Introduction

Knowledge of menu planning is essential to providing appropriate nutrition to young children. Early care and education programs must have staff who plan and prepare food that are aware of individual preferences, including vegetarianism, and cultural and religious differences in food choice, preparation, and service. To protect children’s health, proper hygiene and sanitation processes must be followed closely. Only safe food should be purchased. And how that food is stored, prepared, and served must follow proper protocol to prevent foodborne illness.

Menu Planning

Let’s examine several factors that are important for menu planning, including the meal patterns, licensed programs must follow, the importance of variety and balance, and aesthetics.

Meal Patterns

Taken from the Menu Criteria Backgrounder in the ELCC Home Child Care Provides Nutrition Grant.

Menu Criteria Backgrounder

Menu Planning Form Template

Breakfast

Solid foods are required when the infant is ready. All serving sizes are minimum quantities of the food components that are required to be served.

Here is what breakfasts that follow the meal pattern might look like:

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Pause to Reflect

Create your own breakfasts that follow the meal plan for each age.

Lunch

Here are the lunch meal patterns for infants and children:

Solid foods are required when the infant is ready. All serving sizes are minimum quantities of the food components that are required to be served

Here is what lunches that follow the meal pattern might look like:

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Pause to Reflect

Create your own lunches that follow the meal plan for each age.

Snacks

Finally, here are the meal patterns for snacks for infants and children:

Solid foods are required when the infant is ready. All serving sizes are minimum quantities of the food components that are required to be served.

Best practice: Make at least 1 of the 2 required components of a snack a vegetable or a fruit.^[13]

Here are some snacks that follow the meal pattern:

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Pause to Reflect

Create your own snacks that follow the meal plan for each age.

Factors to consider when planning a menu.

Child-Care-Centre-Menu-Planning-Toolkit-REVISED

REVIEW:

Menu Criteria Backgrounder

Menu Planning Form Template

Menu planning principles include aesthetics, and variety, including colour, texture, flavours, shapes, and sizes of food, cost, balance, and nutritional quality, The availability of equipment and staff knowledge and skill to prepare the foods on menus are also important considerations in planning the menu. Along with all of these, an effective menu also considers cost.^[17]

Aesthetics and Variety

How our food is presented, along with texture, consistency, colour, shape, and the preparation method, influences how we feel and what we think about a menu. It can even influence our appetite and our interest in eating.^[18]

Select nutritious foods that have contrasting colours and textures. This adds to the visual and chewing appeal. Try to vary the colours of the foods being served. Avoid serving foods that are all one colour. For example, select a green, soft vegetable (spinach), a red, crunchy fruit (an apple), and colourful, chewy wild rice to go along with a piece of chicken and a glass of milk. This lends visual and chewing appeal as the children can see different colours and feel different textures as they chew.^[19]

Pause to Reflect

Go back and look at the samples. How well do you think they did with creating meals and snacks that offered variety and were visually appealing? What about the versions you created?

Cost

While well-balanced nutrition should never be sacrificed to save money, early care and education programs must also consider the costs of the menus they plan. One way to save costs is to use cycle menus. A cycle menu follows a particular pattern and repeats on a regular basis. The length of the cycle can vary, but may be 4-6 weeks long and can be different lengths for different meals/snacks (for instance, with breakfast repeating more often than lunches). And they can be updated as needed to include new foods or make other accommodations.^[20]

Cycle menus allow a program to forecast costs, order in bulk, and reduce waste (with tried and tested menus). Cycle menus are often planned seasonally so an operation might have a spring, summer, and fall/winter cycle.^[21] And buying produce seasonally is often more affordable.

Nutrition and Balance

The most important consideration for menu planning is that it meets children’s nutritional needs. The meals and snacks provided by full-day early care and education programs should provide a substantial portion of a child’s daily nutrition. All programs should support children’s well–balanced diet, in which all the nutrients the body needs for proper functioning and energy are taken in. A well-balanced diet contains a variety of foods from all the food groups, as well as all the necessary vitamins and minerals we need. It also means taking in an adequate supply of water for adequate health. A well-balanced diet can be planned by selecting healthy foods from each of the food groups.^[22]

Canada Food Guide Categories. 

Let’s look at each of the food groups a bit more closely and identify sources for each.  Please note that the Canada Food Guide now classified most “Dairy” under the Protin Category.

