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April 14-18, 2025

Dallas, Texas

CACFP · Afterschool Meals · Summer Food

Speed Session | Farm to CACFP Track | CEU Specialty 4 | Intermediate

Cultivate Community: Serving Fresh & Local Foods with Efficiency

Unlock the power to transform your food service operations and champion local agriculture. Discover dynamic strategies to streamline procurement, craft vibrant farm-to-table menus, and forge impactful partnerships with local farmers. Empower yourself to serve fresh, community-driven foods while reclaiming precious time, by learning to elevate your operations and celebrate local agribusiness.

  1. Discover procurement optimization for local impact.
  2. Build strategic, seasonally-focused menu planning and rotation.
  3. Examine leveraging technology and automation for efficiency.

Presented by

Natasha Smith Web

Natasha Smith, MBA

CEO, American Farm to Institute (AFTI)

Standard Registration Rates

$609 Members | $719 Non-Members

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A Recipe for Inclusion: Culturally Responsive Cooking Strategies

Be a Kid’s Hero: Food and Nutrient Acceptance in the Early Years

Beyond the Airplane Spoon: Tips for Picky Eaters

Cooking Up Fun: Engaging Kids in Cooking Activities

Cultural & Local Foods: Creating Diverse Menus

Engaging Grandparents, Parents & Students in Farm to Table

Food Sovereignty: An Indigenous Perspective

Gluten Found: Why Cross-Contact Can’t Be Ignored

Helping Selective Eaters Succeed

Incorporating Fresh Vegetables into Plates, Play & Physical Activity

Milk Matters! Be a Breastfeeding Champion

Nourishing Minds: Teaching Nutrition Education Across Subjects

Nurturing Healthy Eating Habits Through Responsive Feeding Practices

Raising Healthy, Happy Eaters From Their First Bites

Religious Dietary Basics: Serving Halal & Kosher

Rethink Picky Eating

Snack-tacular Celebrations: Tasty Bites for Every Week

Taste Testing Like a Pro: Sensory-Assisted Food Introductions

Thriving Kids: Nurturing Health with Plant-Based Nutrition

Turning Yuck to Yum: Making Mealtimes Matter

Words Matter: Empower and Motivate Health with Facts

Fun and Flavorful Themed CACFP Menu Planning

A Fresh Perspective for Embracing New Foods

Beginners’ Guide to Crediting Recipes in the CACFP

Beyond Beginners: Next Level Menu Planning

Discover the Magic of Fresh Ingredients: 10 Recipes Kids Will Love

Diversifying Menus: Placing Proteins and Plants on the Plate

Get the Facts! CN Labels and Product Formulation Statements (PFS)

