Picky Eating Parents???

[JoseyJo]

In my state (and regs may vary), a doctor must state that the allergy is life threatening for a child to be exempted. Severe eczema COULD be considered life threatening, while it may not cause death, it can threaten quality of life. It's really all up to what your doctor is willing to say about it.

Same here- per our state law a food allergy must be considered a disability to be able to override the food program acceptable alternatives (for example using coconut and almond milk are NOT nutritionally comparable to cow's milk so the only way to use those is if a child has a food DISABILITY)

According to the USDA, “when in the licensed physician’s assessment, food allergies may result in severe, life-threatening (anaphylactic) reactions, the child’s condition would meet the definition of ‘disability’.”

So my daycare parent would have to get a dr to say that her milk allergy would cause severe, life-threatening reactions for me to sub anything other than goat or approved soy milks for cows milk.

[JoseyJo]

There is actually a lot of flexibility with all but the milk requirement. You could even do kosher or vegetarian as someone pointed out, by using yogurt, beans, eggs or cheese as your 'meat' requirement for lunch or dinner. However the dcp have no official way of requesting any but medical changes. As a provider you can adjust what you feed them (within their guidelines) as you see fit, and can take parent/ kid preferences into account.

I totally agree it is easy to adjust for about anything other than the milk requirement. There are only 3 options for milk but there are hundreds of options for protein, grain, fruit and vege.

We have been doing a World Cultures theme this month and have had quinoa, couscous, arepa bread, irish soda bread, kuyta, bannock bread and spotted dog and naan as a grain component at different meals.

There are TONS of fruits/veges- we go to the farmer's market and get stuff to try each month. This month we got eqyptian spinach, baby asian eggplants and bok choy!

[nanglgrl]

I'm on the food program and just had my first child enroll that's a vegetarian for religious reasons. I called my food program sponsor and asked if I provided everything but the protein and parents provided protein could I still be reimbursed. She put me on hold for a while but ended up concluding that was acceptable and that I could claim the child. I'm in Iowa though and it seems like the rules vary state to state even though its a federal program.