Yes 53 71.62%

No 21 28.38%

Who is and isn't on the food program??? Why or why not??

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I am on the food program.

Why?

Because the amount I get for reimbursement makes it 100% worth it.

Oh, and my food program coordinator is just as awesome as my licensor.

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My reimbursement amount isn't worth the hassle. I've been on it before and I know what to feed the kids. I feed them like I'm on it but don't want to deal with the paperwork and classes.

K

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I am on it! For me it's so worth it! I supply all food and have to pay for it anyways and if you can claim online, it's so easy!

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Yes. Well I was and will be back on it as soon as I am relicensed -hopefully next week. For me, I follow all of the guidelines anyway. My food program rep is awesome. And every little penny helps. I am tier 1 so the reimburesment is totally worth it.

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Definitely on it! Did my whole first year without it thinking it wouldn't be worth all the work and then kicked myself once I learned how easy it was lol.

I don't have to do any classes save for one annual "test" that's online and open book. Takes me just 20 minutes and it counts towards my annual licensing training I'd have to take anyway. I enter my meals and attendance on my phone daily (takes 2 minutes) and hit submit on my home computer at the end of each month. Two weeks later I am sent a check that wipes my daycare grocery expenses for the following month out. My rep is awesome and she always brings great activities for me to do with my group.

The less of my income I have to spend on things like daycare groceries the more of my income that goes directly into my pockets to spend on doing fun things with my family

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There is no food program in Canada. Where I live, at tax time I can write off about 60% of my annual grocery bill - which is fairly accurate. My kiddos eat nutrituious, home-made food with the extremely occasional treat/junk food.

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I'm on it. It is minimal effort and I never turn down what basically amounts to free money .

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I am on it, but it basically just reimburses me for the money I spend for daycare food. I am on the higher rate.

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I am.

Pros:
I love the free Minute Menu Kids Pro.
Submitting my claims is EXTREMELY easy online!
I love receiving some reimbursement money for the meals (not as much as many receive since I am Tier II I believe, but every penny helps).
I have to take 1 little class every year. I attended a REALLY cheap training seminar hosted by all of the food programs in the area recently ($5 for 6.75 credit hours which applies towards the 30 I need every year) and they covered the annual food program training during our lunch break by simply talking for 15 or so minutes.

Cons:
I do not feed my own children the way the food program would like for all of the children to be fed. The amount of grains and milk required truly grosses me out. My teenager (17 tomorrow) obviously eats other foods and does not participate in the daycare. I'm not sure what to do about my infant. I don't know if I have to uphold their guidelines or not.

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Me, too. I used to do it, and had a great coordinator who was easy. She retired, they hired some crazy lady who liked to do surprise visits and wanted to see every fridge in my house (even the upstairs one that isn't used for daycare). I was on the lowest reimbursement tier...it just wasn't worth the hassle.

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Wow, that would really stress me out.

The woman who inspects over here is really easy going. When I wanted to get extremely accurate measurements on food portions she just told me to wing it. LOL! She has never once looked in a pantry, fridge, freezer, etc. nor has she come in my kitchen beyond me initially signing paperwork in there now that I think about it. She chats with me a little bit, looks at what they have on their plates, looks inside their cups, writes a little bit down and leaves. She's here maybe 15 minutes. I've seen her about 4 times in the past year. At the training seminar I saw her again and she remembered my name and greeted me, which I thought was pretty good! She works with a lot of people.

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I was for a few years, but dropped it. It wasn't worth it to me. I didn't like:
--planning meals to the letter with little ability to incorporate leftovers
--lack of support for eating locally (for example, we eat apples A LOT when apples are in season--every day, just about--and other fruits in other seasons. Example #2--home-canned foods are a no-no.)
--lack of understanding of/support for vegetarian meals (for example, tofu is forbidden because they're afraid you'll open a package, save half improperly stored, and it'll go bad. Um, hello? Can't you also prepare meat improperly? And how could you possibly use only half with a group of kids anyway?)
--stupid rules (for example, cookies for snack ok; raisins not ok)
--WAY too much bread expected. My kids eat much healthier meals than that.
--too little understanding of dairy issues.
--too little support for breast feeding.

That was just some of my differences! (Yes, I'm a pain in the butt.)

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I'm on it. I went off for a while but went back on because its required to participate in Childnet and QRS. Those programs give me yearly grants that make it worthwhile.
I'm a level II so I don't get much of a reimbursement and I hate how they do that. Luckily a few if my clients qualify for the higher reimbursement rate. We can do everything online and its so much easier and quicker. I also like that I can just decide that day what we are having instead of planning everything in advance. They come out twice a year unannounced and once announced and all of the monitors in my area are friendly and helpful.
They don't ever look in our fridge or care about leftovers thank goodness. If they come and we haven't entered stuff in for a week we don't get paid for that week unless we have written what we served and who was here down somewhere.

