Questions about RFRK and our food:

• What is the difference between RFRK and other caterers?

  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 say that the menu is all-natural. What does that mean?

  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.

• Is RFRK nut-free?

  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.

• Can RFRK accommodate children with allergies or food restrictions?

  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.

• How much of the menu is organic?

  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.

• How much of the menu is locally grown, raised, or produced?

  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.

• What does it mean to be a certified Local Food Plus Market Partner?

  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!

• I love that you serve homemade, healthy meals. But my kids are picky eaters. How can RFRK help?

  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.

• I have specific questions about menu items and ingredients. Where can I get more information?

  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.

Questions about our childcare catering program:

• How does the childcare catering program work?

  RFRK delivers all-natural, meals and snacks on a 20-day rotating menu to childcare centres with at least 35 children enrolled. Our delicious food will arrive hot and in time for lunch. All of our lunches and most of our snacks are cooked fresh from scratch in the Real Food Kitchen, in accordance with standards outlined by the Day Nurseries Act, as well as with Toronto Public Health and Toronto Children's Service requirements.

• What areas does RFRK serve?

  Our service area is always growing! Please contact us directly to find out if we can deliver to your neighborhood.

• Which child care centres in my area serve RFRK food?

  Please contact us directly, we'll be able to provide a list of the child care centres serving RFRK food closest to your home or work.

• Does RFRK meet standards set by the Day Nurseries Act, Public Health departments, and Children's Services departments?

  We go above and beyond the criteria set by government bodies and laws, which tend to focus on quantitative nutritional measures, avoiding the more difficult to enforce and maintain qualitative measures of excellent nutrition. At RFRK, it's not enough that we're meeting the agreed-upon recommended daily intakes of macronutrients like carbohydrates and protein. We scrutinize the sources of these foods to ensure they're not laden with chemicals, synthetic ingredients, fillers, added growth hormones, or other unnatural - and unwanted - trespassers of real food.

• We like to make our snacks on-site. Can we sign up for lunch-only catering?

  We prefer not to sign up centres for lunch-only catering for two reasons. First, our full lunch and snack menu is carefully planned to ensure that we're meeting the daily requirements set out by the Day Nurseries Act and other regulating criteria. If your centre were only receiving lunch, we could not guarantee that the children will be receiving adequate amounts of each food group throughout the course of the day. Secondly, we find that the most effective way to transforms children's eating habits is through consistency. Our snacks celebrate the same all-natural values as our lunches, and we've learned that it's important to back up our healthy, delicious, and inspired lunches with equally healthy, delicious, and inspired snacks. Leave the hard work to us, all you have to do is eat and enjoy (and maybe reach for seconds).

• Can I order meals for my staff?

  Absolutely! In fact, we strongly encourage centres to order a few extra portions so that their staff can model outstanding eating habits, as well as share in the real food experience along with the kids! We could make a cheesy joke about how there's a real kid in all of us grown-ups, but really, we know you'll just love the amazing cooked-fresh-from-scratch food!