“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 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.