--- title: "Meals, menus, and CACFP" description: "Plan menus, log what children eat, keep a food library, and export CACFP claims." type: guide updated: 2026-09-08 canonical_url: https://help.nestlicare.com/owners/education/meal-menus-and-logging roles: ["super_admin", "center_admin", "teacher"] platforms: [web] --- Everything about food lives under **Organization → Meals**. The page has five tabs: **Today, Plans, Records, Library, and CACFP**. ## Log today's meals On the **Today** tab, pick a room to see its children and start logging. Meal logging is per room, so choose the room first, then record what was served. Teachers usually do this from the mobile app during the day; the Today tab is the web view. When the day's menu is published, the meal type gets a small dot and the foods pre-fill from the plan, so logging is mostly confirming. In the mobile apps and in Room Mode, a **Use today's menu** button fills the foods in one tap and selects the children who are checked in — adjust any exceptions (deselect a child, change a portion per child) and save. ## Plan menus The **Plans** tab is for menu planning. Choose a center, then build the week. You can work from **Rotating Cycles**, **Import Week** from a previous week, or **Save as Template** to reuse a menu later. ## Export or email the menu Licensing often wants the current menu posted on-site, and food-program sponsors ask for menus to review. On the **Plans** tab, click **Export** to turn the week you're viewing into a document: - **PDF** — a one-page weekly grid (days across, meals down) with your organization and center name in the header. Print it for the wall or hand it to a licensor. - **CSV** — flat rows (date, meal type, room, item, dietary tags, notes) for spreadsheets. For CSV you can switch the range from the week to the whole month, which is what most sponsors ask for. Download the file, or choose **Email it instead** to send it as an attachment — tick any of your admins and type in outside addresses (a sponsor, a licensor), up to 10 recipients per send. The email goes out under your organization's name, and replies come back to you. Only **published** meals are exported. Drafts never appear in the document, so what you hand out always matches what parents see. ## Records The **Records** tab is your meal history: what was served and when, for your own records and for reporting. ### Export your meal records Set the date range at the top of the tab, narrow it by meal type or to meals with no food items logged if you want, then click **Export CSV**. You get one row per child per meal, with the date, child, room, meal type, foods served, portion eaten, whether the meal counts toward a CACFP claim, and who logged it. Everything in the range downloads, not just the page on screen. It is the same file the scheduled meal report sends by email, so you can pull it yourself whenever a sponsor or a licensor asks. To have it arrive on a schedule as well, see [Email reports and backups](/owners/settings/email-reports-and-backups). ## Food library The **Library** tab is your **Food Item Library**, the list of foods you log against. Click **Seed Defaults** to start from a standard set, or **Add Item** to add your own. A consistent library keeps your records and allergy flags clean. ## CACFP claims If you take part in the US Child and Adult Care Food Program, the **CACFP** tab has your **CACFP Reports**. Use the month navigation to pick a claim period and **Export Claim CSV** to download the numbers for your claim. The CACFP tab is for the United States food program. If you're outside the US, you can ignore it and still use menus, logging, and records. ## Troubleshooting **The Today tab won't let me log anything.** Pick a room first. Logging is gated by the room picker. **The Plans tab is empty.** Select a center at the top; menu planning is per center.