NCNC26: Day Two Highlights
April 14, 2026
The National Child Nutrition Conference held its first full day of programming on Tuesday, April 14 at the Westgate in Las Vegas.
Early Morning Offerings
Attendees were able to start the day by learning about all of the resources that the National CACFP Association has to offer with the first spotlight session of the day, Creditable Tools and Resources. Later, there was a full house for the CACFP Overview hosted by Senior Nutrition Education Specialist, Isabel Ramos-Lebron, MS, RDN, LD. Conference attendees were also able to connect with peers from all over the country at the Group Meetup session, which facilitated networking for 24 different professional groups.
More Preconference Add-Ons
The Preconference Academies continued through Tuesday, with sessions including:
- Compliance with Confidence: Monitoring and Oversight for Family Day Care Homes
- CACFP Meal Pattern Training
Exploring the Exhibit Hall
Conference attendees were eager to meet with exhibitors that provide products and services that are uniquely tailored to CACFP operators, such as creditable food items and software for CACFP administration.
Attendee Perspective: Exhibit Hall
“This is very much a first-time experience for me. I’m a financial specialist, and it’s been great getting to see things from the sponsoring organization’s side. I’ve been learning a lot more about their process. I didn’t know how many services are provided to sponsors to help them run this program, whether it be through various packaging services, cooking services, software, et cetera. That’s what surprised me, is seeing how many different services are out there to address their needs.”
-Matthew Ray, Indiana Department of Education
Celebrating 40 Years
Following Featured Speaker sessions, the evening concluded with the 40th Anniversary Celebration Reception, sponsored by Parachute. Attendees were able to mingle and visit with exhibitors once again.
Looking Ahead
Wednesday is the first full day of workshops for this year’s conference. There will be five sessions of hour-long sessions, with education tracks designed to cater to a variety of attendees. These sessions will be bookended by shop talks in the morning and evening, which provide attendees with the opportunity to hold dynamic, unscripted discussions in small group format.
