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Parents and Guardians Forum>How Do You Feel About The Quality Of Breakfast, Lunch And Snacks At School?
Anabelle 07:31 AM 01-10-2011
I think it is time for a change. Why does it have to be mac n cheese, hamburger, and pizza for lunch? and crackers for snacks? We are not giving our children a chance to explore new tastes, textures or colors. If prepared properly, even picky eaters will eat vegetables, whole grains and yummy meat. How do you feel about this?
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JenNJ 07:42 AM 01-11-2011
I think that all parents have a choice. If you don't like the foods your daycare serves, send in your own foods for your child or find a new daycare. In my home daycare, I cook almost everything from scratch. But my clients pay more than other daycare homes in the area that do serve processed foods. Real food costs much more than processed and moat parents wont pay for it.

Also, healthy eating begins and ends at home. Daycares and schools cannot correct poor eating habits created by parents.
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jen 07:57 AM 01-11-2011
Are you a provider or a parent?

If you are a provider, I fully agree with you. We all should provide the best quality food, and I do...and I charge for it.

If you are a parent, you should seek out a daycare that stresses good nutrition. You will pay more, because it costs more. I too have found that alot of parents want the BEST quality care, nutrition, and activities, but only want to pay the average.
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AnythingsPossible 08:09 AM 01-11-2011
Originally Posted by JenNJ:
I think that all parents have a choice. If you don't like the foods your daycare serves, send in your own foods for your child or find a new daycare. In my home daycare, I cook almost everything from scratch. But my clients pay more than other daycare homes in the area that do serve processed foods. Real food costs much more than processed and moat parents wont pay for it.

Also, healthy eating begins and ends at home. Daycares and schools cannot correct poor eating habits created by parents.
While I agree that schools cannot correct poor eating habits at home, I know in our district they certainly don't do anything to encourage better eating habits.
I think the original poster is directing her comment towards the school system and not attacking daycares. I agree that the majority of school lunches are junk, and therefore as a parent chose to not have my children eat school lunch. It is mainly processed junk that is heated up and served. Maybe the new bill that Mrs. Obama backed directed to school lunch programs will change this, but until then, my kids will continue to take cold lunch.
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Unregistered 08:19 AM 01-11-2011
I personally dont see anything wrong with school lunch they OFFER EVERDAY a fruit, a veggie, and a main course such as pizza (which is NOT unhealthy if made right), spaghetti, chicken, fish, tacos, etc and the kids ALWAYS have an option of a salad. I know this because I check the menu everyday and I also go have lunch with my kids once a month at school.
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Anabelle 12:02 PM 01-11-2011
Thank you for your responses.

I am a parent who thinks that variety and quality of food are very important. I agree with you that good meals have a price and I am willing to pay more for this service. Mrs. WyoDayCarMom, Mrs Jen and Mrs JenNJ, out of curiosity, how much does a good meal cost you to prepare from scratch?

Also, do you know how much daycares typically charge for lunch or breakfast? It seems to me that they charge anywhere between $2.00 to $3.00 for an average lunch and $3.50 to $6.00 for a good lunch. Is is that a true assessment?

Finally, Mrs WyoDaycareMom, I agree with you that schools and daycares should not be responsible for food education, like they should not be responsible for teaching politeness to kids. These are values that should be taught by parents at home. However, for kids who eat breakfast, AM snack, lunch, and PM snack st daycare, they eat 80% of their meal at daycare so the food served there cannot be without nutritional value.

Anyway it is comforting to hear from you all that some daycare providers do care about the quality of food. You can be proud of your accomplishment.
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nannyde 02:20 PM 01-11-2011
http://www.nanshouse.com/organicgoodeats.htm

Don't get me started
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nannyde 03:16 PM 01-11-2011
I want YOU for a day care parent. Can you move to Des Moines?

Befor I switched to a fully organic menu I was able to do all home made meals for a dollar a day per kid.

See my post in this thread: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showth...ighlight=lunch

In the summer it came to about four dollars a day. See my post in this thread: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showth...ighlight=lunch

Now it is about $5.50 per child per day.

It varies quite a bit based on the season. One thing to REALLY keep in mind is the labor.

The hours of labor now is about 26-27 hours a week of dedicated time food access, prep, and storage time. Before we switched to organic it was about 20-21 hours a week. This is for eight kids doing breakfast, lunch, p.m. snack. I make EVERYTHING from scratch with whole foods.

Doing healthy whole from scratch meals requires a lot of money for the food and labor. You really have to be dedicated to it to make it happen. Just accessing the food LOCALLY one by one is a job in and of itself. There's really not a one stop shop for everything like you can do with regular store grocery shopping. In order to make it reasonably priced you have to be willing to buy in bulk, process, and store foods for the off season.

