Teaching children food waste: Part 2
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EmailEarly childcare centers and other early care programs can use concrete steps to help reduce food waste and build healthy habits.
Food waste is an important topic. This includes at home and at schools; it also includes early childcare programs, especially those that prepare meals on site. Thankfully, there are lots of things childcares can do to improve how they manage food. We can learn concreate steps to reduce food waste and build healthy habits from USDA advice for schools, various studies, and international data. Here is a summary of practical tips and resources for early childcare programs to start reducing food waste.
1. Portions: Family style food service or offer-versus-serve models have multiple benefits. One key idea behind both models is to allow children choice. Children can decline certain foods, pick between healthy food options, and serve themselves. Staff guide children to take small portions each time but let children get more if they want. Recommended portion sizes can help early childcare programs calculate how much food to prepare based on the age of children.
2. Schedules: Schedule recess or active play time before mealtimes, and provide adequate time for eating to increase appetite. Children will eat more if they are hungry after active play. They will also be more likely to finish their food if they do not feel rushed.
3. Menu planning and food procurement: More efficient use and storage of food supplies will reduce food waste. To do that, early childcare programs should improve inventory practices, purchase food in smaller quantities to help avoid spoilage, and increase flexibility to use leftovers. In addition, good menu planning can help staff avoid preparing too much food at one time. It can also help give them time to plan new menu items that children might like, and purchase foods that are fresh and in season.
- Menu planning best practices that can help combat food waste.
- A roadmap for how to get food from a farm/garden to your early childcare table.
4. Leftover management: Handling leftover food properly can help reduce spoilage. Also, proper planning can mean using what you have efficiently and in a timely manner. Since space and menu planning are both issues here, this relates directly back to the point above. You can deliberately plan end-of-the-week meals or snacks around the use of leftovers. Of course, food safety is also a priority.
- Flexible menu planning ideas that allow for use of leftovers each week.
- Free food safety classes through MSU Extension.
- Food safety guidelines for handling specific food items and leftovers in general.
5. Family and child involvement: Openly sharing food management goals and strategies helps everyone be on the same page. It can work as education for families, too. Of course, understanding children’s preferences also goes a long way to knowing what to feed them. Keep communication open between staff and families by sending out food preference surveys. These can help excite children about upcoming food. Being able to see menus in advance may also help prepare some children mentally for new foods. This sort of involvement will play a big role in having both parents and their children on board.
6. Child education: Lessons about food waste are easy to include in what early childcare programs already do. For example, many programs do meal prep activities as a way to teach life skills. Just couple that with intentional lessons regarding food waste. These can help children try new foods and get used to imperfect fruits and vegetables. They can also make young children more aware of how everyday activities are linked to wider community practices. Other ideas are from the abundance of age-appropriate material available online for free.
- Free food waste activities that can be adapted for younger children.
- Books that can guide discussions about waste, hunger, and environmental stewardship in general.
7. Composting: This is another area where children can be taught valuable lessons. In the case of unavoidable or inedible food waste, help them compost. Childcare programs can include composting activities in lessons about gardening, taking care of the environment, and nutrition.
- Overview of different composting options.
- Free online Master Composter course.
