OUR DAYCARE FOOD WISH

We would like our children to be fed:

1. meat/dairy products from animals that were raised naturally, ethically and locally, without the use of hormones, antibiotics, or insane unhealthy diets
2. more local produce or as local as possible (no imported fruit during harvest time in Ontario and no imported lemon juice from Greece but fresh lemons from the US instead).
3. only fresh fruit should be served, not canned.
4. only whole grains and no bleached “enriched” white flour
5. further decrease of processed foods
6. no artificial fats such as hydrogenated oils, modified oils or margarine
7. no foods with artificial flavouring, refined sugar, nutritionally empty fillers, nitrates, BHT and other artificial additives

WHY ACT NOW?

The City of Toronto’s current food contract supplying Municipal Daycares will expire in the Spring of 2008. The City is currently preparing conditions for the new contract tender—a process that will be completed by December 2007. By applying pressure to the City now, we can influence the conditions that go into the contract tender and get our kids the kind of food they need, deserve and that we pay for.

MONEY IS OFTEN THE ANSWER

We would like to see a higher proportion of the daycare fee spent on healthy food. For example, the city’s daily food allocation per toddler is $2.54 (number given by Children’s services) out of the current $65 toddler fee. We would like to see a higher proportion of the daycare fee and a higher proportion of future fee increases allocated to the children’s food budget.

So we are asking the city to divert some of that $ 62.46 that goes somewhere else (out of $65 toddler fee), back into quality food for children. Note: as of January, the toddler daycare fee is projected to increase to $67.

We do not want a bidding process that will squeeze out the supplier and in turn lead to sacrificing the quality of food fed to children.

Children’s food is not the place where costs should be cut to the lowest possible level.

We are asking the Budget Committee of the City of Toronto to bridge the difference in cost between the current quality food fed to kids in city daycares and what the YMCA (as well as Hydrokids, ActiveKids, etc) has started to feed kids.

So for, City of Toronto Budget Councillor, Shelley Caroll or Mayor David Miller has not responded to us on this matter.

Below is a list of those at the City who make decisions regarding Municipal Daycares. Please contact as many of them as possible and make it clear to them that we want the best quality food for our children.

If your child is not in a municipal daycare, but you are also frustrated by the low quality food standard in your daycare, you can still send the following people an email asking them that the minimum food standard be raised when it comes to daycare licensing.

 Please post a blog entry on our website about your food concerns.