Over the years, officials of the USDA Child and
Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) have been
very complimentary of our menu planning, our
food preparation, and especially, the variety
and nutritional quality of the food we serve.

Since her first day on the job, Michelle Richards, our wonderful cook, has been preparing meals that are both tasty and nutritious.  We closely monitor meals to ensure that the children like them; if they don't eat, it doesn't matter how healthy the food is!  So, we know that the children like her cooking.  Now, we have made a bold step toward making our meals even more nutritious.

For more info on child nutrition
visit the CACFP Website>>>>>>

The CACFP recently made us aware that nutritional guidelines will become more stringent next year. They have given child care centers advanced notice in order for them to gradually implement the changes and to budget for the additional expense.

Government imposed changes are not always improvements; however, after discussing the changes and determining that they will be better for the children, the CDC decided to implement the changes now. 

In a nutshell, the CDC is now serving meals that have less sugar, less fat, less processed foods, and more whole grains.  In making these changes, we have eliminated some menu items entirely.  Gone are most processed meats, such as wieners, corn dogs, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, Salisbury steak, and bologna, to name a few.  Some of the processed meats have been replaced (i.e. Salisbury steak is replaced by baked steak; corn dogs are replaced by cheeseburgers.)  We have removed other processed meats entirely.

While some items remain on the menu, they are not the same as before.  For example, bread now means whole wheat bread, and milk now means fat-free milk (except for children under 24 months of age, who will still receive whole milk).

Additionally, we now serve grain items (i.e. breakfast cereals and tortilla chips) that list whole grains as their first ingredient.  Fat and sugar content are the most difficult to monitor.  We already use leaner ground beef than is required by the regulations.  We are working now to ensure that all our snacks will be less than 35% calories from fat or sugar.  Some foods that are heavy in sugar are gone, while others may still appear on a limited basis.  As an example, corn flake chews are gone and no bake cookies appear only once in five weeks.  Fruit juice, also heavy in sugar, is limited to 4 ounces per day per child.

Previously, our lunch menu repeated every six weeks. To accommodate the new menu, it will repeat on a five-week cycle.   We hope that parents will appreciate these efforts toward healthier children!