We’re thrilled to inform you that the 2024 National Child Nutrition Conference offers an excellent opportunity for you to earn Continuing Professional Education Units (CPEUs) while immersing yourself in a world of learning and networking.
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The USDA recently released a Final Rule that better aligns meal patterns in the CACFP, SFSP, and School Meals with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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What can you do outside of meal service to prepare children for family style dining?
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Across the nation, racial inequities have impacted access to federal nutrition programs for people of color. The report by D.C. Hunger Solutions aims to address how racial inequities contribute to hunger and poverty among residents of color in the District of Columbia and to lack of access to federal nutrition programs.
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According to a USDA report, one in every five children in the United States is food insecure, meaning that approximately 13 million children do not know where their next meal will come from. The CACFP provides quality meals to many of these children and helps working families protect their children against hunger. Read more about how CACFP contributes to food security.
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Kate Abernathy is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Providers Choice which is a state-wide sponsoring organization of 3,000 family child care homes and 90 centers in Minnesota. Hear from Kate!
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Elections for NCA’s Board of Directors is coming up. Learn more about this year’s candidates and how you can hear from them at our upcoming town hall.
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We want to provide five days of training to those who are able to stay, which is why we expanded our Friday offerings even further this year.
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We started the day off with our Boardwalk 5K Fun Run/Walk, with over 100 attendees taking in the gorgeous views along the Embarcadero Walkway early in the morning. The last full day of the National Child Nutrition Conference featured more than a whopping 90 workshop sessions for attendees, which continued to receive rave reviews.
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Attendees started their day as early as 6 am on Wednesday at the National Child Nutrition Conference at our Sunrise Session. With a day chock full of workshops, shop talks and featured speakers, we think it’s best to let our attendees give a bit of insight into what they experienced today.
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We had an early start on Tuesday morning at the National Child Nutrition Conference, greeting more incoming attendees all day.
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The Monday of conference week is a sort of calm before the storm, but there is still so much to do for our attendees who arrived today! We loved meeting with everybody at the registration desks and seeing what states our attendees were coming from. We are welcoming over 1,700 people onsite in San Diego.
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The USDA recently released a Final Rule that better aligns meal patterns in the CACFP, SFSP, and School Meals with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Read More
According to a USDA report, one in every five children in the United States is food insecure, meaning that approximately 13 million children do not know where their next meal will come from. The CACFP provides quality meals to many of these children and helps working families protect their children against hunger. Read more about how CACFP contributes to food security.
Read More
USDA released a final rule that revises regulations to align the WIC food packages with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and to reflect recommendations from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine while promoting nutrition security and equity and considering program administration.
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Since our last policy updated, there has been new legislation introduced, a proposed rule for serious deficiency released, as well as federal and state recognition of the CACFP. There have also been multiple pieces of USDA guidance and FRAC research published regarding the CACFP.
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Over 20 million children leave school each day unsure if they will have supper at home. There’s help for that. Afterschool programs can take advantage of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), offered by the USDA,
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On March 20, 2023, the Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act was introduced in the Senate by Senator Bob Casey (PA) This legislation would allow providers who are open for more than 8 hours to be reimbursed for an additional meal.
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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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What can you do outside of meal service to prepare children for family style dining?
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What is family style dining in the CACFP?
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Is shelf-stable yogurt reimbursable in the CACFP?
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What is needed to serve quiche as part of a reimbursable meal?
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Are all soy beverages creditable in the CACFP?
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What is a cheese product, and is it creditable?
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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
Across the nation, racial inequities have impacted access to federal nutrition programs for people of color. The report by D.C. Hunger Solutions aims to address how racial inequities contribute to hunger and poverty among residents of color in the District of Columbia and to lack of access to federal nutrition programs.
Read More
When combined, the CACFP and Farm to Early Care Education (Farm to ECE) activities can have an extraordinary impact on children, child care providers, and local communities. FRAC’s report aims to support child care providers to access CACFP and utilize it for eligible Farm to ECE activities by highlighting the mutually beneficial synergy between these initiatives.
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The CACFP is an indicator for state-level obesity prevention. The inclusion of the CACFP as an indicator for obesity-prevention shows that the CACFP is an important, recognized factor for proper development in the earliest stages of life.
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The University of Colorado College of Nursing published their 2022 Annual Report on Achieving a State of Healthy Weight. The report determines how state regulations support obesity prevention in licensed ECE programs. It also highlights state successes and identifies opportunities for ECE regulations to improve support of obesity prevention in young children.
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A study was published in October 2023 by the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health to explore federal and state policies and practices that support or discourage CACFP participation among child care centers. The report approaches: program outreach and administration, barriers that make CACFP participation challenging, and recommendations to expand access to CACFP for eligible providers.
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A study was published in October 2023 by the Urban Institute to identify major gaps in the CACFP’s coverage and ability to reach children. The study specifically focused on CACFP eligibility for small home-based child care providers who are legally exempt from their state’s child care licensing requirements.
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Kate Abernathy is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Providers Choice which is a state-wide sponsoring organization of 3,000 family child care homes and 90 centers in Minnesota. Hear from Kate!
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Rache Cross is the Senior Director of CACFP at Caring People Alliance which sponsors family child care homes, child care centers, and At-Risk Afterschool sites in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Next week is National Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Week! Over 138,000 child and adult care providers serve nutritious meals to over 4.5 million children and adults every day with the help of 24,000 supporting institutions. Join us in celebrating throughout the week.
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Alix Pasillas is the Executive Director of Food For Kids, Inc. which sponsors 137 child care centers, family child care homes, and adult care centers across Nevada. Learn why Alix thinks Food For Kids is a successful sponsor.
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Blake Stanford is the President of Southwest Human Development Services which serves over 850 family child care homes across Texas. Learn why Blake thinks Southwest Human Development Services is a successful sponsor.
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Laura McCabe is the Director of KidCare Nutrition Sponsor which sponsors about 115 family child care homes in northeastern Colorado. Learn why she thinks KidCare is a successful sponsor and get tips that might be helpful to you.
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