Preschools that Serve Organic Foods
Archived Q&A and Reviews
2002
I realize that there are past recommendations but the recommendations are from '98 and '99, and the recommenders weren't sure whether the food was organic or not. I think I have seen recommendations for preschools that serve organic food in more recent newsletters but I didn't take note of them at the time because I thought that they would end up being appended to the old recommendations but that hasn't happened yet. So, I am hoping parents would be willing to readdress the question of whether there are preschools serving organic food and if so, which ones are they? Thanks so much, Nancy
At a recent tour of The New School preschool in Berkeley, at Bonita and Cedar, we were told that the school serves snacks (that parents take turns bringing) that are wholesome and, at least generally, organic. (Kids bring their own lunches; organic food encouraged and sugar not allowed.) robin
Feb 1999
I think that Kinderfarm (in Berkeley) serves organic food. I know that they do a lot of cooking of their own food, including baking bread. L.
I haven't seen too many preschools, but the one with the best food policy I've seen is New School , on Bonita (at Cedar, I think). It's been a couple of years since I read their brochure, but I think the snacks they provide are organic; they have a no-sugar policy, and they have their own garden. They also have a full kitchen and encourage the kids to help make things in it. We were very impressed with the school and its director. Unfortunately, they didn't have space for our son. Fran
I know that Duck's Soup (NOT Duck's nest, the other one) serves organic food. The food, and the way they encourage kids to handle it -- serving themselves, passing to others who need it, et cetera -- is one of the best things they do there. Duck's Soup is a mixed age daycare on College near Broadway. P
My son attends the Skytown Cooperative Preschool in Kensington. The children all bring their own lunch and snack on the preschool side (3-5yrs) and on the toddler side the school provides the snack and the children bring their own lunch. CD
Check out New School in the Walnut Square area; I know they don't serve sugar, and the food they do serve (snacks; you provide lunch) is entirely vegetarian, but I don't know if it is organic. -Sybil Sybil
May 1998
Our family daycare/preschool has gone totally organic. There's some sort of government subsidy to daycare places that helps defray the cost of food and our daycare providers are using that extra bit to buy organic. Basically they're taking that money out of their own pockets as our costs haven't increased. They also have a huge organic garden which the kids all help out in which provides some of their food. We couldn't be happier with this switch. I would bet a little organized encouragement on the part of parents (and maybe a little extra money) would ensure that all kids get organic snacks at school. Chris