Daily Food Waste

[One&Only]

So here in my home daycare most of my children are here by 7:30-8:00am. I provide breakfast, lunch, as well as afternoon snack. I am finding that 2 of the 3 DCK’s I have waste most of the food that is served.
There is one boy who always eats his breakfast, but doesn’t really eat his lunch, & doesn’t eat his afternoon snack.
There is one girl who doesn’t really eat her breakfast, doesn’t eat her lunch, & doesn’t eat her afternoon snack.
There is another girl who NEVER eats her breakfast, eats all of her lunch, but never eats her afternoon snack.
I am finding that I am throwing out at least 60% of the food I am providing. I have a menu of food that’s served & I do try to keep things fresh & not serve the exact same things all the time. One thing I’ve noticed that is ALWAYS going to waste is fruits & vegetables. I used to serve some crackers occasionally as part of snack but I found that the kids never ate their fruits/veggies that was served with the crackers, so I stopped serving crackers with produce & only served a good portion of produce to encourage them to eat & they would sit there & stare at it before telling me they were done.
One of the reasons parents choose my daycare is because I provide food so I am wondering if making parents provide either snacks or meals would be a good idea & I don’t know how well that would work out (I don’t own a microwave, by choice). I’ve asked parents if they’ve fed breakfast before since most of it goes to waste & they all say they don’t at home because they know I give it here. My daily rate is also lower than most where I live & I do include food so if I chose to not provide food I don’t feel like lowering my rate would be better a good idea for myself since my rate is already lower than most.
Any help/advice would be appreciated!

*Edited to add: I do serve healthy meals & healthy snacks, & I do also have a scheduled time & routine for meals & snacks.

[Discoveries]

Have you tried eating family style meals and snacks to reduce waste, develop self-help skills, and allow them to make their own food choices. You still offer the same healthy options, but they decide how much or if to eat.

[MsBell]

I find the same, parents want healthy food, but kids dont really eat it. I serve less, if they arent eating it anyway they wont miss is if I only give them half, and just accept it. Do not lower your standards and start serving less nutritious food to cater to poor diet, and I personally dont like parents providing food, its never as healthy as I would serve, and it can cause issues between kids (Ive had one year old show up with poptarts and cookies for breakfast) cut down on what you searve and just accept that you will have waste

[Peacefulbird]

Hi.

Do you have or use a portion size guide? If you have children of different ages obviously the younger ones eat a lot less than the older ones.

I have no picky eaters. I serve and measure portions (same as some centres do) there is a minium and if they still hungry I just add a second serving.

Also you have to consider on how busy those little bodies are (we do a lot physical activities which increases their apetite by the time we return from our activities all of them are really hungry and eat anything that I put on the table. First serving at lunch tjme is usually raw salad portion sized for each child(chopped, diced, shredded, etc ) then a light soup and a main dish veggies protein and grain products and milk. All this is portion sized and I just add more if they ask for more.

If you have in your contract (like most of us) 2 snacks aND a lunch, then most likely parents won't like to continue paying the same rate without meals.

Try to work with portions and keep avoiding the starchy foods (breads, crackers etc) at least until they develop the taste for only healthy food (don't be surprised but to develop a taste for any food takes at least 30 to 40 taste tries and that also works for adults;0)

[jamieereynoldss]

It may be true to track what children eat, for example, breakfast, and then agree with the parents that your child never has breakfast, why should he give food and why should parents spend money? If this option is not very humanistic, then you can not use the food that they did not eat the next day?

And about fruits and vegetables - it’s bad that children choose crackers, this teaches them to choose crackers in the store too, not fruits.This habit is formed in childhood, it is true research data. You are well done that left only useful food. And try to talk to your parents to explain everything to them.

[Suzie_Homemaker]

I serve food too and it's one of the big things that bring people to me. There's lots of amazing child care provider's around me but few will supply the food.

I have very little food waste but that's taken tweaking over the years.

First tip - stop serving breakfast and instead serve just a morning snack. Call it breakfast still if you want (or if stopping it provides contractual issues) but reduce the size of it.

A child size serving is quite little. Despite having raised 4 children of my own, I was shocked by how small a recommended serving is.

Offer a small morning and after noon snack - half an apple, half a banana.
Offer a light lunch - lunch is not typically the main meal of the day in this country. It's something to "keep you going". Include child size portion of protien, one child size portion of veggies and one child sized portion of grain or starch. Serve with half cup of milk. That's it. If someone really is still hungry, I offer fruit. There are no baked goods here. No one gets fruit until they ate all their lunch - if they aren't hungry for their lunch then they aren't hungry for something sweeter either.

You can google child portion Canada food guide but just for example, it's a lot less than you might think.

https://images.app.goo.gl/QS46kmwhfnLQ5hBH7

I have 6 children. I plan my meals for 7 (in case one plate is dropped or someone is having a hungry day). Don't fall into the trap of thinking they leave daycare not hungry - they should be starting to get peckish - they are headed into their main meal of the day at home

[steveweber]

Hi. Kids always eat very bad. Try to make him a smoothie. All you need is good blender, for example like this - https://mykitchenadvisor.com/best-juicer-for-greens/