Making the Most of Child Nutrition Funding:
A Guide for After School Education and Safety Grantees

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Introduction
After School Funding
Summer Funding
Reimbursement Rates
Meeting the Match Requirements
Working with School Food Departments
Nutrition Standards
Nutrition Resources
Model Programs
 

 

 

FRAC Home >>   Afterschool Resource Center >>  California Guide

Getting the Food

ASES grantees that sponsor the Child and Adult Care Food Program for themselves must decide how to get their food and prepare it each day. A grantee may choose to prepare the food itself or choose to have the meals provided by a vendor. Either option is acceptable. The type of food provided (suppers or snacks), concerns about food quality, and the availability of an organization willing to provide the meals should guide this decision.

Food Preparation Requirements

  • Snacks are relatively easy to offer at the after school program and usually do not require much preparation or extensive kitchen facilities. Prepackaged snacks, such as graham crackers or bread sticks, and individual milk or juice containers, require little preparation time. It is very important, however, for after school programs to include fresh fruits and vegetables in their menus to improve the nutrition quality of snacks. Oranges, bananas, apples, pears, grapes, carrots, and other healthy snacks require little or no preparation time and are easy to serve.
  • Meals require greater work. An after school program choosing to prepare meals must have kitchen facilities that meet health and safety standards. If hot meals are being prepared, the after school program will need, at a minimum, a stove, a sink, and adequate refrigeration and storage. Providing cold meals will not require a stove, but it will require a clean and sanitary area where the meals can be prepared. If kitchen facilities are not available on site, programs usually contract with a vendor.

Availability of Vendors

Potential vendors include school food service departments, community kitchens, food banks, hospitals, other nonprofit organizations, and for-profit companies. The supply of vendors able to provide snacks or meals at an affordable price often depends on the size and resources of a community. In some rural communities, a vendor may not even be an option.

The size of the after school program and the type of meal service also determine whether or not vendors are interested in providing the food. A vendor is more likely to be interested in providing suppers to 100 children than in providing snacks to 20 children. ASES grantees only serving snacks often choose to prepare the food on site unless they are serving a large number of children, because the reimbursement rate for snacks may not be high enough to cover the cost of contracting with a local vendor.