Step in the kitchen and meet the (healthy) Lunch-Lady and blogger Erinn Simon
After the visions of huge cans of ketchup and frozen fish sticks vanished, two innovative women began a federally funded food program in a Burlington, VT child care center. It’s one of the first in the area, Burlington Children’s Space Director Sarah Adams-Kollitz said.
The Child and Adult Care Food Program is a nutrition education and meal reimbursement program that helps child care providers serve nutritious meals to children. Adams-Kollitz brought Erinn Simon on board as school chef to implement the program. Simon has made it her own and even blogs about the program.
“Federal program” label didn’t have a good feel–initially
“We didn’t want to do the federal program at first because we had some negative ideas about school lunches,” Adams-Kollitz said. “Then we got a lot of reassurance that we could participate and still serve local and non-processed foods. We are really happy and have since found out that not a lot of child care programs participate.”
USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program was created to play a vital role in improving the quality of day care and making it more affordable for many low-income families. The program also provides meals and snacks to 112,000 adults who receive care in nonresidential adult day care centers. CACFP reaches further to provide meals to children residing in emergency shelters, and snacks and suppers to youth participating in eligible after-school care programs.
The Burlington Children’s Space has served the community for 26 years. It’s a National Association for the Education of Young Children accredited program offering early care and education for children from 6 weeks to 5 years old. There are 50 children enrolled.
Simon said coming on board as the school chef was perfect timing. “My son is in school now, and I had been looking for a part-time job and I love to cook,” she said. “It just fit.”
Preschoolers now look forward to healthy food choices
The most popular food items are pasta and meatballs at the center, but the one that’s the most fun is broccoli. “Eating the broccoli trees is a huge ritual here now,” Simon said. “One day a teacher begged all of the children not to eat down the forest and they have been munching down trees ever since.”
Simon said her job is not just about making lunch for 50 children every day. “It’s providing something for kids,” she said. “Food can really change things for kids and their families. It’s rewarding when they poke their heads in the kitchen and ask what’s for lunch or if they can help. It’s rewarding to be a part of an organization like this. It makes me really happy.”
How can you implement a similar healthy-foods program at your child care center?
Take a look at online resources, or send us a note of how you’re making strides in the area of nutrition for the children in your daily care. There are child care nutrition funding sources available (see above) and local resources at your fingertips if you’ll just start looking. Please share your stories with us, and we’ll share them with our other readers.
