Published on
Homemade crackers, organic veggies, raw food... CPE Les Frimousses du fort in Chambly has good reason to be proud of its kitchen team, which finds creative ways to provide children and staff with healthy meals made from local food.
Every day, chefs Carole Lavoie and Mélanie Perron serve meals adapted to the seasons to the 120 children who attend the daycare, as well as to their teachers. Always looking for new inspiration, Carole and Mélanie take a variety of cooking classes throughout the year. Right now, they are exploring raw food via Crudessence.
Sylvie Filteau, director of the daycare, says that the transition to local and sometimes even organic food has been gradual – and that it required a change in habits. "We realized that desserts were more fun for adults than for children. We decided to remove desserts from the menu, and make healthy snacks instead, like homemade granola and fruit compotes. It let us cut down on how much sugar the children were consuming, and we've since noticed that the children are calmer, better able to concentrate."
In so doing, the kitchen team managed to reduce costs by avoiding food waste. "We listen to the children's preferences. For example, we discovered that the children didn't like fruit in their yogurt. So we cut it out, and now there are never any leftovers!" When there are leftovers from other dishes, the team looks for ways to integrate them into recipes the following day.
On one recent visit to the daycare, a lucky representative from Equiterre was able to sample such homemade delicacies as:
- crackers
- relish
- granola
- hummus
- chocolate-date balls
A real treat!
The CPE, which buys about 75% of its local and organic products from different suppliers in the Montérégie region, is a participant in the Croqu'Plaisir program. Croqu'Plaisir encourages the creation of healthy food environments for preschoolers in daycare facilities in the Montérégie region. The project has two components:
- training on food attitudes and best practices
- personalized support to increase the proportion of fruits and vegetables coming from producers in the Montérégie region
