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1. Describe your foodservice facility and its theme/philosophy.
Sunrise Meals mission is to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner to
the inner most inaccessible parts of Sacramento beginning at
sunrise, Monday-Friday. The name not only denotes the time at
which meals will be served, but also represents the new beginnings
to the distribution of food and the food itself for the community. The
two locations Sunrise Meals serves are specifically chosen to serve
heavily populated families whom are low income and underserved.
The non-profit addresses the lack of local healthy markets and
restaurants in these communities by bringing the healthy food to
the people. The organizations philosophy is through a familiar food
service, food trucks, people will be more inclined to try new, healthy
foods that otherwise they would not or have not had the opportunity
to try. By creating a menu including necessary nutrients in each
meal as well as their proper proportion, Sunrise Meal delivers
nutrition education to people who lack access to it. Through these
combined goals, Sunrise Meals hopes to stimulate the demand for
these foods within the community, educate people on healthy
eating and ideally give rise to more local and accessible healthy
food resources within the communities.
2. Who is your target population?
The Oak Park and Del Paso areas of Sacramento are heavily
populated with low income and underserved families and
individuals. Both areas are home to a many of different ethnic
backgrounds, however mostly populated with those of the AfricanAmerican community and Hispanic community, which is also
represented by the restaurants and eateries found in these areas
(those being of many Mexican Cuisine, Latin Cuisine, Creole Cuisine,
BBQ, etc.).
3. What special needs does your population group have?
Due to the majority of the population being of two different racial
backgrounds with two particular food preferences, the organization
tailors a menu that addresses the food preferences of these two
areas in order to properly introduce them to new, healthy foods that
the organization serves. Other needs that need to be addressed
include portion control, the overconsumption of non-nutrient dense
foods amongst children, as well as inconsistency of a three-course
meal in the diets that are prevalent amongst most of these families.
Also, there is a rising issue of diabetes and hypertension in these
communities, and so special consideration will be given through the
menu by allowing for options that omit salt and options made with

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Splenda. Since most of the population in these areas are mostly low
income and are limited on travel, the organization must consider
these needs when pricing their meals as well as finding a central
and accessible location to consistently have their food truck.
4. Any financial limitations your facility ahs that affects menu
choices?
The populations in both areas are both low income, so this limits the
amount of money that Sunrise Meals can invest into the food they
purchase. Although the Sacramento Food Bank Food and Family
Services will donate to most of the food that will be served, the
menu would still be subjected to the donated ingredients, thus
affecting the menu choices and quality of food for the week.
5.

Explain how these factors/parameters in questions 1-4 affect

your menu establishment with examples.

Some factors that would affect the establishment of our menu

would of course, as mentioned prior, include the dependence on
donated food items. Most ingredients used will be donated from the
Sacramento Food Bank Food and Family services in order to
maintain affordable prices for the low-income target population.
Although most of the donations are consistent, a lack of one food
item could potentially shift the entire menu in order to utilize the
ingredients donated while still providing healthy meals with proper
proportions of necessary food groups as listed by the USDA.
Along with this, the foods and meals selected for the menu would
face a cooking parameter, as the ingredients for the meals would
need to be easily and properly stored (in regulation with the FDA) as
well as able to be readily cooked in a limited amount of space that
the food truck provides. The food truck has one oven, one stove
with four burners, one microwave and a dish/hand wash area, as
well as a preparation counter area. Each meal listed on the menu
considers the limitations of the resources available on the truck and
chooses meals that may be easily cooked and prepared with a
limited amount of ingredients, so that all foods may be properly
stored and safely traveled. In order to do so, dishes that can be
prepared, stored are easily able to be traveled, such as cookie
dough for dessert options during lunch or dinner, will be prepared
prior to opening. This will allot more time to prepare for other meals
such as breakfast omelets, which cannot be prepared prior and can
not travel easily. Also, foods that require more cooking time, such as
the Vegetable Pot Pie (Friday dinner option) and Sopa de Arroz
(Thursday dinner option) are listed as later day menu options.

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6. Menu Explanations and Assumptions
Necessary menu explanations:
Mediterranean Mondays The 2010 Dietary Guidelines
describes a Mediterranean-style eating pattern as, an eating
pattern that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, and nuts olive oil,
and grains (often whole grains). Only small amounts of means
and full-fat milk and milk products are usually included. It has a
high monounsaturated to saturated fatty acid intake ratio
(Dietary Guidelines, 2010. Page 44). In an effort to increase the
eating patterns recommended by the Dietary Guidelines, Sunrise
Restaurants menu implements the Mediterranean eating pattern
(closely associated to the recommendations of the Dietary
Guidelines) in its menu on Mondays. The menu options are high
in vegetables and include more whole-wheat options.
Fish Fridays In an effort to increase the amount and variety of
seafood consumed, as recommended by the American Dietary
Guidelines, Fish Fridays include one entre at lunch and dinner
that has fish.
Similar Ingredients In order to address the issue of limited
space for ingredients and food preparation, minimal amount of
ingredients are used in a single day as possible. For example,
Tuesdays lunch entrees are Macaroni and cheese and Roasted
Bell Pepper Quesadillas. Both require cheese and bell peppers
are included as a side to minimize on the amount of food to be
carried and prepared that day. This is also seen most commonly
for breakfast, as many of the items include a side of eggs from
the main breakfast entre to minimize on ingredients.
Diabetic Options Are denoted by (D) next to the dessert option.
These are diabetic menu alternatives prepared with sugar
substitute, Splenda, instead of regular sugar.
7. Explain overall planning including appearance and presentation
of plate/tray.
As mentioned prior, those foods with minimal preparation and are able
to safely travel will be prepped early in the day to leave room for
prepping of more cooking intensive food items. Do emphasize portion
control, breakfast, lunch and dinner plates will all be a 9 in. width plate
(that of the My Plate example) and the foods will be placed and
presented in that manner. This is to educate on the portions of each
food and serve as an example of a well-balanced meal. All cups will be
8 oz. and all soup bowls 8 oz. Small, 6 in. salad or side dishes, will also
be available. Dishware as well as utensils will all be paper or plastic so
that they may travel safely as well as maintain the food truck appeal.

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8. BRIEFLY state how your menu meets the nutritional needs of
your population.
The menu is constructed to address these needs by offering a threecourse meal selection, of which most of children in these communities
do not consistently eat. Each course represents a healthy, balanced
meal as represented by USDAs My Plate and fulfills the
recommendations listed from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,
2010 .
The food supplied for Sunset Meals is donated on a weekly basis by
the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services and outside markets
and food facilities. Thus, many of the recipes and menu choices will
greatly depend on food that is donated and the amounts in which they
are donated. This will not only utilize the resources of which fuel
Sunrise Food Trucks organization, but also provide ideas and examples
for healthy eating for the population, a majority of which receive the
same or similar food items of which are donated to them.