Great Grains! Taking the Guess Work Out of What’s Creditable

Identifying Whole Grain-Rich

Managing Food Allergies in the CACFP

Navigating Special Diets

Nourish & Flourish: Essential CACFP Adult Menu Planning Tips

What About the Babies? Streamline Your Infant Feeding

Bolstering Nutrition Education in Head Start

CACFP & Head Start Food Service Regulations

CACFP Cycle Menus for Head Start

Conducting Monitoring in the CACFP for Head Start

Family Style Mealtime: Developing Language & Social Skills

Family Style Mealtime: Developing Math

Integration of CACFP with Head Start Objectives

Nutrition Activities for the Head Start Classroom

Beyond Gardening: CACFP-Based Variety in Farm to ECE

Bringing Farm Fresh to Your CACFP

Cooking with Kids’ Kitchen: Seasonally Fresh Meals for CACFP

Cultivating the Core of Farm to ECE

Events to Engage Families in Nutrition with Farm to Early Care

Find Your Farmer: Enrich Farm to ECE Through Producer Relationships

Fresh Foods, Flavors and Kitchen Ingredients

Future-Proofing Farm to ECE: Strategic Approaches to Sustainability

Harvest of the Month: Local Food Exploration & Learning for Littles

Hydroponic Gardening: Innovative Farm to Plate

Seeds of Hope

Straw Bales: A New Way to Garden

Beyond the Bell: Serving Supper in Schools with Sponsors

Exploring the Three Cs of a Successful Afterschool Meal Program

Planning, Paying & Physical Activity for Afterschool Meals

Two Programs, One Goal: A Guide to Afterschool and Summer Meals

Aligning Community CACFP & School Nutrition for Greater Impact

Combating the Challenges of an At-Risk Rural Nutrition Program

Expanding Your Afterschool Meals Program for Greater Impact

Maximizing Meal Access in the Out-of-School Time Hours

Monitoring 101: Ensuring Compliance in SFSP and Afterschool Meals

The Dual Impact of Supper Programs on Food Insecurity & Families

Feeding Communities: From Planning to Serving Summer Meals

From 30 Summer Lunches to 400 Grab and Go Meals in 2 Easy Moves

Funding Summer on a Shoestring and a Friend

Innovative Mapping Tools to Plan for Summer

Lessons Learned: A Bright Future for SFSP Non-Congregate

Maximizing SUN Programs Across Two State Agencies

Navigating Non-Congregate SFSP Meals in Rural and Tribal Areas

Non-Congregate Summer Feeding: 2024 Lessons for Summer 2025

Operating a Non-Congregate Summer Food Service

Summer Food: If I Knew Then What I Know Now

Summer Meals To Go: Alaska’s Rural SFSP Solution

Corporate Volunteerism: Getting Companies to Help Feed the Need

Cultivating Leadership: A Framework for Effective Strategies

Don’t Be a Bore: Make Your Trainings Roar

Enhance Staff Capacity by Engaging College Students

Enhancing Communication Channels

Filling Your Cup: Comprehensive Self-Care Strategies

Fueling the Future: Strategies to Prevent Burnout

Healthy Leaders, Healthier Programs: Prioritizing Leader Well-Being

Healthy Staff, Healthy Kids: Cultivating Wellness for Your Teams

Leadership Essentials for CACFP Professionals

Resilience: The Key to Overcoming Challenges

Sell Them Your Dream: Getting Buy-In From Your Team

Teaming Up for Greater Impact: Creating Collaborative Partnerships

When Tough Isn’t Enough, Build Mental Strength

Who Is Your Best Self? Understand Yourself to Understand Others

Work-Life Imbalance: Supporting the “New Norm” in the Workplace

Best Practices for Developing a Financial Management Process

Cost Allocation for Center and Home Sponsors

Financial Management for Center Sponsors

Investigating Fraud, Waste & Abuse in Federally Funded Programs

Navigating Specific Prior Written Approvals for Budget Items

Preparing for CACFP or SFSP Audits

Sponsoring Summer Food: Keys to Financial Management

Administrative Review Preparedness for Sponsors

Best Practices for New and Returning Sponsors on the Application Process

Fundamentals of CACFP Child Care Monitoring

Handling Food Recalls in CACFP

How to Drive Student Participation in School Food Programs

Managing Food Vendors for CACFP Compliance

Menu Planning for Emergency Situations

Preparing for CACFP in the Texas Automated Nutrition System (TANS)

Program Integrity Rule and Administrative & Procurement Reviews

State Agency Audits: Avoid Pitfalls, Stay Prepared and Succeed

The NDL and TEXSL Placement & Removal Process for CACFP & SFSP

Who’s at the Door? Navigating Home Monitoring Situations

CACFP Newsroom: Breaking News

Championing Change with CACFP Advocacy

Changing CACFP State Policy: A Colorado Case Study

Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Continued Advocacy for the CACFP

Civil Rights Compliance and Special Diets in the CACFP

Cultivating Connections Between Sponsors and Public Health Partners

State Agency Strategies to Uplift the CACFP

Achieving a State of Healthy Weight: A System-Level Approach

Bridging the Nutrition Gap in Low-Income Communities

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Harvesting Hope, Nourishing Our Future

Hunger, Health and How Early Care Settings Can Help

Inside and Out: Sesame Street’s Whole Child Wellness

Nutrition to Youth Development: An Extension’s Role in Schools

Playful Activities for Teaching Healthy Diets

Supporting Food Security in Your Local Community

The Numbers Behind the Story: Unveiling Insights with Data

What Are Children Eating? A Plate Waste Study

Building a Regulation-Ready Breakfast presented by General Mills

CACFP Training Calendar & Nutrition Program

CNP Integrity Rule Best Practices with MH Miles

Crediting Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together for CACFP

How to Achieve Food Program Compliance with CREDIBLE Automation

How to Get Along with an AI Coworker by Your Part-Time Controller

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Nurturing Little Explorers: The Journey of Starting Solids by Gerber

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Thank you to our...

Partners
Sponsors
HEB Hunger Relief

Exhibitors

Silver Level

Champion Foodservice

Food & Supply Source

Food For Good by Pepsico

General Mills

KidKare by Minute Menu

MH Miles Company, CPA, PC

Oliver Packaging and Equipment

Optimum Foods

 

Bronze Level

Amazing Fruit Products

Arlington Valley Farms

Ben E. Keith Company

Brighton Training Group

Butter Buds Inc.

CenterPilot, LLC

Choice Partners Cooperative

Darlington Snacks

Dole Packaged Foods

E S Foods

Equip

Fresh Baby

G.A. Systems, Inc.

Gaia Software

Gerber Products Company

Harvest Hill Beverage Company

Health-e Pro

Highland Beef Farms

Hiland Dairy Foods

IPS Rebates

JA Foodservice/Packaged Meal Kits

Kaplan Early Learning Company

Link2Feed

Logatot

MBC Companies (Bake Crafters & Nardone Bros. Brands)

McLane Hunger Solutions

Miss Olive's Meals and Snap Gourmet Foods

My Food Program

Myers and Stauffer LC

National Pork Board/Texas Pork Producers Association

Niagara Bottling, LLC

Novick Childcare Solutions

Peterson Farms Family of Companies

PrimeroEdge State Solutions

Rebellyous Foods

StarKist

SunButter

Tarrier Foods/Rockin'ola

The J.M. Smucker Co.

Umoja Nutrition Security Solutions

Whitsons Culinary Group

Your Part Time Controller (YPTC)

Nonprofit Level

Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI)

Dr. Yum Project

Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN)

Early Learning Ventures

Mushroom Council

Penn State Extension Better Kid Care Program

Team Nutrition

Texas Department of Agriculture

UNC-CH, Go NAPSACC