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CHILD CARE CENTERS MENU SUBSTITUTIONS
August 20th, 2024by Molly Turnquist Butala, MPH, RDN, LD
What Was Actually Served?
Does your child care center ever serve something other than the foods on your pre-approved menu? That’s ok, and it’s expected! We call these "menu substitutions", and we just need to know about them.
How?
There are two ways to document that you served something different from the planned menu, which should be done by the end of each day and uploaded to ShareFile by the 5th of the following month:
Complete a Food Substitution Log with the date, meal type, planned menu item, and actual food item served instead. Example:
On a printed and dated copy of your planned menu, cross out the planned food item and write in the actual food item that was served. Example:
What else?
Train your staff
Each center staff member needs to know where the planned menus are posted and understand the requirement to document any changes made when serving meals and snacks.
Assign several staff members to make sure the menu changes are written down for every meal and snack your center serves.
Pay attention to what foods you are substituting
If you are replacing your whole grain-rich item, the food item you serve instead needs to be whole grain-rich OR you need to serve a whole grain-rich item a different meal or snack that day.
Be sure to replace the planned food item with a similar item at breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals. Specific meal components are required at these meals (i.e. milk, grain, vegetable, fruit, vegetable).
Submit all receipts and invoices for center food and food service supplies
As soon as a purchase is made for center food or food service supplies, submit it to Providers Choice via ShareFile.
When shopping, reference your planned menus and separate items that are not for the food program into a separate transaction. Receipts submitted to Providers Choice should only have food program expenses on them.
Your Claim Specialist at Providers Choice will review your food program receipts to make sure the items on your planned menu or substitution log were purchased. They will reach out to you with any questions.
Why?
As your food program sponsor, Providers Choice is responsible for ensuring each meal and snack we submit to the state on your behalf meets food program requirements. In order to do that, we need to know what food items are actually served at every meal and snack that you mark into KidKare. This includes catered meals.
Questions? Reach out! We love working with centers and are dedicated to supporting you.