My son takes packed lunch. The school food is disgusting. If you are interested in an excellent school lunch website hook up with Ann Cooper. She's the rock star in the school lunch world right now. Friend her on Facebook and follow her links. She's my hero.
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Live and Learn 04:15 PM 01-11-2011
school lunches are awful....I pack lunches everyday for all of my own children.
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Michael 04:32 PM 01-11-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
http://www.nanshouse.com/organicgoodeats.htm

Don't get me started
I like what you are doing with your food preparation. We only use free range, cage free, non growth hormone, antibiotic free meats and eggs. Also, raw milk, cheese and butter. We will even have the Amish deliver to us in CA. It is very important to know where your food source is coming from.
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nannyde 04:49 PM 01-11-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
I like what you are doing with your food preparation. We only use free range, cage free, non growth hormone, antibiotic free meats and eggs. Also, raw milk, cheese and butter. We will even have the Amish deliver to us in CA. It is very important to know where your food source is coming from.
We have a large Amish community in Kalona Iowa which is where I buy a lot of our food. http://www.insiderpages.com/b/133858...grocery-kalona They have been so helpful in this journey. They go old school with raising and preserving foods. I likey that

Have you seen Food Inc?
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Michael 04:53 PM 01-11-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
We have a large Amish community in Kalona Iowa which is where I buy a lot of our food. http://www.insiderpages.com/b/133858...grocery-kalona They have been so helpful in this journey. They go old school with raising and preserving foods. I likey that

Have you seen Food Inc?
No, but I've "herd" about it. I'm determind to continue eating healthy and have an occasional Steak Tartare. I know a girl that stopped eating meat after watching it.
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nannyde 05:30 PM 01-11-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
No, but I've "herd" about it. I'm determind to continue eating healthy and have an occasional Steak Tartare. I know a girl that stopped eating meat after watching it.
Oh please watch it. It's amazing. Grabs you within the first minute.... I mean from the opener on. It's really really worth watching.

It changed my life and my business. I will NEVER go back to store bought food. I'd rather be poor.
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Michael 05:35 PM 01-11-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
Oh please watch it. It's amazing. Grabs you within the first minute.... I mean from the opener on. It's really really worth watching.

It changed my life and my business. I will NEVER go back to store bought food. I'd rather be poor.
I got the poor reference. It IS expensive to eat well. But it is MUCH more expensive to get sick. It is true, we are what we eat. Holy really means wholly. Know the whole process. Businesses tend to make money on giving you the least while making the most. Not a good combination.
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nannyde 04:44 AM 01-12-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
I got the poor reference. It IS expensive to eat well. But it is MUCH more expensive to get sick. It is true, we are what we eat. Holy really means wholly. Know the whole process. Businesses tend to make money on giving you the least while making the most. Not a good combination.
I'm sure you know this but just in case. There is a lot of cheatery in organics, free range, etc. The govermental regulations on organic can be worked around. Also, the use of the word "natural" is not regulated at all.

If possible, going TO the farms is what makes me feel better. I've visited our buffalo ranch, beef, lamb, and chicken farm, egg grower, and every place I've accessed large quantities of grains, veggies and fruit. I've also been very blessed to have day care parents putting me on the hook up from their famiy farms. One of my dc dads is an executive chef and one is a USDA food inspector. That helps a lot with accessing and making sure the food is CLEAN.

You live in California so I would bet your year around access is pretty good for local food?

The health issues are huge to me. I've been keeping track of illness days since switching to fully organic and they have been markedly less than last year BUT we have had a really mild winter so far and have been able to go outside almost every day so it's hard to say for sure. My youngest kids are also 19 months too so that helps a bit too.
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Anabelle 09:12 AM 01-12-2011
This is all very interesting.
i too like to make full meals out of one dish - pot roast with vegetables, meat and vegetables lasagna, meat and vegetable chili, etc; and my kids really like it. But I have also met some kids who cannot bear to eat ingredients that have been mixed. They like the meat on one side, the vegetables on another and the grains somewhere else. Is that an oddity or is that something you commonly see in your daycares and with your own kids?
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nannyde 09:23 AM 01-12-2011
Originally Posted by Anabelle:
This is all very interesting.
i too like to make full meals out of one dish - pot roast with vegetables, meat and vegetables lasagna, meat and vegetable chili, etc; and my kids really like it. But I have also met some kids who cannot bear to eat ingredients that have been mixed. They like the meat on one side, the vegetables on another and the grains somewhere else. Is that an oddity or is that something you commonly see in your daycares and with your own kids?
I have seen that before but I don't have any kids in my group like that. I have them from newborn on so they are used to it.
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SunflowerMama 07:14 PM 01-12-2011
We do the same. Mostly organic meals and I buy all my meat and dairy products from a local farm. All grass-fed cattle and range free chicken and eggs.

My kids have tried veggies they have never eaten at home and I'm just starting to hear from a few of my parents that they are experimenting with more veggies at home and when they are eating out. That makes me so happy.

