Rainbow In My Tummy® (RIMT) is a comprehensive nutrition program created in 2008 by Verner, formerly known as Mountain Area Child and Family Center, a nonprofit early care and education center located in Asheville, NC. The program was created by early care and education professionals for early care and education professionals and provides the vision, training, tools, coaching, and resources needed to change the food culture surrounding young children. The program is a proven model of success; it is currently implemented in 15 centers in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee, and our program materials are in over 25 states.
Rainbow In My Tummy® focuses on four key areas that provide the comprehensive knowledge and tools to change the food culture in early care and education centers.
Those areas include:
– USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2010)
– USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
– Head Start and Early Head Start
– Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations for Early Child Care (2011)
– IOM recommended revisions for CACFP (2011)
– Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Benchmarks for Nutrition in Child Care (2011)
– American Academy of Pediatrics Recommendations for Prevention of Childhood Obesity (2007)
– Harvard School of Public Health
Rainbow In My Tummy® focuses on four key areas that provide the comprehensive knowledge and tools to change the food culture in early care and education centers.
Those areas include:
- THE KITCHEN
- THE CENTER
- THE CLASSROOM
- THE COMMUNITY
– USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2010)
– USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
– Head Start and Early Head Start
– Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations for Early Child Care (2011)
– IOM recommended revisions for CACFP (2011)
– Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Benchmarks for Nutrition in Child Care (2011)
– American Academy of Pediatrics Recommendations for Prevention of Childhood Obesity (2007)
– Harvard School of Public Health
History
Rainbow In My Tummy® was created by staff at Verner, an early care and education center in Asheville, NC that wanted to improve the quality of food being served to young children. Children served in early care and education centers receive, on average, two thirds of their daily nutritional intake while in a childcare center. However, most early care and education centers are serving nutritionally inadequate foods to children. Studies show that many of a child’s eating habits and interests are formed before they reach kindergarten and poor food choices now lay the foundation for future health concerns and put them at greater risk for childhood obesity.
Staff recognized this growing trend and saw a need to improve their food service program. Due to the high number of low-income children they were serving, staff saw a critical need for children to have access to nutrient-rich foods while in their care.
Since 2008, staff have developed, tested and refined a comprehensive nutrition-enrichment program to change the food culture in early care and education centers. Staff tested recipes and menus and created a production guide that reflected balanced, seasonal and portion-appropriate meals for young children. Over the years, the model has been continuously tested and refined to ensure that the children enjoy it, while meeting CACFP recommendations.
History:
2008: Rainbow In My Tummy® was developed by employees. Recipes were tested and menus and production sheets were created for the Fall-Winter cycle. The program was implemented in both Verner locations. Staff developed and tested the Spring-Summer recipe cycle.
2009: Rainbow In My Tummy® received seed funding from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina to transform the current kitchen to better serve healthier foods to young children.
2010: Staff began consulting with other centers in Buncombe County to improve the quality of food served to young children and implemented the program in two additional centers in Buncombe County.
2011: Continued program refinement and expanded Rainbow In My Tummy® to seven additional centers in Buncombe County.
2012: Focused specifically on the formulation of our services to centers, including technical assistance and support materials for currently implemented centers.
2013: Implemented Rainbow In My Tummy® in three additional centers in Buncombe County. Developed a workshop series to lay the foundation for a healthy food culture for interested early care and education centers in Western North Carolina.
2014: Developing a classroom curriculum component to provide teachers and staff with tools and activities to increase nutritional literacy in the classroom. Fourteen centers have implemented the program improving the quality of food served to over 1,000 children in Buncombe County.
Staff recognized this growing trend and saw a need to improve their food service program. Due to the high number of low-income children they were serving, staff saw a critical need for children to have access to nutrient-rich foods while in their care.
Since 2008, staff have developed, tested and refined a comprehensive nutrition-enrichment program to change the food culture in early care and education centers. Staff tested recipes and menus and created a production guide that reflected balanced, seasonal and portion-appropriate meals for young children. Over the years, the model has been continuously tested and refined to ensure that the children enjoy it, while meeting CACFP recommendations.
History:
2008: Rainbow In My Tummy® was developed by employees. Recipes were tested and menus and production sheets were created for the Fall-Winter cycle. The program was implemented in both Verner locations. Staff developed and tested the Spring-Summer recipe cycle.
2009: Rainbow In My Tummy® received seed funding from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina to transform the current kitchen to better serve healthier foods to young children.
2010: Staff began consulting with other centers in Buncombe County to improve the quality of food served to young children and implemented the program in two additional centers in Buncombe County.
2011: Continued program refinement and expanded Rainbow In My Tummy® to seven additional centers in Buncombe County.
2012: Focused specifically on the formulation of our services to centers, including technical assistance and support materials for currently implemented centers.
2013: Implemented Rainbow In My Tummy® in three additional centers in Buncombe County. Developed a workshop series to lay the foundation for a healthy food culture for interested early care and education centers in Western North Carolina.
2014: Developing a classroom curriculum component to provide teachers and staff with tools and activities to increase nutritional literacy in the classroom. Fourteen centers have implemented the program improving the quality of food served to over 1,000 children in Buncombe County.
Verner is an equal opportunity provider.