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Meal Pattern Minute: Plantains

October 11, 2024

Depending on where you live, you may or may not have heard about the delicious plantain. Plantains are a relative to bananas, however, they cannot be eaten raw. Plantains must be peeled and cooked prior to eating. In various cultures, plantains are cooked when they are ripe or unripe creating various types of dishes like plantain canoes, mangú, and plantain porridge. However, when adding plantains to your Child and Adult Care Food Program menu, do you credit these as a fruit or a vegetable? 

 Get the facts in this Meal Pattern Minute with Isabel Ramos-Lebron, MS, RDN, LD, as she provides the answer and explanation. 

Review below additional resources to help you determine if an ingredient is creditable and under what food component it would categorize under. 

  • USDA Food Buying Guide 
    • An interactive, web-based tool developed by USDA to help CACFP program operators search for creditable foods, food yield information, develop recipes using the Recipe Analysis Workbook, and so much more. Create a free account so you can save all your recipes and favorite foods.  
  • Crediting Handbook in the CACFP 
    • The Crediting Handbook for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) reflects the updated CACFP meal pattern requirements, soon the 2024 updates will be included. The handbook plays an important role in helping CACFP program operators to improve the health and nutrition of children and adults in the program, while promoting the development of good eating habits through nutrition education. Additionally, this handbook is a supplementary resource to the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs and contains additional information on creditable foods served in child and adult care centers, which may be located in a variety of settings.  
  • Culturally and Religiously Inclusive Foods Offered in FNS Programs
    • CACFP participants need nourishing meals and snacks to grow and thrive. Local child nutrition program operators are encouraged to consider participants’ cultural food preferences and religious needs when planning and preparing meals and snacks. This webpage provides resources, recipes and trainings to help your CACFP site become more culturally and religiously inclusive with foods. 

 

Try one of these ideas below to incorporate plantains in your menu: 

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