I also told the parents about this great farmers market-like storefront that only carries meat, dairy and produce from farms within 80 miles and 2 of them have visited and are now hooked on the dairy products. Makes me smile!!
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nannyde 04:34 AM 01-13-2011
Originally Posted by SunflowerMama:
We do the same. Mostly organic meals and I buy all my meat and dairy products from a local farm. All grass-fed cattle and range free chicken and eggs.

My kids have tried veggies they have never eaten at home and I'm just starting to hear from a few of my parents that they are experimenting with more veggies at home and when they are eating out. That makes me so happy.

I also told the parents about this great farmers market-like storefront that only carries meat, dairy and produce from farms within 80 miles and 2 of them have visited and are now hooked on the dairy products. Makes me smile!!

That's SO awesome.

You should check out the CDC's projection for obesity rates for the kids born in 2000. Search their site.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/ju...diab-j19.shtml

Of the two main types of diabetes, type 2, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, affects 90 to 95 percent of diabetics and until recently most often appeared in people over 40 years old. Now being diagnosed among pre-pubescent children and teens, type 2 is linked to obesity and physical inactivity.
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Symphony 03:13 PM 01-28-2011
Maybe some of you could help me out. We raise all our own meat, beef, chicken, lambs, and pigs. They eat grass hay and alfalfa that we grow. So I know where my meat comes from and what it eats, I can see it out my windows!

What I have a hard time with is fruit and vegetables. Where we live is very harsh and produce does not grow well here. Most people do raise modest gardens, but it is not much and we are not allowed to feed our dck's home canned goods. When local produce is not an option, what is the best way to get it for my kids? I would love any suggestions!

Food Inc was the most eye opening thing I have ever seen. My husband was cynical about it before we actually watched it because he is very defensive about raising livestock. It was nice to see something that validated letting animals have a natural diet and environment and exposing factory farming. Oh and the corn! Oh my goodness, the corn!
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Jewels 06:57 AM 01-29-2011
I completly agree, I provided the best I can, including all fresh organic fruits and veggies, no juice, good snacks, but I charge for it. I hate the regular foods at alot of schools and daycares also, its a lot of crap.
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pinkbunny85 12:41 PM 01-29-2011
Originally Posted by Symphony:
Maybe some of you could help me out. We raise all our own meat, beef, chicken, lambs, and pigs. They eat grass hay and alfalfa that we grow. So I know where my meat comes from and what it eats, I can see it out my windows!

What I have a hard time with is fruit and vegetables. Where we live is very harsh and produce does not grow well here. Most people do raise modest gardens, but it is not much and we are not allowed to feed our dck's home canned goods. When local produce is not an option, what is the best way to get it for my kids? I would love any suggestions!

Food Inc was the most eye opening thing I have ever seen. My husband was cynical about it before we actually watched it because he is very defensive about raising livestock. It was nice to see something that validated letting animals have a natural diet and environment and exposing factory farming. Oh and the corn! Oh my goodness, the corn!
I know you said you can't serve canned. are you able to serve frozen veggies and fruits?
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Symphony 06:56 PM 01-29-2011
Originally Posted by pinkbunny85:
I know you said you can't serve canned. are you able to serve frozen veggies and fruits?
Yes, I can serve frozen. I can serve canned if they aren't home canned. I was just wondering which would be best for produce when you can't buy local- canned, frozen, or fresh that has traveled from far?
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nannyde 02:27 AM 01-30-2011
Originally Posted by Symphony:
Maybe some of you could help me out. We raise all our own meat, beef, chicken, lambs, and pigs. They eat grass hay and alfalfa that we grow. So I know where my meat comes from and what it eats, I can see it out my windows!

What I have a hard time with is fruit and vegetables. Where we live is very harsh and produce does not grow well here. Most people do raise modest gardens, but it is not much and we are not allowed to feed our dck's home canned goods. When local produce is not an option, what is the best way to get it for my kids? I would love any suggestions!

Food Inc was the most eye opening thing I have ever seen. My husband was cynical about it before we actually watched it because he is very defensive about raising livestock. It was nice to see something that validated letting animals have a natural diet and environment and exposing factory farming. Oh and the corn! Oh my goodness, the corn!
If you can't get local and fresh I would do frozen veggies. I've found the best time to buy them is in the late summer when the big food corps are selling out the inventory from the year before to make room for the new harvest. If you have a freezer and get get them for a dollar a pound or under you can put up corn, mixed, green beans, broccoli, peas etc. Organic is best for us but if you don't have access to that then just quick frozen is my next favorite.

If you aren't allowed to use your own "canned" fruits and veg then think about making puree's and freeze your own. I do this with a LOT of fruits and veggies. Buy in bulk, cook, puree, and freeze. It's lovely to get peach sauce in Febuary. I use the veggie puree to add to soups and sauces. My kids LOVE puree.

Food Inc changed my life in many ways. I switched to an organic day care immediately after watching it. I require my incoming clients to watch food inc before enrollment here.
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