A Partnership for Best Nutrition Practices

Healthy foods and snacks play a large role in child development, which is why Lehigh Valley Children's Centers (LVCC) partnered with Penn State Cooperative Extension's Better Kid Care Program and Novick Brothers Corp. to create a sequence of nutrition videos to be used in the training of child care professionals. LVCC invited the Better Kid Care film crew into our Central Food Service Department for a cooking demonstration, and then into our Pre-K Counts classroom on Union Boulevard in Allentown for a lesson in healthy snacking.

Penn State's Better Kid Care crew filming a Pre-K Counts classroom.

The Better Kid Care Program provides educational materials and programs for child care providers. Among these materials, the videos were first presented by Jill Cox, Better Kid Care Program development specialist, at the April 2015 National Child and Adult Care Food Program Conference in Las Vegas. The videos will then be modified to become a part of an online training module, Healthy and Hunger Free Children: Resources for Families, available this summer.

Cynthia Snyder, childcare specialist
for Novick Brothers Corp.

Novick Brothers Corp., an independent food distributor and food service solutions provider, has been supportive of LVCC's innovative nutrition practices for many years. Cynthia Snyder, childcare specialist for Novick Brothers Corp., was instrumental in coordinating the partnership for the training videos. 

LVCC's CFS Manager Randy Levan

Child Food Service Manager Randy Levan understands the importance of a healthy community and makes nutritious foods his number one priority when planning daily menus for LVCC. This equates to over 16,000 meals and 13,800 snacks served a month for nearly 1,000 children.

Watch both videos below.