2023 Nutrition

Communication is key for keeping children and CACFP participants with special diets safe in our care. Learn best practices and receive resources for school operators to effectively communicate special diet information with staff, families, students, and program participants.

Do you ever struggle with trying to figure out what to serve on your menu? Do your children get “burnt out” with eating the same menu items frequently? Learn how to control costs, reduce waste, use a cycle menu effectively, and serve a variety of foods.

Traditional Hispanic meals can be challenging to incorporate into a healthy meal plan. Learn best practices to foster a healthy relationship with favorite Latino dishes while encouraging a culture-centered approach to nutrition and healthy eating. Get tips for authentic meal makeovers, healthy eating strategies, awareness of fullness, and other lifestyle modifications.

An analogy on how we changed society in one generation by reaching our youngest leads this uplifting and positive message meant for everyone. While it’s impractical to expect child care to serve ‘A Rainbow A Day,’ we can absolutely serve ‘A Rainbow A Week.’ Learn simple concepts to increase our rainbow of choices and take home recipes which feature fruits and vegetables.

Cycle menus require planning and forecasting as well as recipe and menu development. Fight menu fatigue by seeing how popular foods can be versatile and support your program. See what other programs are doing and take home their recipes and ideas.

Learn why it matters how we raise the next generation of healthy eaters. Hear about interactive tools, education ideas, and platforms to use in your program. Walk away feeling inspired and empowered to nourish and teach the next generation.

Learn to credit grains as ounce equivalents instead of servings and slices. We’ll use a hands-on approach to determine how much to serve of various grain products to meet the grain ounce equivalent requirement.

Are you fresh out of ideas on how to get your children to eat their broccoli or apples? Discover new ways to have your children explore fruits and veggies and how to set up an exploration station. Learn best practices on how to store your fruits and veggies to last longer and how to save money by reducing waste.

Cooking can help develop life skills such as reading, math concepts, literacy and even develop self confidence as it relates to healthy eating habits. Learn how to explore literature with your children during cooking sessions to help them feel ownership and pride in dishes they created.

Serving whole grain-rich (WGR) grains is an important element of the meal pattern. Learn how to identify which products meet the whole grain-rich regulations. Trainers can use this workshop to support CACFP participants.