Meals & Nutrition
Meals & Nutrition
The early years in a child’s life are instrumental in developing positive, long-term eating habits. Exposing young children to a healthy, diverse diet not only gives them the best start in life, it helps secure their future health, development and wellbeing as they grow up.
Footscray Early Learning Centre has Fresh, nutritious and creative meals delivered daily to our centre by Kids Gourmet Food (KGF).
About Kids Gourmet Food (KGF)
KGF cook and provide fresh, nutritious, homestyle meals for children in childcare every day. We’re qualified chefs and we’ve been refining and fine tuning our menus since 2002.
We use high-quality, fresh ingredients and a broad range of flavours and textures to create meals that meet – and often exceed – the latest nutritional guidelines for children in care.
Healthy catering for children
We work with nutritionists and dieticians and consult with national advisory groups to ensure the highest nutritional standards. In our six-week rotational menu, your children’s meals contain food from the five food groups recommended by the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
Our healthy and balanced meals include a variety of:
- Fresh vegetables and legumes
- Seasonal fruit
- Wholegrains and seeds
- Lean fresh meat and fish
- Dairy options
Our menus also offer a wide selection of fresh fruit and raw vegetables with morning and afternoon tea, as well as steamed, fresh vegetables at lunchtime.
Encouraging a love of food
When children are growing up, mealtimes are not solely about nutrition. They’re a time to explore a world of new flavours and textures and to enjoy a positive and sociable eating experience that will encourage them to make their own healthy choices when they’re older. We are truly passionate about passing on our own love of food by offering a diverse and creative menu that captures children’s interest. We also work with centre staff to promote an environment where mealtimes are one of the most important parts of the day.
Here are just a few of the reasons why Footscray Early Learning Centre has trusted KGF to cater for the children in our care:
- Save time planning and preparing a varied and balanced menu for the children in our care by receiving freshly cooked, homestyle meals to our service each morning.
- Enjoy the peace of mind that any children with food intolerances are being appropriately and safely catered for. KGF chefs are professionally trained to produce creative and delicious meals in separate preparation areas to suit children with allergies or cultural preferences
- No need to worry about the constantly changing children’s nutrition guidelines and kitchen regulations KGF are always on top of the latest advice about the most balanced diet for children, and our internationally recognised HACCP certified food production kitchen is equipped to cater for all your meal requirements
- Reduce the need for additional staff training and let our staff focus on what they love doing
Here’s how it works
- We place an order on our online system for the number of meals we are after based on the number of enrolments for the week – including any special requirements
- We may also choose to also order pantry items through website at the same time.
- Fruit comes fresh and bulk in a box and is cut up fresh for the children by our food safety supervisor on the morning.
- Professionally trained chefs use high-quality, seasonal ingredients to prepare varied and delicious meals to meet all your children’s requirements
- Fresh meals are snap chilled using superior blast chilling technology
- Then carefully packaged in convenient, single-use packaging
- The next morning, drivers deliver the meals in refrigerated vans to the centre. They also bring with them a full list of ingredients for each meal and a straightforward heating guide
- Centre staff simply heat and serve the meals
- The children enjoy delicious, wholesome food and a fun and sociable mealtime
Healthy and varied menus
The centre’s menu will rotate every six weeks.
This exposes children to the broadest range of flavours, textures and ingredients, while ensuring they are receiving the recommended nutritional intake every day.
KGF follow advice from the following best practice documents, and menus are designed to exceed the national dietary guidelines for children while in care.
- The Australian Dietary Guidelines
- The Infant Feeding Guidelines (PDF)
- Get Up And Grow, Healthy Eating And Physical Activity For Early Childhood
- They also reference the Healthy Eating Pyramid, provided by Nutrition Australia, which visually explains the food types and proportions that provide a balanced diet.
Freshness Guaranteed
Meals are supplemented by a large selection of fresh fruit and raw vegetable crudités to serve with morning and afternoon tea, as well as fresh, steamed vegetables for lunch.
All our meals are freshly prepared with high-quality, seasonal ingredients, then cooked and snap-chilled using superior blast chilling technology.
The next morning, drivers deliver meals in refrigerated vans to the centre along with a full list of ingredients for each meal.
Catering for all children’s requirements
As, like most childcare settings, our centre looks after children with food intolerances, allergies or cultural preferences, therefore we know that your top priority is to ensure your child can eat safely.
We place the utmost importance on accommodating any special requirements. We are acutely aware of the importance of providing a safe and enjoyable eating experience for all children, and the requirement to avoid cross contamination.
Our specialised team of trained chefs tailor-make meals for children with specific food requirements. For additional reassurance, KGF do not use nuts or eggs in their entire food preparation area. They also provide separate menus for children with vegetarian or other cultural preferences.
In all cases, they ensure as far as possible that no children have to compromise on a positive and sociable eating experience. Healthy and
Healthy and safe catering
KGF sticklers for maintaining and encouraging outstanding food hygiene practices. No compromises.
Government guidelines exist to protect consumers and ensure that food is safe to eat. Food practices and rigorous due diligence offer the highest possible level of food safety and quality assurance.
KGF complies with the FSANZ Australian Food Standards Code and our HACCP certified kitchen facilities regularly undergo rigorous health and hygiene inspections by state regulatory bodies. they are also guided by Australian Food Microbiology, who consult and advise on correct food handling techniques For the purpose of continuous improvement we highly encourage your participation in honest customer feedback. You may wish to send us an email to areamanager@broadmeadowselc.com.au or contact us on 91919580.
