The USDA Food Buying Guide is like an instruction manual for building a creditable CACFP meal. It tells you exactly how much you need of exact food items to ensure that you purchase and prepare enough food. It used to be that every CACFP sponsor had a giant binder with the Food Buying Guide in […]
When serving meals in afterschool programs or adult day care centers on the CACFP or at any SFSP summer feeding site, you may use a type of meal service called Offer Versus Serve (OVS). To offer means that the participant gets the option to select from the available choices and decline others. To serve means […]
Exciting news! The USDA has issued a new handbook, “Feeding Infants in the Child and Adult Care Food Program”. This handbook was last updated in 2001 so it was ready for a refresh! The new handbook is double the size of the old version, up to 200 pages. It’s packed with information about the updated […]
Starting October 1, 2019 You need to measure grain amounts in “ounce equivalents” instead of “servings”. The USDA is changing the way CACFP sites need to measure grain amounts so that the CACFP and the National School Lunch Program are all using the same method. The amount of grain is only slightly different: Before […]
Estimating the amount of food to buy can be a difficult task. Here are a few tips to make it easier: Always plan your portions using the CACFP minimum portion size requirements. This ensures that every child gets enough food to meet their developmental needs. If you prepare your own meals, be sure to use […]
With all the recordkeeping requirements for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), it can be really easy to make a mistake that could take substantial time to correct and could have real financial implications. Here are the best practices we have identified for minimizing confusion and maximizing time with the CACFP. “Only […]
Ever wonder what “the average” CACFP sponsor looks like? If so, your wait is over. The USDA conducted a study of CACFP sponsor and providers in FY2015 and the results were recently published. Here are some interesting take-aways from the report: There are 21,055 sponsors of child care centers and home and 178,061 […]
Parents can often have a difficult time identifying quality care programs. Along with national accreditation programs, staff credential programs and state quality rating and improvement system, participation in the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) has been proven to be an indicator of quality care! (For proof, take a look at this recently-published […]
Have you ever had to serve an item multiple times because you accidentally over-ordered it and wanted to use it before it spoiled? Maybe you even had to throw it out because it did spoil. Would you like to put an end to that? You can use food production reports to track food waste, which […]
Offering meals for the Summer Food Service Program is a great way to ensure that no child goes hungry this summer. But how do you make sure that people are aware of your SFSP site? There are many forms of outreach that can help you gain exposure. Let’s look at a few different ways to […]