Protein Category

All foods are made from meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds.  (dairy is also now considered part of the Protein Category).  Select a variety of protein foods to improve nutrient intake and health benefits, including cooked seafood. Meat and poultry choices should be lean or low-fat.^[23]

Major Change in CFG update:

Most milk products and many foods made from milk are also now considered part of the Protein category. Foods made from milk that retain their calcium content are part of the group. Foods made from milk that have little to no calcium, such as cream cheese, cream, and butter, are not. Calcium-fortified soymilk (soy beverage) is also part of the Dairy Group. When choosing dairy, fat-free and low-fat dairy are good options for children.^[24]

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Sources of protein include:

• Beef
• Pork (ham, pork chops)
• Lamb
• Veal
• Poultry (chicken, turkey)
• Beans (black, kidney, chickpeas, lentils, navy, pinto, white, soybeans, split peas)
• Eggs
• Canned fish (sardines, salmon, tuna, anchovies, clams)
• Fish (cod, tuna, sea bass, catfish, flounder, halibut, swordfish, trout, mackerel)
• Shellfish (shrimp, lobster, crab, mussels, oysters, scallops)
• Nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, peanuts, pecans)
• Seeds (sesame, pumpkin, squash, sunflower)^[27]

Sources of dairy include:

• Milk (low-fat, fat-free, whole)
• Lactose-free and lactose-reduced milk
• Yogurt
• Ice cream
• Frozen yogurt
• Calcium-fortified soy milk
• Hard cheeses (cheddar, mozzarella, swiss, parmesan)
• Soft cheeses (ricotta, cottage cheese)

Fruit and Vegetable Category

Fruits may be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried.  They can also be whole, cut-up, or pureed.^[30] Intake of 100% fruit juice should be limited to no more than three times a week or replaced with water.

Any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice counts as a member of the Vegetable Group. Vegetables may be raw or cooked; fresh, frozen, canned, or dried/dehydrated; and may be whole, cut-up, or mashed. Based on their nutrient content, vegetables are organized into 5 subgroups: dark-green vegetables, starchy vegetables, red and orange vegetables, beans and peas, and other vegetables. While it is not necessary to eat vegetables from each subgroup daily, over the course of a week, vegetables from each subgroup should be eaten to ensure the daily intake recommendation of the different vitamins is met.^[31]

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Sources of fruit include:

• Apples
• Apricots
• Bananas
• Blueberries
• Cantaloupe
• Cherries
• Fruit juices (100% fruit juice, all varieties)
• Grapefruit
• Grapes
• Kiwi
• Lemons
• Limes
• Mangoes
• Nectarines
• Oranges
• Papayas
• Peaches
• Pears
• Pineapples
• Plums
• Raisins
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Watermelon^[34]

Sources of vegetables include:

• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Bok choy
• Broccoli
• Celery
• Collard greens
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Green lima beans
• Green peas
• Lettuce
• Kale
• Mushrooms
• Mustard greens
• Onions
• Peppers (green, red, orange, yellow)
• Potatoes
• Spinach
• Squash (all varieties)
• Sweet potatoes
• Taro
• Tomatoes
• Turnip greens
• Water chestnuts^[35]

Grain Category

Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley, or another cereal grain is a grain product. Bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, grits, and tortillas are examples of grain products. Foods such as popcorn, rice, and oatmeal are also included in the Grains Group.

Grains are divided into 2 subgroups: Whole Grains and Refined Grains. Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel ― the bran, germ, and endosperm. Examples of whole grains include whole-wheat flour, bulgur (cracked wheat), oatmeal, whole cornmeal, and brown rice. Refined grains have been milled, a process that removes the bran and germ. This is done to give grains a finer texture and improve their shelf life, but it also removes dietary fiber, iron, and many B vitamins. Some examples of refined grain products are white flour, de-germed cornmeal, white bread, and white rice.

Most refined grains are enriched. This means certain B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid) and iron are added back after processing. Fiber is not added back to enriched grains. Check the ingredient list on refined grain products to make sure that the word “enriched” is included in the grain name. Some food products are made from mixtures of whole grains and refined grains.^[39]

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Sources of grain include:

• Barley
• Bread (all kinds)
• Bulgur
• Cereals (all kinds)
• Cornbread
• Cornmeal
• Couscous
• Crackers
• Millet
• Muesli
• Oatmeal
• Rice
• Pasta (including whole wheat)
• Popcorn
• Pretzels
• Tortillas^[41]

Oils

Oils are NOT a food group, although they provide essential nutrients. Oils include items such as butter, oils, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressings. These food items should be used sparingly. Foods such as fish, nuts, and avocados are good choices of fats. Many foods we eat, especially those that are processed, often are high in fat. This should be considered when planning meals.^[44]

Individual and Cultural Preferences

What families eat, how those foods are prepared and served, and the routines surrounding meals and snacks are going to vary in every family. For some children, those will be similar to what they encounter in early care and education programs. And some children will easily adapt to new foods and routines. But gathering information from families on these is one way to have an understanding of the food experiences and preferences children have. Menus can be planned that include familiar foods.

