Best Practices to Improve Nutrition
March is a month to celebrate nutrition and wellness. It is also a time to educate and bring awareness to the CACFP. This Mealtime Memo from our partners at the Institute of Child Nutrition provides the USDA optional best practices you can use to strengthen the nutritional quality of meals served.
Family Style Meal Service with Children in the CACFPÂ
USDA Team Nutrition recently announced their new Family Style Meal Service with Children in the Child and Adult Care Food Program resources. This new suite of resources includes training materials, social media graphics, classroom posters, and original photos.
Leap into Learning: Read Aloud Challenge
How often do you read aloud to the children in your care? Reading aloud to young children, particularly in an engaging manner, promotes emerging literacy and language development and supports the relationship between child and parent/caregiver.
Be Good to Your Heart with Fruits and VegetablesÂ
Did you know February is American Heart Month? Although February may be ending soon, you can be good to your heart year-round by incorporating fruits and vegetables into your diet. Our partners at the Produce for Better Health Foundation have an entire blog series dedicated to this topic.
Health Benefits of Whole Grains
Whole grains are packed with essential nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants that are important for overall health and wellness. February is National Heart Health Month, so our partners at the Home Baking Association shared a few of the many health benefits of consuming whole grains and how to include it in your meal planning.
Family Style Meal Service
Family Style Meal Service (FSMS) is a way to enhance the enjoyment of mealtime in the child care setting. It not only benefits the children, but the child care program as well. FSMS encourages a pleasant eating environment that promotes mealtime as a learning experience.
Age-Appropriate Kitchen Tasks
Kids can help out in the kitchen as early as 2 years old. Our partners at the Home Baking Association outline age-appropriate kitchen tasks.
12 Nutrient Dense, Shelf-Stable Foods
It’s helpful to have a mix of fresh, frozen, canned and packaged foods in your kitchen for all of your cooking and eating needs. Our partners at the International Food Information Council (IFIC) spotlighting twelve nutrient-dense, shelf-stable foods to include on your shopping list. These foods in particular can help reduce the frequency of your grocery trips and can decrease food waste.
Race, Ethnicity, and Culture Resources
As a child care provider, you likely serve children of many different backgrounds. It’s not only important for children to learn about different races, ethnicities, and cultures, but it is also crucial for you to understand how to properly teach them about these topics.
Identifying Whole Grain-Rich Foods
Whole grains are an essential part of a healthy diet, which is why the CACFP meal pattern requires that at least one serving of grains per day be whole grain-rich (WGR). Our partners at ICN have tips to help you use the food package to determine which foods are WGR and how to avoid the pitfalls of confusing terms and phrases.