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Happy National
Nutrition Month! This year, the Academy
of Nutrition and Dietetics wants us to Go
Further with Food! What does that mean? Simply put, make healthy food
choices for every occasion. Start your morning off with a wholesome breakfast and
make smart food choices throughout the day. Don’t forget about special events
like a night out with friends or a family celebration – plan to have healthy
options available for you to eat even during those times.
Going further with food could also include, going local!
Take the extra step to find the origin of your food and support the local
farmers in your community. Spring is near and farmers markets are ready to sell fresh, local foods. Gear up for the spring bounty and find a
farmers market near you!
March doesn’t fall short of celebrations!
Upcoming Webinars and Conferences
CACFP Halftime: Thirty on Thursday
Date: March 15, 2018 @ 2:00pm and 3:00pm for Spanish version
Presented as part of USDA Team Nutrition’s FREE monthly CACFP
Halftime: Thirty on Thursdays webinar series, this webinar will focus on
the option to serve meat and meat alternates in place of grains at breakfast in
the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Preschool meal patterns.
Attendees will have a chance to submit questions to the presenters and check
their knowledge through interactive polling questions.
Certificates of participation
will be provided for those who attend the entire webinar.
For more information,
including recordings of past webinars and dates and topics of future webinars,
visit the CACFP Halftime: Thirty on Thursdays webpage.
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 USDA Summer Meals Webinars
Summer meals are critical to the health and well-being of our
children. Register for the 2018
Summer Meals Webinars to learn more about this important program.
Click
on each link to register for the specific webinar that interests you.
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National CACFP Conference
Date: April 19 - 21, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas
The National CACFP Conference is a three-day professional education event offering over 130 hours of presentations featuring topics including nutrition, program operations, administration and financial management of CACFP and SFSP food programs, resources and technology, case studies, train the trainer sessions, and management solutions.
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9th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference
 Save the date for the 9th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference coming to Cincinnati, Ohio, April 25-27, 2018! Hosted by the National Farm to School Network, this biennial event will convene more than 1,000 diverse stakeholders working to source local food for institutional cafeterias and foster a culture of food and agricultural literacy across America.
The Early Bird registration is now open through March 9, 2018. Register today to receive the best rates!
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Georgia Organics takes Farm to ECE to the Next Level
On
February 3, 2018, the Georgia Farm to Early Care and Education Learning
Collaborative launched a multi-year
project to increase farm to early childcare and education (Farm to ECE) practices
in Georgia. Through a competitive application process, eighteen early child
education providers throughout the state were selected from over 80 applicants
to participate in the inaugural partnership. These centers will spend the
next year becoming leaders in the farm to ECE movement and kicked off this
effort with a full day of action planning sessions, farm to ECE demonstrations,
and networking.
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 The Georgia Farm to Early Care and Education Learning Collaborative was
created in 2017 with support from the W. K. Kellogg
Foundation. Georgia
Organics, Little
One's Learning Center, Quality
Care for Children, The
Common Market, and Voices
for Georgia’s Children formed the
multi-year initiative to create proof of concept farm to ECE models that feature hands-on education in
nutrition, cooking, gardening, and promotion of local foods at early care
centers. Over the next two years, the collaborative will strive to create
equitable and replicable farm to ECE strategies that improve the quality of
child care programs and increase access to nutritious local food.
Top photo:
Gina Cook of Quality Care for
Children hid a vegetable in a mystery box to demonstrate hands-on exploration. Cook explained
how to encourage children to explore and identify the appearance, smell,
and taste of leafy greens using curriculum from USDA’s
Grow It, Like It, Try It Nutrition Education Kit.
Bottom photo: Chef Asata Reid demonstrated
a simple kale pesto recipe
while providing tips and tricks for leading taste tests and cooking with early learners. Providers tested
simple cooking tools to engage kids in cooking, such as an inexpensive, hand-powered food processor and kid-friendly wavy vegetable chopper.
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