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Can someone help me understand why daycare centers participate in this program? And also why the recommendations are so out of date? Do you have any tips on finding a center that does not participate in the program and allows parents to supply their own food? I am frankly stunned by the USDA's unhealthy requirements. We would like to transition our daughter from a nanny to daycare for the socialization aspect but the USDA "nutrition" and sample menus are very concerning.
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The recommendations are current as far as I am aware.
They may not align with your personal beliefs but they are constantly being updated so I doubt they are out of date.
Families DO NOT have to participate with the USDA food program.
But it goes both ways and centers and family child care providers can choose to not enroll families that want to provide their own food and opt out of the food program.
In group care, when one child is eating something different than another, it causes an entirely new set of issues and most (not all) providers would rather not deal with that as group care itself can be difficult.
Once kids reach school age, they have the capabilities of understanding why their age mates have different lunches than they do.
Continuing to use a nanny is really the only way you can dictate your child's diet in it's entirety.
Public schools in my area are on the same USDA food program I am on so their requirements are the same as mine. -
regardless of the food program, you need to find out from the provider what kind of food they serve.
I am on the food program, but I do not serve a ton of stuff that they approve like.
To name a few:
anything fried, cookies, juice, pretzels, sugar cereals and etc.
Just because they are there and approved, does not mean we have to serve them.
I love the food program, it helps me to afford better quality food for the children.
I agree with BC, if I allowed children to bring their own meals, meal time would be one hot mess.
What one persons definition of healthy is, someone else is completely different.
Ihave asked families to bring healthy snacks for a party before and end up with popcorn and chips or jello. I don't agree that any of these are healthy choices.Comment
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Ok, but why do they all participate? No center in my area allows outside food, so this bothers me a lot. It's awful to see young toddlers be served juice at every meal, skim milk, tortilla chips with fake queso, etc. The infants rooms at the centers I've had tours at were even worse.Comment
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Because they get $$$$$ to do so. As a home provider I get a check each month for nearly $500 to reimburse me for the cost of my food. A center with 20+ kids is probably getting thousands each month.
Also, each state has different regulations concerning food - for instance I can only serve one juice serving a day. I do not serve it at all. Many home providers actually go above and beyond the FP rules, but I can't speak for larger centers.Comment
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THIS........ This is a federal funded program that gives providers partial reimbursement for the meals they served, as long as they are within the FP guidelines.
There are two tiers of payments
Perhaps this will help answer some of your questions...Comment
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So they can't afford food without the subsidies? Why can't I just pay more for better food or bring my own? I don't understand the "it creates problems" argument. Children won't be eating the same thing in kindergarten or older.
I didn't know the states had different requirements. The centers we toured serve juice twice a day for 12 months and up. Would a state require all infants drink formula? We nixed that center right away but it was discouraging to hear.Comment
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Thanks for the link, but I'm not sure what you're trying to show. That's not much money. I'd gladly pay more for my child to be served better food.Comment
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younger kids don't understand why they can't have what billy is eating. BTW BIlly brought pure junk and now all the kids want it. It's much harder to regulate lunches than let everyone bring their own.
This program is not based off of your income, everyone is eligible for it regardless of income.
Children in kinder have a much better grab on their emotions and understanding why they can't have their friends lunch.
you can't bring food from home, because the food program is paying us money. They won't pay us money for food you bring. they will only pay us money for food we purchase and again meets the guidelines.
NOT every place that is on the food program serves junk. I know that there are providers on here that are on the food program that are strictly organic or to some degree of that.
Depending on what state you are in will determine if they still see your child as an infant. here an infant is under 2, but they can't have a bottle after 12 months. they would drink whole milk.Comment
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Why not just charge parents more for better food? Sorry if I'm harping on the poor food but the menus I saw were terrible. Pancakes for breakfast, chicken nuggets and 1% milk for lunch, and tortilla chips and juice for a snack. No breastmilk allowed past 12 months, contrary to AAP and WHO recommendations. Infants get rice cereal, formula, and non-organic baby food. My baby doesn't eat any of that and I'd planned on nursing him in my car at dropoff so I don't want him served breakfast. Why can't I pay the money the provider would be losing on his food?Comment
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If you are on the food program for any of the children you are not allowed to charge the parents for food at all. And the program is there to help keep the costs of care lower for all parents. Many parents struggle to pay for daycare. I remember before I started daycare. When school was not in session and I had my daughter and son in daycare, I made $220 a week, when I had daycare on both kids I paid out $120 a week in daycare. If my provider had been charging me more for food, I would have never survived. I was a single mom trying to work, but the state went off of my gross income when they denied me help with daycare. YOU may be able to afford more, but many parents can't. It sounds to me like you may just need to stay with a nanny.Comment
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1.47 might not look like a lot, until you multiply it by 80 kids EACH day.
We are talking about THOUSANDS of dollars.
I can't speak for centers, but for me that money allows me to keep tuition costs down. I don't serve juice, I serve whole milk for under 2's and 1% for 2 and up. But we only drink milk at breakfast and lunch. It's water only for snacks and throughout the day. Today for instance lunch was homemade grilled chicken breast, steamed broccoli (sprinkled with some cheddar cheese) homemade applesauce (the kids and I made it this morning) and brown rice.
Snack was a hardboiled egg with fresh sliced pears and water.
You will have to look hard but day cares with healthy menus are out there.Comment
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Because you are the exception to the rule. For many people, they compare cost of care first. If they can't afford the care, they go somewhere else. Centers and Homes need to be able to fill their spots. This is a way for the centers to be able to offset some of their costs without financially impacting parents.Comment
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