Are vegetable spirals creditable in the CACFP?
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North Carolina Governor’s Task Force on Child Care and Early Education analyze child care budgets to evaluate how to improve pay for early childhood educators.
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Do you often find yourself sharing stories of health and wellness, training professionals who provide nutritious meals every day or educating others about the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) or Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)? Join us as a presenter at NCNC26!
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The White House released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which includes cuts to discretionary spending for Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs). While the budget maintains full funding for Child Nutrition Programs, like the CACFP and SFSP, the cuts to discretionary spending include the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant and the Institute for Child Nutrition (ICN), a National Ally of NCA.
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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 working families and supporting the development of young children into successful adults.
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The National CACFP Association (NCA) proudly reports the success of the 2025 National Child Nutrition Conference (NCNC), held in Dallas, Texas, from April 14 to 18. The annual conference brought together over 1,700 professionals committed to advancing child nutrition programs including CACFP and SFSP.
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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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Get a rundown on all things happening in May at NCA. Annual Training is happening this month. Don’t miss out!
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We’re bringing you workshops on nutrition, program administration, operations, financial and nonprofit management, and more.
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Let’s shine a spotlight on the “A” in CACFP by recognizing the vital role adult care plays in supporting health and nutrition.
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North Carolina Governor’s Task Force on Child Care and Early Education analyze child care budgets to evaluate how to improve pay for early childhood educators.
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The White House released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which includes cuts to discretionary spending for Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs). While the budget maintains full funding for Child Nutrition Programs, like the CACFP and SFSP, the cuts to discretionary spending include the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant and the Institute for Child Nutrition (ICN), a National Ally of NCA.
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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 working families and supporting the development of young children into successful adults.
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The USDA released a memorandum stating that they support and encourage states and school districts to experiment with meals to provide interesting, healthy, and diverse meals.
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On May 22, 2025, the White House published the Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment which provides an overview of the current state of child health in the United States. The Assessment was created in response to an executive order that established the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission. The Assessment will be used to create a Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy which is required to be published by August of this year.
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On May 12, 2025, USDA released a final rule titled Child and Adult Care Food Program: Rescission of Obsolete Data Collection Requirements. The final rule removes section 226.25(g) from the Code of Federal Regulation. This regulation required State agencies to collect and report data related to participating institutions during fiscal years 2006-2009.
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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 are whole grains?
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What are enriched grains?
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Is milk required at supper for adults?
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Do CACFP operators need to provide one whole grain-rich grain per day when serving infants?
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Are edamame creditable in the CACFP?
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Does tomato sauce credit by volume served 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
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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USDA released a survey report focused on SFSP and SSO sponsors who operated the non-congregate meal service option in qualifying rural areas in summer 2023.
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Afterschool Snack Programs include the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Through NSLP schools can serve one snack afterschool, however through the CACFP schools and sponsoring organizations are able to serve a snack in addition to a supper. This additional supper is an important opportunity to meet children’s nutritional needs after the school day is over. A report by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) found that afterschool supper participation increased from October 2022 to October 2023 by 6%.
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FRAC’s latest report, Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2024, reveals a drop in the number of children receiving nutrition over the summer following the loss of pandemic-era waivers.
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Vegas Adult Day Care is an outstanding CACFP operator that is committed to the overall health and wellbeing of the 40 older adults they serve each day. The founder of Vegas Adult Day Care, Myong Kim, began her experience with adult care as the caregiver for her own parents. After moving to Las Vegas, she was drawn to serve the senior population where she saw a need for adult care services. Check out their story!
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Acelero Learning Monmouth Middlesex (Acelero) operates eight Head Start centers that serve meals to over 800 children through the CACFP. Food Service Coordinator, Stephanie Manchester, and her team work to ensure that they are providing nutritious meals for all of the children across their eight sites.
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Michelle Buchanan serves as the Food Program Director at the Community Action of Southeastern West Virginia, a sponsoring organization of 65 family child care homes. Learn about her journey in the CACFP!
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Denise Andrews is CEO and Director of For the Children, Inc. which is a sponsoring organization of family child care homes in Oklahoma. Learn about her journey in the CACFP!
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Most people think food banks only provide food boxes for those in need. However, food banks do so much more and may also sponsor one or more federal nutrition programs, such as the CACFP. While most CACFP sponsoring organizations are only responsible for the administration and oversight of the program at their sponsored sites, food banks often provide the meals for their sponsored sites as well. The Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) is a great example.
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The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs (CTWS) is a sponsor of the CACFP for their early childhood education center that operates a day care program for infants to children aged 3, as well as a Head start program for 3 to 5 year old children. Read about how they operate the CACFP!
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