Cultural and Religious Considerations

Some people do not eat various specific foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal, or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the meat of a particular animal. Some food prohibitions can be defined as rules, codified by religion or otherwise, about which foods, or combinations of foods, may not be eaten and how animals are to be slaughtered or prepared. Some foods may be prohibited during certain religious periods (e.g., Lent), at certain stages of life (e.g., pregnancy), or to certain classes of people (e.g., priests), even though the food is otherwise permitted.^[46]

Families and children may choose to exclude, include, or prepare foods in a particular way according to their religious faith and beliefs. The guidance given in Table 15.7 on food choices for specific religious groups is very general (and does not include prohibited items, such as alcohol that do not apply to children in early care and education programs). There will be individual differences and varying levels of adherence to guidelines which should be discussed for each child with their family. Some people within some of the faith groups identified may not observe the dietary guidelines listed. Prohibitions and restrictions even within a particular faith may change between denominations or branches.^[47]

Vegetarian Menu Planning

A vegetarian diet does not include any meat, poultry, or seafood. It is a meal plan made up of foods that come mostly from plants. These include:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Whole grains
• Legumes
• Seeds
• Nuts
• May include eggs and/or milk if ovo-lacto vegetarian

A vegetarian diet contains no animal proteins. A semi-vegetarian diet is a meal plan that contains little animal protein, but mostly plant-based foods. Vegetarians DO NOT eat:

• Fowl
• Seafood
• Beef
• Pork
• Lamb
• Other animal meats, such as bison, or exotic meats like ostrich or alligator

Vegetarians also do not eat products containing gelatin or rennin (an enzyme found in calf’s stomachs that is used to produce many cheeses).

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Here are the different types of vegetarian diets:

• Vegan: Includes only plant-based foods. No animal proteins or animal by-products such as eggs, milk, or honey.
• Lacto-vegetarian: Includes plant foods plus some or all dairy products.
• Lacto-ovo vegetarian: Includes plant foods, dairy products, and eggs.
• Semi- or partial vegetarian: Includes plant foods and may include chicken or fish, dairy products, and eggs. It does not include red meat.
• Pescatarian: Includes plant foods and seafood.

Pause to Reflect

What familiarity do you have with any of the varieties of food preferences (including those that may not have been presented in the book)?

Family Style Meal Service

Currently, traditional family-style meal service is the recommended approach to serving meals in preschool settings. Using this approach, all foods on the menu are served at the same time in serving bowls that are passed around the table, and children self-serve the amounts they desire. There are a number of potential advantages to traditional family-style meal service including allowing children the opportunity to self-regulate consumption (match food selection with hunger level).^[53]

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This approach to mealtime creates a number of healthy habits that are important to the growth and development of children at any age. Children tend to eat more healthy foods if they see their friends try it. They learn skills such as taking turns, sharing, and teamwork.

Family-style dining opens up opportunities for conversation, which increases vocabulary, and promotes proper use of language and interaction with friends.

There are even more benefits that support healthy growth. Children learn:

• portion sizes for each food group
• to recognize when they are hungry or satisfied
• how to identify healthy foods and where they come from
• to improve fine motor skills

Children are not the only ones who benefit. Providers get a better grasp of food costs, get help with mealtime service and, with less food being wasted, they save money.^[55]

Food from Home

Some early care and education programs depend on families to provide some or all of children’s meals and snacks. According to Sweitzer et al (2011), “[o]bservations of lunches of three to five-year-old children attending fulltime childcare support the need for parent education about packing healthy lunches.” They cite several studies that show inadequate servings of fruit and vegetables and foods that fail to meet the Daily Reference Intakes for essential nutrients in foods brought from home. They also cite several studies that demonstrated that knowledge and attitudes about nutrition were positively linked to serving fruits and vegetables to children. As they stated, parents report barriers to supporting their young children’s healthy eating. “Common barriers for consumption of fruits and vegetables are the child’s preferences, preparation time involved, and higher cost of those items.”^[57]

