Child and Adult Care Food Program Aligning Dietary Guidance for All (2011) / Chapter Skim
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8 Meal Cost Implications
8 Meal Cost Implications
Pages 137-152
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From page 137... ...
PROJECTED CHANGES IN FOOD COSTS Ideally, the changes in food cost would be estimated by comparing the cost of all food provided through the program before and after the implementation of the recommended Meal Requirements. One approach to obtaining such information is to compare the cost of foods in representative menus planned using the current Meal Requirements with the cost of foods from menus planned using the recommended Meal Requirements; and weighting would be done to reflect the proportions of meals served (by type of meal)
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From page 138... ...
Price data were applied to the food items within each cluster to obtain the cost of the food clusters. Foods Representing the Recommended Meal Requirements Estimates of costs representing the recommended Meal Requirements need to reflect the revised meal patterns and food specifications presented in Chapter 7.
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From page 139... ...
Changes in Amounts of Foods by Meal and Age Group To estimate changes in food costs, it was necessary to determine the changes in the required amounts of the meal components. This involved a somewhat complex process because of recommended changes in the age groups, the separation of the current fruit/vegetable meal component into fruits and vegetables as two separate meal components, some lack of specificity in the current amounts of food to be served to children older than 12 years, and provider choice of which two meal components to serve in the snack under the current regulations.
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From page 140... ...
. Results Estimated Food Costs of Meals and Snacks The food costs of meals and snacks under the current and recommended Meal Requirements, as estimated from the current and revised meal component composites, are shown in Table 8-2 by eating occasion and age group.
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From page 141... ...
bThe cost of the baseline standard snack considered the distribution of meal components shown in Table I-2 in Appendix I cThese costs are the average of the costs for the meal component composites for children ages 5–10 and 11–13 years.
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From page 142... ...
Amounts of Food as Related to Changes in Food Costs The changes in the amounts of food required account for a majority of the changes in food costs, as summarized below: • The lower or near-constant cost for the feedings of infants is the net effect of changes in the amount of iron-fortified infant formula and solid foods for the younger infants. • The lower cost for the snacks of infants ages 6–11 months results primarily from the reduction in the amount of infant formula.4 • The higher cost of meals for children ages 1 year or older and for adults results from changes in the amounts and types of foods to be offered.
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From page 143... ...
The estimated cost of the enhanced snack is twice that of the regular snack, namely $0.66 for 5–13-year-olds, $1.02 for 14–18-yearolds, and $0.80 for adults. This means, for example, there would be an TABLE 8-3 Estimated Cost Changes for CACFP Meals and Snacks Served to Children Ages 1–4 Years and to Youth Ages 5–18 Years Given Specified Meal Combinations Percentage Change in Change in Age Group Meal Combinations Cost ($)
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From page 144... ...
of Baseline Meal Component Composites and Composites Revised to Align with Recommended Meal Requirementsa for Children Ages 2–4 Years, Based on 2003–2004 Prices Breakfast Lunch/Supper Snack Composites Composites Composites Meal Component Unit Baseline Revised Baseline Revised Baseline Revised cb Fruits and vegetables 1 0.44 00.47 0.55 0.77 0.23 0.39 Grain 1 oz eq 0.12 0.17 0.08 0.09 0.14 0.14 NAc Meat/meat alternate 1 oz eq 0.22 0.17 0.18 0.20 0.19 Milk 8 fl oz 0.23 0.24 0.22 0.19 0.22 0.23 NOTE: c 5 cup; fl oz 5 fluid ounce; oz eq 5 ounce equivalent. aFor the method of estimating the cost of the menu component composites, see Appendix I
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From page 145... ...
Vegetables Dark green vegetables 1 c 0.78 Starchy vegetables 1c 0.72 Orange vegetables 1 c 0.33 Other vegetables 1c 0.40 Legumes 1 c 0.25 Grains Whole grain bread 1 oz 0.10 Refined bread and 1 oz 0.09 eq crackers eq Whole grain cereal 1 oz 0.16 Refined grain cereal 1 oz 0.09 eq eq Meat/meat Chicken cluster with 1 oz 0.18 Chicken cluster 1 oz 0.16 baked chickenb alternate eq with frozen eq chicken nuggetsb NOTE: c 5 cup; oz eq 5 ounce equivalent. aUnit costs for food subgroup composites, except fruit juices, whole grain cereal and refined grain cereal, are based on the revised composites for the lunch/supper meal and 2003–2004 prices.
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From page 146... ...
As shown in Table 8-4, when the costs of the revised composites were compared with those of the representative baseline composites, either no changes or relatively small changes were found. The biggest increases in unit costs of the revised meal components occurred as a result of recommended changes in the foods included in the fruit/vegetables (at breakfast, lunch/supper, and snack)
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From page 147... ...
Summary of Effects of Recommended Meal Requirements on Food Cost Overall, the major changes that lead to the substantial increase in food cost are
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From page 148... ...
foods. • The food composite database for food costs covers only foods served by family day care homes, which provide care for children.
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From page 149... ...
The lack of data on the distribution of types of meals limited the ability of the committee to estimate the aggregate food costs associated with offering meals. NON-FOOD MEAL COSTS The following discussion of non-food meal costs that are covered by the federal meal reimbursements does not include administrative costs, which averaged about 6 percent of total program cost from fiscal year (FY)
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From page 150... ...
Although there is no clear basis on which to produce an estimate of the impact of the recommended Meal Requirements on non-food meal costs, the non-food costs are expected to increase at least initially because change will be required. The magnitude and persistence of the increase will vary widely -- across the United States, within states, by provider type, and by the quality and amount of technical assistance provided (see Chapter 9)
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From page 151... ...
SUMMARY The recommended Meal Requirements increase overall food costs in CACFP mainly because of increased amounts and variety of fruits and vegetables for many age groups at lunch/supper and snacks, the addition of meat/meat alternates at breakfast (balanced only in part by reductions of meat/meat alternates at lunch for the younger children) , and increases in the amount of whole grain-rich foods for some age groups.
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From page 152... ...
2010. Child & Adult Care Food Program Meal Patterns.
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