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You don't have to plan ahead? I thought you did have to in the food program. This would save me a lot of time.

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This. Except I write off less than 60%.

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I am also on the food program and for the above reasons as well.

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I don't have to plan ahead, my rep does ask that I enter my meals into Minute Menu by the end of the day.

The food program definitely seems worth it to me, using MMK makes it really easy and both of the reps I have been very reasonable people

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I'm not on it although I did try it once years ago. You couldn't enter it online then and it seemed like a pain. I also don't like the idea of being 'inspected' although the lady was nice. I can't remember if she popped in randomly but I'm thinking she did. I definitely don't have anything to hide and feed the children nutritious meals but I like as little interference in my business as possible.

I guess I also don't understand how it saves you money but maybe someone could explain. You buy food and they reimburse you for the meals you serve and then don't you have to report that as income on your tax return? The way I do it is to take the IRS food allowances and it is more than I used to spend on food before we could do that. Then I'd also have less income to report (since I don't have any food program income to add to the total) so less income to be taxed on I'm thinking??? It seems like it would be a draw but I have never done the math because I figured the other hassles of it wouldn't be worth knowing anyway. I guess I should though.

Our local licensing actually has a form we have to have parents sign and they get the bottom half and we sign the top. It has their nutritious meal recommendations but we aren't obligated to follow them. They are 'suggestions'.

Laurel

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I wish we were, but unfortunately that is not my decision. I am trying to convince them to look into it more though. I think it would be worth it.

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Exactly this! It isn't a hassle for me at all. The little bit of time it takes is totally worth it

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I have to have a 14 day cycle menu that we just use over and over

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Example 1: You make $30,000 a year. You spend $12000 a year on food for your daycare. You deduct what you spend on food and are taxed on the remaining $18,000.

Example 2: You make $30,000 a year. You spend $12000 a year on food for your daycare. The food program reimburses you $8000. You earned $38,000 and have a $12,000 deduction for food and are taxed on the remaining $26,000.

Yes you will make more money and pay more taxes but you still deduct the expense of food on your taxes. In example 2 you take home an extra $8000 a year. You aren't going to be taxed $8000 because of that. If you fall in a 20% tax bracket you would owe $1600 more but you would be taking home $6600 more then in example 1.

You are already spending the money on food so the food program reimbursement is extra income. Of course it has its problems and isn't for everyone. I went off of it for years because it was a pain.

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I'm tier 2 so my checks do not cover my entire grocery bill. It covers MAYBE close to half. Wish I could be on tier 1 but I'll take what I can get

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No, thankfully we don't. We just put in what we serve every meal. If a rep comes they don't care if you haven't entered everything for that day but if they come on a Friday and nothing has been entered all week they won't reimburse for that week.
We used to have to plan ahead when we did everything on paper and I hated it!

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I just got a call from my food program sponser and was told
because of my area I am now on Tier 1 reimbursement, which will be nice.

We don't even have online options, everything is pen and paper. But in my area: I don't have to plan menus ahead. They prefer we use fresh, seasonal veggies and fruits. Leftovers properly handled are good. I do have to attend an annual training but they always prepare or cook something quick and nutritious to show some providers it can be done (and they don't always have to serve chicken nuggets ) It's actually the one training I enjoy.

Several years ago I attended a training with Tom Copeland and he described the food program like this: If your husband was told he was getting a raise at work and it would require a little extra work and you would pay a bit more in taxes, would you tell him not to take it? By not being on the food program you are not giving yourself a raise.

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We don't have to enter it by the end of the day but we have to post what we will be serving that day. I write it on my dry erase board.

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I don't have to, either. It just has to be in the MMK system by the end of that day. I also have to post it where the parents can see it.

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When I started out I asked everyone here is I should do it, they said yes. I'm happy I did.

I went to our yearly required workshop for my food program a couple weeks ago and the director made an announcement that providers who are income eligible can be on a higher reimbursement rate. I was ecstatic and I'm in the process of applying. If I get accepted my food program check will be 3x what it is now! And my family could really use it. Please pray for our acceptance. We are income eligible, it just sounds too good to be true

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I am on the higher rate tier so I make between $700-$900 a month on the food program. It is definitely worth the paperwork I do. Plus I love my sponsor and food program lady !

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I'm on the food program - Tier 2. I don't get a lot of reimbursement money each month (depending on my enrollment levels somewhere between $100-$130 per month) but every little bit helps. I have to buy the food and serve it to the kids anyway so, to me, the food program is worth it.

