Quality Rating 5: Nutritious Meals & Snacks
Next Steps
Check your documents one more time as you prepare to upload them to the Maryland EXCELS System.
Step 1: Check your document
Your documents should include:
- A nutrition policy that clearly explains that:
- meals/snacks provided by families are monitored
- meals/snacks provided by families are supplemented, as necessary
- fatty, sugary, and salty foods are limited
- A weekly menu plan from within the past month, showing that you provide healthy, balanced food choices to children, including:
- whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables served at least four times a week.
- limited servings of fatty, sugary, and salty foods
Step 2: Save your document
Use a file name you can find easily when you upload it to the system (example: nutrition-policy.docx; weekly-menu-plan.docx).
Use any one of these formats:
- Typed electronic documents (examples: Microsoft Word, PDF)
- Scanned documents (examples: PDF, PNG, JPG)
- Digital images of documents (examples: JPG, PNG, PDF)
- Identified section within a family handbook (examples: Microsoft Word, PDF, JPG)
Step 3: Upload your document (ADM 4.5)
Log into the Maryland EXCELS System to upload your weekly menu plan and nutrition policy.
Remember, if you do not serve your own foods/snacks, or you do not allow “outside” food in your program, you may leave a comment for your Program Coordinator. You are still required to provide a policy that meets the remaining requirements.
