Our Mission

In 2011, I sent a letter to chefs in my neighborhood asking them to offer healthier meals for kids on their menus. I got so tired of what restaurants offered kids when eating out with my family. Why does the worst food in the restaurant always end up the kids menu? So, I pulled in help from another mom, Chef Sarah Stegner a two-time James Beard award winning chef, developed nutritional guidelines and named the initiative, Healthy Fare for Kids.

Forward four years and the Healthy Fare for Kids program has reached over 45 million people each year across Chicagos’ restaurants and zoos, an aquarium, museum, convention center and two airports. Nationally recognized chefs, such as Rick Bayless, Sarah Stegner, Paul Virant, Helen Cameron, Beverly Kim, Paul Kahan and Bruce Sherman plus many other chefs and food service providers such as Sodexo, Levy Restaurants and Savor, have all been participants.

The unexpected result is the ferocity of support among chefs, businesses and parents. It’s been amazing!

Here’s how it works: Healthy Fare for Kids asks chefs to offer at least one healthy and delicious meal for kids on their menus according to our set of nutritional guidelines. Once the meal is certified, the Healthy Fare for Kids logo is placed next to the certified meal on the menu or on the grab and go containers to let families know in an instant that it’s the healthy choice. Finally, a brief description of the program is placed on the menu or on a sign in the restaurant, or concession, helping families connect to the overall concept.

For chefs, partnering with Healthy Fare for Kids is a way to share their love of children and to support families who are customers. Our concessions support our program because its smart business for them – families are demanding healthier food for their kids when eating out and we show them how to make it happen while building their brand. And Healthy Fare for Kids gives participants a social media presence within the Healthy Fare for Kids marketing arm, steering diners into their restaurants and concessions, and to their websites.

Coming soon to the website is the Home Cooking section, a unique spot where those who prepare meals at home for children can be inspired by meal ideas vetted by Healthy Fare for Kids. This section will aggregate recipes donated by our esteemed group of professional chefs as well as from a cadre of at-home chefs. And there will be helpful tips on food prepping skills, cooking methods and ingredient selection.

Finally, Healthy Fare for Kids works on solving larger issues framing the healthy meals movement. If the food in the supply chain is not of nutritional and sustainable quality, then how do chefs and families create meals with good food? Healthy Fare for Kids works to leverage the buying power of our participants -- restaurants, venues and concession companies -- to place pressure for “good food” on suppliers, food distributors, as well as the quality of food created by food manufacturers.

However you fit into the food channel, or if you’re a home chef like me, let’s start a conversation on how you can participate today. Email me today!

Thank you.

Diane Schmidt