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Crediting Foods in CACFP Child Care Programs

Vegetables

The crediting guidance and resources below include the changes to the CACFP meal patterns required by the USDA final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For more information, visit the "CACFP Meal Pattern Updates" section of the CSDE's Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) webpage.

The vegetables component includes fresh vegetables, frozen vegetables, canned vegetables, dried vegetables, and pasteurized 100 percent full-strength vegetable juice. Beans, peas, and lentils credit as either vegetables or MMA but one serving cannot credit as both components in the same meal.

The USDA’s CACFP best practices recommend serving whole fruits (fresh, frozen, canned, and dried) more often than juice; making at least one of the two required snack components a vegetable or fruit; and providing at least one serving per week of dark green vegetables, red and orange vegetables, beans, peas, and lentils, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables (refer to the CSDE's Vegetable Subgroups in the CACFP).  


Serving Size  |   Vegetables Substitutions at Lunch and Supper  |   Crediting Guidance
Beans, Peas, and Lentils  |   Canned Vegetables  |   Dried Vegetables
Smoothies  |   Soups  |   Vegetable Juices  |   Vegetable Subgroups


Serving Size

Vegetables are measured by volume (cups). All vegetables credit based on the volume served, except raw leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach. Raw leafy greens credit as half the volume served, e.g., 1 cup of leafy greens credits as ½ cup of the vegetables component. The minimum creditable amount is ⅛ cup.   

General Crediting Guidance

Beans, Peas, and Lentils

Beans, peas, and lentils credit as either MMA or vegetables but one serving cannot credit as both meal components in the same meal or snack. 

Canned Vegetables

The serving of canned vegetables must be drained. For example, ½ cup of canned peas cannot include the water in which it is packed, and ½ cup of baked beans cannot include the sauce in which it is packed.

Dried Vegetables

Dried vegetables (such as potato flakes and dried soup mix) credit based on their rehydrated volume and require a PFS. Dried vegetables used for seasonings do not credit.  

Smoothies

Pureed vegetables in smoothies credit as juice, based on the volume of pureed vegetables. For example, a smoothie that contains ½ cup of pureed carrots credits as ½ cup of vegetable juice.

Soups

Vegetable Juices

The CACFP meal patterns require a limit for juices. Pasteurized full-strength juice credits as either the vegetables component or fruits component at only one meal or snack per day. Menu items that count toward this limit include 100 percent vegetable juices, frozen juice pops made from 100 percent juice, and pureed vegetables in smoothies. The USDA recommends serving whole fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned, and dried) more often than juice. 

Vegetable Subgroups

The USDA’s CACFP best practices recommend at least one serving per week of the five vegetable subgroups recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans: dark green vegetables, red and orange vegetables, beans, peas, and lentils, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables.