Last week, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the department’s reorganization plan. Over the next two years, USDA plans to consolidate the FNS Regional Offices from seven to five hubs.
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Is jicama creditable in the CACFP?
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The USDA has released the Reimbursement Rates for 2025-2026. Rates are effective from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
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The 2025 CACFP Virtual Summit Scholarship winners have been announced! View the list of all 95 winners.
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The CACFP has many benefits – it supports child care providers and ensures that children and adults in care receive nutritious meals. The CACFP is also critical in supporting child care businesses by decreasing costs that can be reallocated towards program improvement, staff wages, or lower tuition rates.
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Can pasta that is made from 100% bean flour credit towards the grains component?
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The 2025 CACFP Virtual Summit Scholarship winners have been announced! View the list of all 95 winners.
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Farm to CACFP connects providers to local food producers with the objectives of serving locally-grown foods and providing nutrition education. Check out these upcoming events at NCA!
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The National CACFP Association (NCA) proudly announces the 2026 National Child Nutrition Conference (NCNC26), celebrating 40 years of advancing nutrition in child and adult care settings across the country.
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Get a rundown on all things happening in June at NCA. Our Meal Pattern Boot camp is happening this month. Don’t miss out!
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The National CACFP Association (NCA) is reaffirming its commitment to continuing education by offering a variety of virtual training opportunities that support child nutrition professionals at every stage of their careers.
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Serving reimbursable meals begins with a solid understanding of the CACFP meal pattern. Learn more with our Meal Pattern Boot Camp!
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Last week, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the department’s reorganization plan. Over the next two years, USDA plans to consolidate the FNS Regional Offices from seven to five hubs.
Read More
The USDA has released the Reimbursement Rates for 2025-2026. Rates are effective from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
Read More
The CACFP has many benefits – it supports child care providers and ensures that children and adults in care receive nutritious meals. The CACFP is also critical in supporting child care businesses by decreasing costs that can be reallocated towards program improvement, staff wages, or lower tuition rates.
Read More
USDA and HHS each released a notice stating that many programs under the jurisdiction of both departments are now interpreted as “Federal Public Benefits,” including all CNPs and Head Start. The notices aim to address whether citizenship or qualified immigration status must be verified in order for a child to participate in these federal programs.
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The USDA released a memorandum rescinding 2022 guidance regarding the interpretation of discrimination based on “sex.” The 2022 guidance redefined the definition of “sex” to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Therefore, the rescission of this guidance will revert USDA’s definition back to its previous interpretation and omit mention of gender identity and sexual orientation.
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USDA has the authority to waive statutory or regulatory program requirements for Child Nutrition Programs. State Agencies can submit a 12(l) waiver application to USDA in order to allow for flexibilities, including off-site monitoring, in their state. In Fiscal Year 2025, at least nine States have applied and been approved for an off-site monitoring waiver.
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The Child and Adult Care Food Program has new creditable foods listed on the USDA Food Buying Guide! If you are new to the FBG, this interactive tool allows for easy display, search, and navigation of food yield information. In addition, users can compare yield information, create a favorite foods list, and access tools, such as the Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW) and the Product Formulation Statement Workbook.
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The Child and Adult Care Food Program community asked for more Spanish resources to be available on the National CACFP Sponsors Association website and we heard you! Available now in Spanish are more resources to help sponsors and providers with meal pattern requirements, best practices, and so much more!
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Serving meals to young people year-round benefits children, families, and care providers. To do this, many providers transition from operating the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool (ARAS) during the school year to the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) while school is out. For an overview of the main differences between SFSP and CACFP ARAS, see the comparison chart below.
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NCA understands that the end of flexibilities will cause challenges for many CACFP sponsors and providers and we commend your continued commitment to providing nutritious meals and snacks to the children or adults in your care. In preparation for the end of the additional reimbursement, we have collected the following resources to help you successfully provide meals even if your available budget decreases.
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The Exhibit A Grains Tool has a new feature that allows users to select their Program and Meal to filter the search results to only creditable grain items for their specific Program.
