You are receiving this newsletter because you are enrolled in the WECA Food Program.

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Dec. 6: National Gazpacho Day! Read Gazpacho for Nacho (Kyle, 2014.) Follow the recipe and make gazpacho with your child care children!

Dec. 30: National Bacon Day! Read Everyone Loves Bacon (DiPucchio, 2014) and Don’t Forget the Bacon! (Hutchins, 1976.)

“Turkey bacon, Canadian bacon, and some types of sausage are creditable only if the product has a Child Nutrition label, or if you have a Product Formulation Statement (PFS) signed by the manufacturer.” Consult Serving Meats and Meat Alternates at Breakfast for more information.

Look for CACFP Best Practices: Limit Processed Meats to One Serving per Week later in this issue.

5 years – Laura Gamboa-Guzman

15 years – San Juana Renteria

20 years – Barbara Kelley

25 years – Kathryn Kranjac

We celebrate your commitment to serving healthy meals and snacks to the children in your care!

Nikila in Milwaukee

Quasean in Milwaukee

India in Milwaukee

Vanessa in New London

We welcome you and celebrate this mark of professionalism!

The 2022-23 Food Program Provider Survey is here! Here’s your chance to let us know what you like, or share ways we might improve. Take a few moments to complete our annual survey: Your input is anonymous – and valuable! 

Question: I have a 6-month-old infant in child care. The parent is sending one bottle of breast milk (about 9 oz.) that I am asked to spread across three feedings. The child is given pureed food at home. I was told they would “take care of that at home.” What should I do?

Answer:

• First, the breastmilk being offered at a feeding should be decanted into a clean bottle, so that the remaining breastmilk is clean, untouched and stored appropriately in the refrigerator for subsequent feedings.
• Second, because it is not known just how many ounces of milk a child receives while breastfeeding, 3 ounces at a feeding may not be inadequate. CACFP participation DOES require providers who care for infants to offer a brand of iron-fortified infant formula. CACFP also recommends that providers have a can of that formula on hand, even when the parent is providing the breast milk or IFIF, in the event supplementation is necessary. In winter, for example, if a parent was unavoidably detained and unable to pick up the child, the provider would want a way to provide nourishment.
• Third, since the family is serving pureed foods at home to the child, this indicates that the infant is developmentally ready for food. Providers have a mandate to offer iron-fortified infant cereal and a serving of fruit or vegetable to developmentally-ready infants in care. Work with the family to find out what foods they have introduced that the child is tolerating well, and start offering them at appropriate times during the day. This may be only once per day, if the child only recently started on pureed food, or it may be more often, if the child does well with pureed food and seems hungry.

Having a discussion with the parent about the requirements of a participant on the Food Program is important. Point #2 and #3 above should be communicated to them so they understand that you have a mandate from CACFP, that you want to work closely with them, and you want their child to be comfortable and appropriately fed during the child care day.

The Food Program office will be closed from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2, 2023. Contact your Area Coordinator if you need assistance during this time.

The Food Program office will reopen for regular business on Jan. 3, 2023.

Grain Oz Equivalents: Calling All Bakers!

Baking for the holidays and trying to incorporate more whole grains? Consult these great resources:

Determining Ounce Equivalents of Grains in Child and Adult Care

Food Program Recipes

REMEMBER: Grain-based desserts do not credit for the CACFP EVEN IF you use whole wheat flour for your cookies or cupcakes. Questions? Look here:

Is it a Grain-Based Dessert? Perception Counts! 

Grain-Based Desserts in the Child and Adult Care Food Program 

Want to simplify your baking? This recipe, originally from Washington State University Extension, can be used to make biscuits, pizza crust, muffins, and pancakes! 

Peanut Butter Vanilla Yogurt Dip

National CACFP Sponsors Association shares this quick, easy recipe:

1. Combine 4 tablespoons peanut butter and 1 cup vanilla yogurt.* Mix well.
2. Refrigerate. Makes four ¼ cup servings.
3. Serve with fresh fruit, raw veggies, or with crackers or muffins.

*Don’t forget: Creditable yogurt has no more than 23 grams of sugar per 6 oz serving.

Popcorn can be credited as a whole grain-rich food on the Food Program.

However, because the required amount of popcorn may be too much for your children, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction advises that you supplement the popcorn with another creditable grain item: Popcorn added to a trail mix of pretzels and an approved specific cereal, for example. Remember to list each item in the trail mix on your menus.

