunch money in one week because of his ice cream habit. And the worst part was that Fred didn’t know this was happening until it was too late.
Real-Time Syncing is the Key to Successful Nutrition Programs
Now, we understand it’s not a nutrition director’s job to manage a student’s insatiable appetite for ice cream. But there are a few issues that could be resolved if Larry’s school district relied on a solution with immediate and accurate data:
- Fred may have known that Larry was sneaking ice cream without permission earlier.
- There would be a clearer picture of Larry’s meal payment account and the funds.
- Fred could apply limits or restrictions to the items Larry purchases for meals.
When data for your program is syncing, your department avoids sticky situations like delayed payments, application processing gaps, and missed reimbursement opportunities.
On top of that, you and your team save time by eliminating the administrative task of uploading and downloading data.
When you move to a cloud-based solution, your software no longer owns you. Your team has access to accurate data and can run reports as needed – not when the software tells them it’s time.
Your school nutrition team deserves reliable and modern technology that builds confidence, trust, and satisfaction. A cloud-based solution with current and accurate data reduces frustration from parents, ultimately increasing meal program participation for districts.
Learn more about how real-time syncing can supercharge your nutrition program today!