As grocery prices continue to climb — and even outpace food program reimbursements — some Massachusetts child care providers are leaning on homegrown produce, coupons, and stocked freezers to keep serving healthy meals.
Here's what to know
Chelsy Mazza of Little Tykes Daycare in Adams, Massachusetts, recently told the Berkshire Eagle that she harvests her own zucchini to prepare snacks for the kids she cares for. She also freezes and preserves garden produce for use later in the year — another way of coping with the rising cost of food.
"I do my best to provide all nutritious homemade meals and snacks for the children, but the increasing cost definitely can make that challenging when the majority of the expense comes directly out of my own pocket," Mazza told the local news outlet.
As grocery bills escalate across the country, it appears the issue extends beyond a single daycare.
UCLA's Early Care and Education centers, for example, increased tuition and stopped providing food for children in April in response to cuts linked to university deficits. A parent whose child attended one of the centers told the Daily Bruin that the cuts would mean families would have to absorb higher food costs at home in preparing meals to send to school.
Back in Massachusetts, Amy Hall, president and CEO of Child Care of the Berkshires, told the Eagle that the group's food costs rose nearly 43% over the past two years, while federal Child and Adult Care Food Program funding increased only 12%.
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More background
Grocery inflation that outstrips reimbursements can tighten child care budgets and, in turn, affect both what parents pay and what children are served.
Even though the Child and Adult Care Food Program exists to help with food costs, not every provider can easily use it.
According to the Eagle, eligibility extends to public and nonprofit child care centers, while for-profit facilities qualify only when at least 25% of enrolled children or licensed capacity receive Title XX social services subsidies or meet federal low-income guidelines. Licensed family child care homes, meanwhile, have to participate through a sponsoring organization. The rules can make the program more difficult for some providers to access.
What's being done?
Researchers have called for raising reimbursement rates so they better reflect food prices and making current programs easier for providers to access.
"Food cost increases are impacting other budget decisions," Hall told the Eagle. "The reimbursement for food needs to go up with the true cost of food."
Meanwhile, providers like Mazza are often covering the difference with extra work and improvisation, including gardening, preserving produce, planning meals, and using coupons.
"Whoever has the best deal, I try them," Mazza told the Eagle about using coupons and finding deals to cut food costs.
Where can I learn more?
What Berkshire County providers are dealing with is part of a much wider conversation about food costs, child nutrition, and safe packaging:
• In Enugu, corn prices soar for families, prompting calls for stronger government support.
• In California, lawmakers move to ban processed foods in schools despite fierce pushback over cafeteria staples.
• In Illinois, officials consider a major grocery bag shift that could reshape family shopping.
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