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Food brought from home should be labelled with the child’s name and date and stored in the refrigerator when needed. When prepared and served to children it is important to follow food safety practices (discussed in the next section of the book). Food for one child should never be given to another child.^[59]

Food Safety

Even the most nutritious, visually appealing, affordable, delicious food won’t keep children healthy if it isn’t stored, prepared, and served safely. Let’s look at recommendations for food safety in early care and education programs based on the California Department of Social Services and Child Care Advocate Program’s Child Care Center Self-Assessment Guide – Safe Food Handling and Preparation: Licensing Requirements and Best Practices.

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Safe Shopping

When purchasing food for an early care and education program:

• Do not buy or use meat, poultry, and meat products unless they have been inspected.
• Do not use or buy home-canned food from outside sources, food from dented, rusted, bulging, or leaking cans, or food from cans without labels.
• Do not buy or use raw or non-pasteurized milk or milk products, or non-pasteurized juices.
• Place frozen food and perishables such as meat, poultry, or fish in plastic bags and put them in the shopping cart last.
• Do not buy torn or leaking packages.
• Do not buy foods past “sell-by” or expiration dates.^[62]

Storage Before Preparation

To keep foods safe from spoilage and contamination before you prepare them:

• Keep your refrigerator and freezer clean and in safe condition.
• Store soaps, detergents, cleaning compounds, or similar substances away from food supplies to prevent accidental poisoning, potential leakage problems, and contamination. Always keep these substances away from children.
• Do not store pesticides and other similar toxic substances where you store, cook, or prepare food, or where you store kitchen equipment or utensils. Always keep these substances away from children.
• Unpack perishable foods from the car first and put them in the refrigerator right away.
• Keep the refrigerator temperature at 40° F or less, and the freezer at 0° F, to slow the growth of most bacteria and keep them from multiplying.
• Check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer daily with an appliance thermometer.
• Keep all food stored in the refrigerator and freezer covered, wrapped, stored in airtight containers, or otherwise protected from contamination.
• Wrap raw meat, poultry, and seafood securely to prevent raw juices from contaminating other foods. Store them in the meat drawer or coldest section of the refrigerator or freezer.
• Do not store perishable foods, such as eggs, in the refrigerator door. The temperature of the storage bins in the door fluctuates more than the temperature in the cabinet.
• Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meat, and mixed meats within 2 days after you buy them. Cook or freeze other beef, veal, lamb, or pork within 3 to 5 days.
• Use the cold storage chart in Table 15.9 for guidelines of how long different food products can be safely stored in the refrigerator and freezer.
• Store food that does not need refrigeration in a way to keep insects and rodents from entering the food. For example, keep storage containers off the floor.
• Store dry, bulk foods that are not in their original, unopened containers off the floor in clean metal, glass, or food-grade plastic containers with tight-fitting covers. Label and date the containers.
• Keep storerooms clean, dry, well-ventilated, and cool (about 60° F).
• These storage guidelines for home-refrigerated foods will keep them from spoiling or becoming dangerous to eat. The guidelines for freezer storage are for quality only. Frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.^[63]

Preparing

Safe food preparation practices include:

• Keep all kitchen equipment, dishes, and utensils clean and in safe condition.
• Wash dishes and eating and serving utensils in a dishwasher (reach a temperature of 165° F during the washing or drying cycle) or by hand with a sanitizing agent.
• Keep the food preparation area separate from the eating, napping, play, toilet and bathroom areas, and from areas where animals are kept. Never use the food preparation area as a passageway while food is being prepared.
• Make sure that all staff wash their hands before preparing food, serving and eating meals and snacks, and after toileting, diapering, and outdoor activities. The best way to combat the spread of communicable diseases or germs is by careful handwashing with liquid soap, rinsing under running water, and drying with paper towels.
• Do not wash hands in food preparation sinks to prevent contamination of food.
• Keep all surfaces that come in contact with food (including tables and countertops), floors, and shelving in good repair. Use smooth and nonporous materials that are easily cleaned and sanitized.
• Use cutting boards that can be disinfected (such as glass, Formica, or plastic). Always clean them with soap and hot water after each use.
• Do not use cutting boards with crevices and cuts because they can hide food material that can grow bacteria and contaminate the next food cut on the surface.

