Food served at daycare?

[Anonymous]

My son turns one on Friday and is getting ready to move up to the next room where they provide all the snacks & meals. I took one look at the menu and immediately asked to bring our own food in--turns out, we aren't allowed without a doctor's note (which we are going to try and get).

Some of the things being offered: hot dogs, french fries, pancakes w/ syrup, potato chips...The sandwiches are white bread and they serve a lot of juice. Besides the fact that my son can't physically eat these foods (he only has two teeth!), I don't want him eating this crap! I know he will someday eat hot dogs and french fries, etc, but NOT at this age and NOT on a regular basis!! He's been 100% breastfed and receives primarily organic foods. I want to start him eating healthy, not fried, fatty, sugary stuff!

Some other parents I have talked to at the center have said they take care of breakfast at home, let them have the snacks and lunch at daycare, and make sure dinner and weekends are healthy...I *guess* this is an okay compromise, but I am still not okay with this food--I just don't feel good about it. These parents don't like the food served either, but haven't put up a stink.

What does your daycare serve? Are you happy with it? Are you able to bring in your own food? Had anyone done anything to change the food served at your center?

[Anonymous]

Our preschool uses the Good Food Company:
http://www.goodfoodco.com/index.html

The food is still institutional, but I think it's a lot better than what you describe, and our children have learned to like things they wouldn't touch at home (quiche, tomato soup with grilled cheese, e.g.).

[Anonymous]

Not to be harsh, but if you don't like the options of your service provider, encourage them to change, or find a different provider.

Our daycare only provides snacks (fruit in the morning and some sort of salty starch in the afternoon), and we provide the lunches.

Every daycare is different, but it sounds like you could have an opportunity to work with other parents and seek institutional change.

[Anonymous]

Our childcare has a menu much like yours, but lets you bring in food and feed your child before arrival in the morning. I have to say, maybe at age one you can control what they eat, but by age 2 or 3, mine just ate whatever they wanted at daycare. And, even though I feed my kids breakfast at home, they eat a second one at daycare, especially if it is donut or cinnamon toast day. This is just one of those issues that I let go because the only way to control it is to find a daycare that requires you to bring in the food. On the upside, there are foods that mine eat at daycare that would never pass their lips at home - like spinach and string beans.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is starting daycare this Septemeber and I asked if I could send in lunches instead of using the lunches the Daycare provides. Besides the health issue, we also keep a Kosher Diet. The daycare she is attending told me it was fine to send our own lunches and all they requested is that the lunches do not have to be heated (which makes sense). The snacks seem less unhealthy than the lunches, but you are right regarding the juice. I am going to request that my daughter only receive water and milk and hope they listen......

[Anonymous]

I would be troubled by that too. Did they give you a sample menu for the older rooms when you enrolled?

Also, is the school in DC? Because I think the regulations in DC are that milk must be served with a meal.

The pancakes would not bother me but the chips and white bread would. This menu just does not seem like it is following the USDA guidelines.

My son has been in a home daycare in VA and is now in a govt daycare in DC. In the home daycare they cooked fresh every day. She would do something in the crock pot and then focus on brown rice, couscous, fresh veggies etc. The worst thing they would have is either teddy grahams or a fig newton but that was about a couple of times a month. maybe once a month they would have fish sticks or nuggets.

At his school in DC, they have the Good Food Company. They serve things like ravioli, meatball subs, chicken salad, bagels. Very balanced.

I am not a big organics person, but I am very focused on healthy eating especially whole grains. But I also don't think some Goldfish will harm him.

I think you should talk to the director and see why they are serving this type of food. It might be a case that this is what falls in their budget guidelines, but honestly that food does not seem to fit the nutritional guidelines.

[Anonymous]

My son's daycare provides one morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack and a 5 p.m. "commuter" snack. The regular snacks and lunch are provided by Fairfax Foods. They always serve milk with morning snack and lunch. Water with afternoon snacks. Lunches consist of 1 starch, 1 protein, 1 veggie and 1 fruit serving - and offer a good and balanced variety. We do not serve hot dogs, chips, etc. Juice is a rare treat - and generally is watered down. We also have different options, depending on child's age. The commuter snack is what the director buys in bulk at Costco - goldfish, graham crackers, bread sticks, pretzels. Just enough to keep the kids happy until they are home for dinner.

[Anonymous]

Our center is in Silver Spring and they also use Good Food for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. But, lunch is optional. If you want lunch you pay extra for it, if not you can bring your own lunch (as a previous post said-it needs to be ready to eat and not heated up). We are very happy with the meals provided by the Good Food company and our child eats many things he would never eat for us at home! Our center also has a late evening commuter snack at 5:30 similar to above.

[Anonymous]

My biggest surprise by this is that your center provides lunch to a 12 month old as many are still getting used to solid food and sprouting some more needed teeth at that age! Our center doesn't start serving lunch until they're closer to 18 months, and even then we're asked to bring in breakfast and snacks because most of what the "bigger" kids get is not appropriate for the little ones.

[Anonymous]

Our daycare only provides morning and afternoon snacks - parents have to pack lunches for the kids (you can include things that need to be heated, though). On the snacks, our daycare makes a concerted effort to serve only healthy items -- fresh fruit, cherrios with milk, whole grain bread with cheese, yogurt, veggies. To the OP, I would express concern to the director of the program regarding the health quality of the snacks.

[Anonymous]

I am surprised a daycare would have this type of menu. It's disgusting.

[Anonymous]

I posted about a year ago because my daycare was also serving french fries which totally irritated me. I complained and apparently I was not the first. They have since switched to the Good Food Company--huge improvement.

Try bringing in some articles about the impact of forming healthy habits early to the director and ask if there's any interest in investigating more nutricious options. Offer to call the Good Food Company and compare to the rates they are now paying.

In the mean time, try proposing what I did . . . I brought in containers of apple sauce, which were substituted anytime there were fries on the menu. I thought my DD would object to this plan but she actually thought she was special because she considered herself "allergic" to french fries. LOL.

[Anonymous]

The daycare my daughter goes to now and the one she is moving to use the Good Food Company. My daughter is a very picky eaty so for us having the balanced meals with things she wouldn't try at home are a must. If we packed her lunch I don't know if she would even eat it.

[Anonymous]

Our center uses Good Food Co. too and we are very happy with it. However, we definitely pay for it. I would seriously consider switching daycare if this is bothering you. You can try to get the center to switch, but it will cause tuition to go up and I guarantee there will be a lot of parents who would rather keep costs down and feed their kids the less nutritious food.

[Anonymous]

The daycare we are starting in the fall uses Fairfax food. Is that company healthy?