This presentation will discuss the process of menu planning for North Carolina's 5-week cycle menu. It will discuss factors that contribute to menu planning such as cost, product availability, acceptability as well as others. It will discuss planning menus for the Regular diet, our therapeutic diets as well as religious diets.

NC DPS Food and Nutrition Management employees 16 full and part time registered dietitians, who work to ensure that inmates receive nutritionally appropriate meals within the budget. Alicia Bicksler is the Central Region Dietitian and has worked for prisons for 5 years. She is a Registered Dietitian with her Master's Degree in Nutrition Science from North Carolina Central University and her bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University. She started her career with the NC Dept of Public Safety as a Clinical Dietitian and now serves as a Regional Dietitian. As a Regional Dietitian, she covers 15 prisons statewide providing administrative and nutrition consultation to these facilities. Alicia's passion for recipe development has enabled her the past 3 years to develop over 30 new recipes for the NC Prison System and has led her to play an integral role in menu planning and development.