Amey Herald, M.S., R.D.Division of Nutrition and Health ServicesKentucky Department of Education

Child Care Annual TrainingFY 2010

How many servings will you get from a specific quantity of food?

How much food will you need to buy?

How much food will you need to prepare for production of the meal?

To verify quantities prepared on M & P as sufficientsufficient for the number of participants served.

Did you prepare enough so each participant received the required serving size?

CACFP Meal pattern chart- What serving size of this item are you planning to have available for the participants?

Look at the CACFP chart for EACH meal, every time, because serving sizes vary

Post the CACFP meal pattern chart in the kitchen and where meals are served.

You are the cook and food purchaser at a center. The center feeds 30 participants ( twelve 1-2 year olds and eighteen 3-5 year olds ) at mealtime.

Let’s calculate how much food to prepare!

Baby Carrots at snack

Bananas at breakfast

Fresh Oranges at snack (138 count)

Fresh Potatoes (for HM mashed potatoes) at lunch

Fresh strawberries at breakfast

Fresh lettuce heads for HM salad at lunch

Next, Look at the MENU for the items to prepare or purchase. Move to the FOOD BUYING GUIDE. Find the menu item under column 1.

Find the way the item was purchased under column 2.

Leap over to column 4. Is the serving size that you determined you need when doing Step 1 found in column 4?

If Yes, simply leap back to column 3 and this tells you the number of servings you will get from the pound/purchase unit.

Remember- when dealing with food always round the decimal down in column 3 to avoid coming up short! Extras are OK- you may need it!

Leap over to column 4. Is the serving size that you determined you need when doing Step 1 found in column 4?

If No, then you must times column 4 by 2 to meet your needs, or double it. Then you will divide column 3 by 2, or cut it in half, and this tells you the number of servings you will get from the pound/purchase unit.

Remember- when dealing with food always round the decimal down in column 3 to avoid coming up short! Extras are OK- you may need it!

For example, to find the pounds to prepare for the Baby Carrots: Take the number of servings you need (30) and divide by the number you have in column 3 which is 6 to find the number of pounds to prepare, which equals 5.

30 divided by 6 equals 5! Buy 5 pounds Baby Carrots!

Handy Little Equation:

Baby Carrots at snack

Bananas at breakfast

Fresh Oranges at snack (138 count)

Fresh Potatoes (for HM mashed potatoes) at lunch

Fresh strawberries at breakfast

Fresh lettuce heads for HM salad at lunch

Baby Carrots at snack

Bananas at breakfast

Fresh Oranges at snack (138 count)

Fresh Potatoes (for HM mashed potatoes) at lunch

Fresh strawberries at breakfast

Fresh lettuce heads for HM salad at lunch

Baby Carrots at snack - 5 pounds Bananas at breakfast - 15 pounds Fresh Oranges at snack - 10 pounds Fresh Potatoes at lunch - 3.75 pounds Fresh Strawberries at breakfast - 6 pounds Fresh lettuce heads at lunch - 1.03 pounds

Round up when making purchases-› 3.75 pounds, buy 4 pounds potatoes› 1.03 pounds, buy 2 pounds lettuce

CACFP Meal Pattern ChartMenu and Shopping listFood Buying Guide

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

GRANOLA BAR(Contains Raisins)

GRANOLA BAR(Contains Raisins)

Larger serving size requirements equals buying larger quantities than expected

Buying larger quantities equals more $$$

Wrong way to increase food costs- not as beneficial for participants

More fresh fruits/vegetables More whole grains Choose bread components with less

added sugar, salt and fat

More nutrient dense

Thank you for your participation