We pay for hot lunch at DD's preschool. Her in-home daycare provided all her food once she was off formula, and it was nice not having to worry about a lunchbox or having to pack her meals. The in-home provided home-cooked food, usually chicken nuggets and rice and beans, etc. DD developed a broad range of food interests from an early age there, and now the hot lunch program continues that trend. Each day of the week is themed (pasta day, latin day, fish day, kids favorite, etc.) She started waxing poetic to me the other day about how she likes salads with ranch now, so that's a new improvement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids liked Good Food and I was always amazed at how much more adventurously they would eat at daycare vs. at home. Their teachers' theory was with all kids being served the same, peer pressure had them eating what they saw friends eating.

Ditto this. I once worked at a child care center with hot catered lunch. It was healthy food, and the best part was that kids would get exposed to new foods as a group so they would be more willing to try it. Loved to see little kids be served green beans, or cole slaw, or whatever food it was.

My son went to a daycare where they provided lunch and I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s not a picky eater and is willing to try any new food. He just eats what is served which makes things a lot easier. He’s now 9 and will eat pretty much anything but he will at least try it even if he doesn’t end up liking it. It also was SO nice to not have to pack lunch.

Anonymous wrote:My kids liked Good Food and I was always amazed at how much more adventurously they would eat at daycare vs. at home. Their teachers' theory was with all kids being served the same, peer pressure had them eating what they saw friends eating.

Ditto this. I once worked at a child care center with hot catered lunch. It was healthy food, and the best part was that kids would get exposed to new foods as a group so they would be more willing to try it. Loved to see little kids be served green beans, or cole slaw, or whatever food it was.

My kids liked Good Food and I was always amazed at how much more adventurously they would eat at daycare vs. at home. Their teachers' theory was with all kids being served the same, peer pressure had them eating what they saw friends eating.

Anonymous wrote: A lot of centers in DC are catered by Good Food, and a lot of centers in VA are catered by Jeffery's Catering. Both have been good in our experience.

+1 to Good Food. The thing I liked the most was that entrees didn't repeat all month, so my kid was exposed to a wider variety of food, and every meal had a fruit and a vegetable. It's probably not the most amazing food ever, but my kid liked it well enough, and she had a varied menu.

Ours was really good for two years. They had two ladies who came in to cook hot breakfast and lunch. The food was homey but healthy: baked chicken drumsticks, mashed potatoes, spaghetti and meat sauce, corn cobettes, broccoli... The kids were fed family style.

Unfortunately, the owner decided to switch to a lower cost model that was chicken nugs and bagel pizzas. We only got out of our contract because DD was diagnosed with dairy and wheat allergies.

Our daycare makes the food fresh every day and it is served family style. It's great because as the children get older, they are allowed to serve themselves.

Just for reference, this is the menu at our daycare. You want to look for nutritional value, something along these lines:

Toddler and Pre-K menu

Infant menu

I'd like to know caterers of school lunches who individualize the servings instead of a batch meal. We are always looking to update our options.