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• Always clean and sanitize cutting boards, knives, and other utensils after they come in contact with raw meat, poultry, and seafood. Use one cutting board for raw meat products and another for salads and ready-to-eat foods to prevent cross-contamination of bacteria from one food to another.
• Air-dry hand-washed dishes to eliminate recontamination from hands or towels.
• Use dishes with smooth, hard-glazed surfaces that do not have cracks or chips.
• Clean and sanitize table surfaces before and after use.
• Sanitize kitchen dishcloths and sponges often because these materials can hide bacteria and promote their growth.
• Wash kitchen towels and cloths often in hot water in the washing machine.
• Clean the can opener blade after each use.
• Keep garbage in a covered container, away from children. Empty the garbage every day to reduce odors, control insects and rodents, and protect children and the child care center from contamination.
• Occasionally sanitize the kitchen sink, drain, disposal, and connecting pipe by pouring a solution of one teaspoon of chlorine bleach in one quart of water or a commercial cleaning solution down the drain.
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables with water, and soap and scrub brush when needed, to reduce or eliminate any pesticides or residues.
• Do not allow infants and toddlers in the food preparation area to protect them from kitchen hazards.^[66]

Thawing

To protect against foodborne illness, follow the following practices when thawing frozen foods

• Do not thaw meat, poultry, and fish products on the counter or sink because harmful bacteria can grow at room temperature.
• Thaw food in the refrigerator or microwave oven.
• Immediately cook food thawed in the microwave.
• Use defrosted food (cooked or frozen) within 1 to 2 days.^[67]

Cooking

Foods must be cooked at high enough temperatures and for long enough to kill any possible microorganisms they may be contaminated with. Here are some general guidelines

• Never serve raw or slightly cooked eggs. Cook eggs until the white is firm and the yolk begins to harden. Substitute pasteurized eggs for raw eggs if sampling homemade dough, cake batter, or eating other foods made with raw eggs such as ice cream, mayonnaise, and eggnog.
• Use a meat thermometer to determine the temperature in the thickest part of the meat.^[68] Cook all food to these minimum internal temperatures provided in Table 15.8 as measured with a food thermometer before removing food from the heat source. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook food to higher temperatures.^[69]

Food Service

To continue to protect against foodborne illness and prevent injury, food must be served following food safety guidelines, including:

• Keep hot foods hot (over 140° F) and cold food cold (under 40° F) until they are eaten or cooked.
• Carry perishable picnic food in a cooler with a cold pack or ice. Store the cooler in the shade and open it as little as possible.
• Do not leave cooked, perishable foods, including hot foods such as soups or sauces, out for more than two hours after cooking (one hour in temperatures over 90° F). The bacteria that cause foodborne illness grow rapidly at room temperature.
• Never offer foods that are round, hard, small, thick and sticky, smooth, or slippery to children under four years of age because they can cause choking. Hot dogs (sliced into rounds), whole grapes, hard candy, nuts, seeds, raw peas, dried fruit, pretzels, chips, peanuts, popcorn, marshmallows, spoonfuls of peanut butter, and chunks of meat, which are larger than can be swallowed whole are examples of foods that can cause choking.
• Cut food into small pieces for infants (¼ inch) and toddlers (½ inch).
• Do not use microwave ovens for warming infant bottles and infant food because the microwave can heat liquids or food unevenly and to scalding temperatures. The milk or formula in a microwaved bottle may reach a higher temperature than the outside of the bottle.^[71]

Handling Leftovers

All food that has been served to children must be discarded after the meal or snack. If a program chooses to save food that has not been served to children, follow these guidelines:

• Divide large amounts of leftovers (for example, large cuts of meat or poultry) into smaller portions and place them in shallow containers before refrigerating for faster cooling.
• Use refrigerated leftovers within three to four days or discard them.
• Bring sauces, soups, and gravy to a boil when reheating. Heat other leftovers to 165° F.^[72]

Pause to Reflect

What are some new things you learned about food safety? Do you have any questions about food safety that weren’t addressed in this section? If so, where could you find answers to them?

Summary

When staff in early care and education programs have an understanding of the CACFP meal patterns and health sources for all of the food groups, they have the foundation to plan menus that consider cost, variety, aesthetics, and balance. They can also support families in providing healthy food to their children. And with a solid grounding in food safety policies and practices they can buy, store, prepare, cook, and serve food to children safely.

References