Popcorn may be counted as an ingredient in store-bought foods or in foods prepared at home. It must be present in the minimum creditable amount. To be credited in a store-bought food, you must keep that product’s CN label or PFS on file.

• Caramel corn or kettle corn are grain-based desserts and cannot be credited as a whole grain-rich food.
• Toppings like salt, butter, and cheese may be used, but you are encouraged to limit these and choose healthier options
• Remember that popcorn can be a choking hazard for very young children.

Reducing the Risk of Choking

During the holiday season, children may be especially overstimulated and overtired. They may be exposed to unusual foods and textures and eat in a hurry, excited to get to whatever event – real or imagined! - is about to unfold. Be extra careful of choking hazards. USDA offers these tips to minimize the risk of choking:

Reducing the Risk of Choking in Young Children at Mealtimes

CACFP Best Practices: Limit Processed Meats to One Serving per Week

What are processed meats? Examples are hot dogs, sausages, salami, ham, etc., that have been cured, salted, smoked, dried, or canned to preserve them or to enhance flavor. They are often high in fat, sodium, and nitrates or nitrites, which are frequently used in the curing process.

• Processed meats may not be 100% meat products: If fillers or byproducts are used in producing them, providers should have a CN label or Product Analysis Sheet to document the break down according to CACFP guidelines.
• Colon and rectal cancers are the second most frequently-occurring cancers in affluent societies. World Health Organization recommends decreasing meat consumption – especially processed meat consumption – and increasing intake of vegetables and fruit.

Follow this link for more USDA recommendations to improve nutrition in CACFP.

You are required to provide current Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program information to all parents of children in care. Post it where all parents can see it or give it to each family.

WIC promotes and maintains the health and well-being of nutritionally at-risk pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women and to infants and children. It provides nutrition, education, breastfeeding education/support, supplemental nutritious foods, and referral to other health and nutrition services.

• Each parent or guardian must complete all the applicable information on the Child Enrollment Form for his or her child.
• It is your responsibility to ensure all information is complete and correct before you submit any enrollment forms to the WECA Food Program. Incomplete or incorrect information is considered provider error and is not adjustable.
• If you notice an error, contact the Food Program right away to prevent further deductions to your claim.
• Be sure to keep a copy of the completed enrollment form. 

• Food Program records must be kept at the child care site for the current month plus the previous 12 months.
• Records for the three years that preceded that can be stored onsite or offsite.
• Records may be stored electronically.

ALL RECORDS MUST BE ACCESSIBLE for review by representatives of the WECA Food Program, DPI or by the USDA at any time during your regular child care hours.

Best business practices advise you back up your Food Program records periodically.

Do you care for two or more children under the age of two? Wisconsin licensing rules allow you to claim a 5-year old who is enrolled in school and is in care no more than three hours per day, up to a maximum group size of eight. Be sure to complete and submit the School-Age Verification for Child 5 Years Form so you can be paid correctly. 

Will You Be Out?

Be sure to report any days or times you will be closed or away from your child care during your business hours.  Call or email your Area Coordinator before 7 a.m. to let them know.

If your Area Coordinator shows up for a visit during a scheduled meal or snack service and you are gone, that meal will be deducted. This is a federal regulation.

We Need Your Updated Regulation!

Remember to mail, fax or email us a legible copy of your updated regulation as soon as you get it! Send it to jgiles@wisconsinearlychildhood.org or fax it to 866-222-9520 so your claim will be paid correctly.

Download your 2022 Food Program Earnings!

Preparing for tax time? Download your Food Program earnings! Log into CACFP.Net. Under My CACFP info, select Checks Received:

By federal regulation, the WECA Food Program is required to complete household contacts for some centers participating on our program. If your center is chosen for a household contact, each family will be asked to complete and submit information about their child’s days and hours of attendance and the meals received in your child care home during a targeted interval. Completing this information carefully and timely helps to ensure the integrity and quality of the food program.

Do You Know Tom Copeland?

Tom Copeland has been a trainer, author, and advocate for the business of family child care providers for more than 40 years. His Family Child Care Resource Directory covers everything from marketing and money management to record-keeping.

Check out Civitas Strategies Early Start (formerly Tom Copeland’s Taking Care of Business blog) today.

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