Other caterers are known to simply reheat ready-made, processed foods; whereas RFRK makes food fresh from scratch - every day - to develop children's palates for the inherent deliciousness and nutritional value of real, all-natural food. By making the food ourselves, we retain full control of the ingredients and cooking methods - and therefore the nutritional value - passed on to hungry little bellies. It all comes down to our founding philosophy that children deserve and require REAL food: food that has been prepared using only natural & organic ingredients. Not food pulled from store shelves or industrial manufacturers. Put simply, that means cooking from scratch using techniques and ingredients that our grandmothers would recognize (and with variety they would envy!).
You're more than right to ask this, because the term "all-natural" is not regulated the way the word "organic" is.
To us "all-natural" means "as found in nature". Powdered beet is a natural food colorant; FD&C Red No. 40 is not. Butter is real, transfat is fake. But it goes way beyond that. North American food culture has deteriorated to the point where chemicals and other synthetic, unnatural items are listed as "ingredients" in our food supply. This status quo is unacceptable to RFRK. In the Real Food Kitchen, you'll never find the following: artificial or chemical preservatives, artificial food colours and flavours, factory farmed meats raised with routine antibiotics or added growth-hormones, artificial trans-fats, nor artificial thickeners or fillers of any kind. What do we use in the Real Food Kitchen? Plants, ethically-raised meats, and spices. And, of course, inspiration. Lots of it.
RFRK strictly maintains both a peanut and tree-nut free environment. We also require all of our suppliers to ensure that the ingredients or products they provide us are peanut and tree-nut free.
Are you kidding? Even our own team is made up of vegetarians, vegans, and people with various dietary special needs. We take allergies and food restrictions very seriously, and have designed software that allows us to track every single ingredient in every item on our menu and cross-reference it with every child with an allergy or food restriction. The end result? Our kitchen prepares special meal replacements fresh from scratch every day for all children with allergies and food restrictions; from the most common (vegetarian, lactose intolerance, and gluten intolerance, just to name a few) to the most obscure (ever heard of sea buckthorn? It's a type of berry). We also provide tools to help caregivers and parents track the special dietary needs of their children. Please contact us if you have specific concerns about a child's allergies or food restrictions.
There is no fixed answer to this question, since the amount of organic food fluctuates depending on what is available in the market. We can safely say that some menu items and ingredients will always be organic. Using only organic soy and soy products, for example, However, since obtaining organic certification is often prohibitively expensive for small local farmers, it's more important to us that we know and can trust the farmers and people who produce our food rather than whether or not the food is certified organic. Feel free to contact us directly for more specific details about the organic content in our current menu.
Much like the organic content of our menu, the amount of locally grown, raised, and produced food fluctuates every day. As you can imagine, we're able to use much more locally-grown ingredients and items in July than in January. What we can say with confidence, is that our priority is to support Ontario farmers, and that we've been recognized as a leader on this front. We are a certified Market Partner of the organization Local Food Plus (link: www.localfoodplus.ca), and we've been invited by the Ontario Ministry of Education to pilot bringing more local food into Ontario high lunchclubs. All of our dairy products, beef, poultry, and most of our produce come from local Ontario farmers.
Local Food Plus (LFP) (link to website: www.localfoodplus.ca) is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to fostering sustainable local food systems. LFP certifies local farmers and producers (like ours)[link to "Meet" section] and links them with local consumers (that's you). As a Market Partner, we've been recognized for prioritizing LFP-certified foods (that means foods that are locally grown in environmentally and socially responsible ways) on our menu. And why wouldn't we promote Ontario foods? Locally grown foods taste better, are generally more nutritious, and give the environment a break to boot!
Start with browsing through the Community section of our website to learn what the experts are saying about fussy eaters. The bottom line is that kids are learning every single day, and as parents, it's our joy to introduce kids to new ideas and reinforce healthy values. Remember the first time you tried to teach your child about sharing? Probably wasn't too well received; but you stuck with it because you knew the value of sharing. We believe the same thinking applies to helping our kids develop healthy eating habits. Because we realize changing kids perception and relationship to food requires more than just serving up hot, healthy, and delicious lunches and snacks, we've established the Real Food Education Program to help teach kids about food and nutrition in fun, simple, and creative ways! If you've identified your child as a fussy eater, now is the time to take action! There will always be a learning curve, but with calm persistence (and a smile!), we have the resources to do what's best for our kids.
That's simple, just give us a call. There's a world of nutritional information out there, and it's not always easy to navigate. So we're here to help staff and parents understand the thoughtfulness behind every menu item we serve.
Camp Directors love the flexibility of being able to choose between hot lunches served family style "at the table" and packed lunches for "on the go" day trips. Our all-natural menu introduces kids to healthy choices that leave them feeling great, and allow them to make the most of their days in camp. And eating nutritious, locally-sourced, all-natural and organic lunches is a source of pride for both campers and parents alike!
It couldn't be easier. Camps select whether they want lunches served hot for meals eaten on camp grounds, packed to go for daytrips, or a combination of the two throughout their busy, fun-filled weeks. All lunches include a full serving of protein, whole grains, fruit, vegetable or snack, and a drink. Zero artificial preservatives and additives means maximum nutritional value to keep active kids going all day!
Our service area is always growing! Please contact us directly to find out if we can deliver to a camp in your neighborhood.
We love the sun! But we don't love what it can do to bag lunches packed from home. That's why we send our food in fully insulated coolers with ice packs to keep our "on the go" lunches fresh and safe.