I'm lucky in that the program I belong to is always on time with payments and I've always had really good reps. We don't have to take classes but they do require we complete some at-home trainings - 3 a year. Usually, it's just a matter of reading a pamphlet they send out and answering questions on the reading. It's not all that time consuming, very easy and those trainings go toward the training hours we need to complete every year for the state.

We do have to plan ahead and have the week's menu available for parents (and food program reps) to see. It was hard for me to get used to doing it that way instead of just winging it every day. Once I got used to it, though, I found I actually prefer having a planned menu to go by. During busy meal prep times, it helps not to have to think about it. I just follow the menu and don't have to worry what I served yesterday and if it's nutrionally complete. We are required to record meals served at "point of service" and risk not getting reimbursed if the food rep happens to stop by if it hasn't been recorded but once you get used to doing it, it's not hard either.

I've never had anyone look in my refrigerator other than to see that my thermometer is there and to record the temp. No one has ever gone through my cabinets, etc. I did have a USDA rep visit along with my food rep once in 17 years and I have to say, that was stressful for me but even that wasn't too bad. I think I was only stressed out because I had heard stories of how horrible and invasive those visits could be but it really wasn't any worse than a regular visit.

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I am on it, on the lower tier though. Since I am a group home and can have 12 kids it is worth it, but if I ever drop back down to a family home and 6 kids I'll drop it. So not worth it for the lower tier!

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. Good for you! I'm praying for you! We are income eligible! I have no idea how, but it helps. I serve all meals, 3 per child. My kids eat breakfast but dc doesn't bc they've already eaten. So my kids get breakfast and dinner, dc kids get am snack, lunch, and dinner. In the summer I will claim am snack, lunch, & dinner for everyone. I do serve all meals though, with plenty of snack. My food worker said I could serve all but only claim 3.

This thread has a lot of useful info. It should be a sticky!!

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I forgot to add, I had my FP Rep here recently and she said there are "big changes" coming to the program soon. I asked her to elaborate and she said it will mean changes to the types of foods that can be served, how often, etc. She specifically said whole grains will become required rather than recommended as they are now.

I don't think it will mean a lot to me since I try to keep it healthy overall, but it could mean more work and planning I think.

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Thanks so much! I'll have to digest this later when I have the time.

Laurel

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Exactly.

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I've been on the food program since I opened. I figure that I'd be feeding them anyway, so why not be reimbursed for it.

And, in WI licensed family centers are required to follow the same meal requirements as the food program, so since we're already fulfilling the requirements, why not get reimbursed for it?

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In ohio your required to post a weekly menu anyway. But you can alter it. So most of the time I write on apples every day for dinner, then alter it when I know oh the pineapple is ripe or we get strawberries etc. I use to stress over what to write for the fruit now I fill in and change as needed. This week a bunch of days got flipped because of changes!

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For those of you on the lower tier for reimbursement, I am pretty sure you can have individual families in your care fill out forms for income and if the individual family meets the income guidelines you can receive the higher reimbursement rates for those families, even if your daycare is located in a the lower tier area.

I would definitely check into it if you have lower income families.

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Interesting. I think I have to do three in a row. In other words breakfast, snack and lunch or snack, lunch and snack or snack, lunch and snack.

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How do you quote several posts??

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This is true in my area. Each family fills out a free/reduced lunch application just like they do in schools and their income will determine if you get a higher reimbursement for them. I have a family that is tier 1 and several that are tier 2.

One thing to remember if you are a tier 1 and get the higher reimbursement rate you are probably also getting reimbursed for feeding your own children. When tax time comes you have to include that amount as income but you can't deduct it from expenses.

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Yep, this is what my food rep told me, but none have qualified so far

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I am tier one and I am paid for my own children too!

I love it, Have an awesome rep who i love.

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Same here. Our state requires that all meals be USDA approved anyway. I am tier one due to the local school and depending on attendance make between $800 on a bad month and up to $1200 plus on a good one. It's very worth it financially for me and so easy to do on Minute Menu.

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Click the button to the right of the 'QUOTE' button. The one with the " marks and the + sign in it for each person you want to quote.

Then click the actual quote button of the LAST person you want to quote.

A new window will open up like normal for you to type your reply in and every person you clicked the " + button for will be in your reply.

Hope that makes sense. If not, let me know and we can start a thread for people who want/need to practice multi-quoting.

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This is true for our area. I live in a relatively high income area where most families don't qualify for the higher tier, though. Even when we lived in the next town over (with a tier 1 designation), I never got anywhere near the $700-$800 some providers get. That made my eyeballs pop!

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