Our Family Is Going Organic...Not Sure How To Work This Into Daycare...

[Soccermom]

My DH and I have decided to make the big plunge into all natural organic foods for our family. It is something we have been trying to incorporate into our lives for some time but we want to take the plunge now and dive head in Problem is I'm not sure how to make this work with the daycare......I want what is best for our family health wise but organic is much more $ and I am afraid my afterschool kids especially will balk at the new and different foods we will be preparing for our children. (We are eliminating all processed foods and snacks)
Not sure how to go about making the switch. I feel terrible feeding my own kids organic healthy food and then offering less healthy options to the dcks....
Not sure if I should talk to dcps and give them a choice to go with the organic option for an added cost, just go ahead and increase costs anyway and feed all the kids the same or give the kids different meals and snacks...
What do you think?

[wdmmom]

From my experience, the best way to go is all in or all out. Do not give dcp's the option. If you go organic, go organic. If you're worried about snacks, offer fresh fruit or fresh vegetables. You can't go wrong with apple or orange slices or carrot and celery sticks.

[SunshineMama]

My DH and I have decided to make the big plunge into all natural organic foods for our family. It is something we have been trying to incorporate into our lives for some time but we want to take the plunge now and dive head in Problem is I'm not sure how to make this work with the daycare......I want what is best for our family health wise but organic is much more $ and I am afraid my afterschool kids especially will balk at the new and different foods we will be preparing for our children. (We are eliminating all processed foods and snacks)
Not sure how to go about making the switch. I feel terrible feeding my own kids organic healthy food and then offering less healthy options to the dcks....
Not sure if I should talk to dcps and give them a choice to go with the organic option for an added cost, just go ahead and increase costs anyway and feed all the kids the same or give the kids different meals and snacks...
What do you think?

My family is mostly organic, and it is pretty easy to do. The hard part that I experience, is that my kids always want to eat the same food as the daycare kids. I try to feel the daycare kids the healthy, organic food, and they dont eat it and it gets wasted. All they want is junk. I do the best I can. Everyone gets organic PB&J (thank you Costco) and fruits/veggies, and I always give my kids extra (but not in front of the daycare kids). I will do the all-natural goldfish at nacktime for the daycare kids, but mine get the Annie's organic cheddar bunnies.

Unfortunately, most of the daycare parents dont appreciate the time I spend cooking, or expense of the organic food

[Ariana]

I don't see much of a difference in my daycare. Almost everything you buy has an organic alternative or you can easily make stuff from scratch. Just figure out what food/snacks you want to serve and search out an alternative. I serve organic and nearly 90% dairy and soy free and the kids I care for have no idea! Today I made frozen yogurt using frozen organic strawberries, coconut milk yogurt and almond milk in the food processor. The kids ate it up!! I have a ton of snack/lunch ideas I could pass along

It definately costs more but I charge more because of this and consequently get parents who appreciate this part of my daycare.

[Jenniferdawn]

I think it needs to be an all or nothing too. That's what I did. I have a few kids who are having a hard time making the transition but over all, I feel better cause I know they are eating better. As for the cost...eh, that's tough. Not sure what I would do about that. Ariana, I'm always looking for new organic food options. Please pass them along to me.

[Soccermom]

I don't see much of a difference in my daycare. Almost everything you buy has an organic alternative or you can easily make stuff from scratch. Just figure out what food/snacks you want to serve and search out an alternative. I serve organic and nearly 90% dairy and soy free and the kids I care for have no idea! Today I made frozen yogurt using frozen organic strawberries, coconut milk yogurt and almond milk in the food processor. The kids ate it up!! I have a ton of snack/lunch ideas I could pass along

It definately costs more but I charge more because of this and consequently get parents who appreciate this part of my daycare.

I would love some of your recipes!

[Countrygal]

I don't see much of a difference in my daycare. Almost everything you buy has an organic alternative or you can easily make stuff from scratch. Just figure out what food/snacks you want to serve and search out an alternative. I serve organic and nearly 90% dairy and soy free and the kids I care for have no idea! Today I made frozen yogurt using frozen organic strawberries, coconut milk yogurt and almond milk in the food processor. The kids ate it up!! I have a ton of snack/lunch ideas I could pass along

It definately costs more but I charge more because of this and consequently get parents who appreciate this part of my daycare.

I would love some of your recipes as well! Would you mind posting them in the "meals" section?

[Ariana]

I would love some of your recipes as well! Would you mind posting them in the "meals" section?

I don't really have recipes butI can post what I serve!! I kind of 'wing it' for the most part

[3girls]

We are mostly organic and the dck just eat what we eat. They don't eat large helpings of anything but fruit (they just love fruit!). For that I buy organic apples and bananas, but conventional tangerines (no one likes regular oranges )