“To eat is to live.” Michelle, Wild Lilac’s Chef
Food Program
Wild Lilac’s vegetarian-based food and garden program nourishes our bodies while connecting our hearts, hands and minds to the earth and food we eat.
Wild Lilac is proud to serve children organic, wholesome and nutritious lunch and snacks each day, adhering to the standards of the USDA Food Program. Our amazing cook, Michelle prepares whole organic and vegetarian food, providing Wild Lilac children with fuel for playing and learning! The children are invited to participate in meal preparation which piques their interest in healthful foods and supports them in developing meaningful connections with the food they eat.
Wild Lilac is a nut-free school as a precaution for severe allergies; we ask that no nuts enter the school.
Food allergies and family food preference accommodations are available, please discuss this with the Enrollment Coordinator at the time of enrollment. Subsequent forms will be issued to formally collect your specific needs.
Food Education
In our kitchen studio, the children help make bread, applesauce, hummus, mashed potatoes, tortillas, and more. Being involved in meal preparation encourages the children to expand their palates! And planting, caring for, and harvesting food from the garden builds a foundational connection to food that will last a lifetime.
During meals and snacks, teachers sit and eat with the children, engaging them in conversation for relaxed and pleasant mealtimes. Group meals are not just times for children to eat, but also important social events. Young children are in the process of developing lifelong attitudes toward food and the experience of eating. Children feel competent when they are allowed to decide what, when, and how much to eat. In a relaxed setting, they form positive attitudes and learn vital skills. By eating together family style, they are able to see friends tasting and enjoying a variety of foods, and the experience is fun and social. Mealtimes with children are not a time to worry about making a mess. Particularly for our infants and toddlers, the tactile, sensory exploration of food is often as important as eating itself!
On-Site & Local Food Sourcing
At Wild Lilac, we grow seasonal produce in our on-site garden, and we buy what we cannot grow ourselves from local farms in order to support our Northwest neighbors and to practice environmental sustainability.
USDA Compliance
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English at no cost to families, contact admin@wildlilac.org for more details. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
- mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or - fax:
(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or - email:
Program.Intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