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CDC created three new fact sheets for Early Care and Education (ECE) providers about Early Child Nutrition and Feeding. The fact sheets offer tips and best practices for supporting breastfeeding families, information about safe storage and handling of breastmilk, and strategies for introducing solid foods.
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Is jicama creditable in the CACFP?
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Can pasta that is made from 100% bean flour credit towards the grains component?
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Does corn credit as a vegetable or a grain in the CACFP?
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Is formula made for toddlers creditable in the CACFP?
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If a grain product list enriched grains as the first ingredient, is the product creditable in the CACFP?
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Can a mixed age group of 1- and 2-year-olds all be served unflavored 1% milk in the CACFP?
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The Child and Adult Care Food Program has new creditable foods listed on the USDA Food Buying Guide! If you are new to the FBG, this interactive tool allows for easy display, search, and navigation of food yield information. In addition, users can compare yield information, create a favorite foods list, and access tools, such as the Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW) and the Product Formulation Statement Workbook.
Read More
The Child and Adult Care Food Program community asked for more Spanish resources to be available on the National CACFP Sponsors Association website and we heard you! Available now in Spanish are more resources to help sponsors and providers with meal pattern requirements, best practices, and so much more!
Read More
Serving meals to young people year-round benefits children, families, and care providers. To do this, many providers transition from operating the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool (ARAS) during the school year to the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) while school is out. For an overview of the main differences between SFSP and CACFP ARAS, see the comparison chart below.
Read More
NCA understands that the end of flexibilities will cause challenges for many CACFP sponsors and providers and we commend your continued commitment to providing nutritious meals and snacks to the children or adults in your care. In preparation for the end of the additional reimbursement, we have collected the following resources to help you successfully provide meals even if your available budget decreases.
Read More
The Exhibit A Grains Tool has a new feature that allows users to select their Program and Meal to filter the search results to only creditable grain items for their specific Program.
Read More
CDC created three new fact sheets for Early Care and Education (ECE) providers about Early Child Nutrition and Feeding. The fact sheets offer tips and best practices for supporting breastfeeding families, information about safe storage and handling of breastmilk, and strategies for introducing solid foods.
Read More
USDA released their second report on the Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings (SNACS-II), which follow their first in 2022. SNACS-II uses data from program year 2022-23 to assess how well children’s diets and CACFP meals align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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A recent study by our partners at Child Care Aware® of America reveals that parents across the nation are struggling to find affordable, high-quality child care. The survey shows that parents are piecing together multiple care arrangements and facing challenges balancing work and caregiving.
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The CDC’s 2025 Early Childhood Nutrition Report gives us a big-picture look at how young children in the U.S. are eating and growing. It focuses on kids from birth to age 5 and shares important facts about breastfeeding, starting solid foods, eating healthy and how states support good nutrition.
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The “Characteristics of Emergency Shelters Participating in the CACFP” study by USDA seeks to better understand the characteristics of CACFP emergency shelters, who they serve, how CACFP fits into their operations, and their challenges with CACFP. The study was conducted in 2023 and collected data from 242 emergency shelters that participate in CACFP in Fiscal Year 2023.
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A survey was administered in the spring of 2023 of licensed California family child care homes (FCCH) to assess the perceived impacts of the increased reimbursement during the Covid-19 pandemic on CACFP participation and anticipated challenges with reinstated tiered rates.
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The USDA recently released a study on the “Characteristics of Adult Day Care Centers that Participate in the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program” which seeks to better understand key characteristics of adult day care centers participating in CACFP.
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When the pandemic struck, Guo elevated her efforts to provide culturally responsive care and connections to her seniors.
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Children’s Village Indianapolis efforts to unite with other organizations to provide care have made it a finalist for the Inspire Collaboration Awards.
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Children’s Hunger Alliance robust use of organizational values opened the door for an array of community collaboration.
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Fisher innovated and pushed through boundaries to support her community elevate her services to an often-overlooked demographic, leading to her inclusion as a finalist for the Inspire Trailblazer award.
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Brooke Wolf of Quality Care Services is named a finalist in the Trailblazer category of the Inspire Awards for her joyful innovation.
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Hughes kept Life360 Community Service’s program operational throughout the crisis and improvised creative solutions along the way.
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