Meal Pattern Minute: Meals for Supervising Adults

When operating the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), there are different methods in which to serve CACFP meals to those in your care. One of these options is to serve meals family style. In family style meal service, children serve themselves. A best practice is to have the supervising adult role model healthy eating behaviors by serving themselves and eating the same foods as the children. But are the meals the supervising adult serves themselves reimbursable in the CACFP? 

Tune in to this Meal Pattern Minute as Isabel Ramos-Lebron, MS, RDN, LD, provides the answer and additional guidance. 

Looking for more information on family style meal service? Review the resources below.  

• USDA released a memorandum that outlines the use of Offer Versus Serve (OVS) in the adult day care and at-risk afterschool settings, as well as the use of family style meals in the CACFP. This memorandum contains two attachments that highlight frequently asked questions and answers and OVS examples for breakfast, lunch, and supper meal service. This memorandum supersedes CACFP 05-2017, Offer Versus Serve and Family Style Meals in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
  • In this memorandum, it specifically states, The supervising adult’s meals are not reimbursable, but [for centers] the expense of extra creditable food produced for meals is an allowable cost. Check with your sponsoring organization or State agency about using CACFP funds to buy extra food. 
• Additional Meal Pattern Minutes on Family Style Dining 
  • Second Servings in Family Style Dining
  • Meal Counts During Family Style Dining 
  • Reimbursement for Family Style Dining 
  • Preparing Children for Family Style Dining 
• Family Style Meal Service Operator Booklet 
  • Getting started with family style meal service? Review this booklet as USDA developed this tool to guide operators in how to prepare and serve meals using this type of meal service. 
• Webinar: Family Style Meal Service with Children in the CACFP (FREE) 
  • This webinar shows tips for preparing and supporting children, training staff, and meeting CACFP meal pattern requirements to successfully serve meals “family style.” The Nebraska Department of Education also shares how they developed and utilized tools to train child care providers on family style meal service. Presented by: USDA Food and Nutrition Service

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