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Connecting Nutrition with Food, Fitness & Crafts ($)

Nutrition education goes beyond serving healthy meals and snacks. Incorporating nutrition education in multiple facets through recipes, active games, and fun crafts can help reinforce the importance of keeping our body healthy. Learn how you can tie in the foods we eat with easy, nutrition-related activities throughout the year.

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Food Plating with a Purpose ($)

Having challenges with children eating certain foods? The way we present nutritious foods to children is a powerful tool that encourages them to eat healthier meals and snacks. Why not make it a little fun? By introducing fun shapes and designs to a single plate or family style dish, children may be persuaded to try these new or challenging foods. Learn how you can easily construct enticing plates and receive recipe ideas to inspire new creations!

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Advocating for the CACFP: How to Host Elected Officials

Showcasing your program is one of the most impactful ways to advocate for the CACFP. Invite your elected official to join you at your site to interact with and serve meals/snacks to the children or adults in your care. Learn how to host your elected official at your site, from the initial invite to the follow up after a successful site visit.

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Understanding Grain-Based Desserts ($)

Wondering why savory biscotti, rice pudding, and scones are creditable in the CACFP, but the same items made with fruits are considered to be sweet and are not allowed for reimbursement under the meal pattern? Grain-based desserts are a category of food items that are considered sweet and high in sugar. By eliminating grain-based desserts in the CACFP, USDA hopes to reduce the amount of added sugars kids eat in child care. While brownies clearly fall in the grain-based desserts category, other food items can be tricky. Learn how to determine what is creditable and what is not based on the USDA guidance.

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Creating Your Own Food Station ($)

Need a creative outlet with food but you don’t want to overcomplicate it? Or perhaps you want to inject some excitement into your food service or entice children to try new foods in a different way. Creating food stations may be just the right fit for you! Discover how to craft the ultimate food station. Get recipe ideas featuring #CACFPCreditable fixings and toppings so each child can assemble their very own personalized meal or snack.

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Tools and Resources for CACFP Success ($)

Hundreds of thousands of people participate in the CACFP. We have resources to help! From provider toolkits to online training, activity sheets, nutrition education and more, learn how to use these to promote nutrition and physical activities in your CACFP operations.

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Healthy & Strong with Sesame Street ($)

Children receive nutritious meals through CACFP. Get to know Wes & Elijah as they have a healthy snack and take their usual afternoon walk. Learn about new resources featuring furry friends from your favorite Street to support healthy habits for everyone in the neighborhood.  

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Marketing Your Business: Outreach 101

Looking to promote the CACFP to new providers and centers who aren’t on the food program? Trying to figure out how to let parents know why childcare programs who participate in the CACFP means their children are getting a healthy start in life? Learn why it’s important to add regular outreach activities to your to-do list. We’ll talk about hosting virtual open house events, going live on Facebook, adding giveaways to your social media, developing regular communications, and why supporting community events matters.

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Good News! Sharing Your CACFP Story ($)

Together we can raise awareness of how the CACFP works to combat hunger. Hear stories about what the CACFP community is doing to share its message and learn how to use social media strategies, local and state proclamations, local news stories and more to help raise awareness about the CACFP.

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