FAQ

SCHOOLS

What regions to you service?

We offer service across the Lower Mainland, including the north shore, Richmond, Surrey and the Tri-cities.

Is there a minimum quantity of orders required? Do we have to sign up for all five days or can it be a few days per week?

We do need a minimum of 10 children enrolled in the program, but you can choose a few days a week service rather than the full five days.

Can we have a menu with a few options each day to choose from or is it one set item per day?

Because we make everything from scratch each day and use fresh, quality ingredients, we typically focus on one daily menu as opposed to an assortment. Having said that, we are growing and open to offering a few options, or perhaps a few varieties within one category (eg. Wrap Day might offer three kinds of wraps).

Does your program deliver the lunches in individual containers? Or do you require the school to have a kitchen and the teachers to portion out the food?

We prefer to deliver the food in large format containers (pots, trays, etc.) that the staff simply warm on the stove/oven before serving. Individual packaging isn't ideal due to the amount of single-use plastic waste it produces. If your school doesn't have a kitchen, we have been working on some alternative options and we'd be happy to discuss these further with you.

Do you offer fundraising opportunities for PACs?

Yes! Please inquire and we'd be happy to help with your fundraising efforts.

How do you say your name?

We've heard a few different variations! But it's just the alphabet: L-M-N-O!

PARENTS

What do you mean by plant-dominant and what about families that eat a lot of meat and dairy?

We closely follow the updated Canada Food Guide which puts a greater emphasis on

vegetables, fruit, legumes and whole grains, and lesser focus on meat and dairy.

With this approach, we are able to focus on areas that sometimes get less attention

(such as fibre, vitamins and minerals). Parents can then maintain their usual dietary

routine for the rest of the day (eg. dairy is common at breakfast, meat is common at

dinner) with the peace of mind that we’re providing balance for the day.

Having said that, we currently use dairy sparingly througout the week and offer a

meat-based main twice per week.

I'm concerned that children won’t get enough protein each day if there isn't meat in every lunch.

Studies show that typical North American diets actually over-index on protein - sometimes as much as 2-3x the recommended daily intake. So while it’s likely that your child gets their recommended amount, we do offer some meat dishes throughtout the week as well as focus on vegetables that are high in protein, such as beans, broccoli and spinach.

What if a child has a unique allergy?

Simple: the ingredient comes out of our menu entirely. As part of our value around ‘food inclusivity’ we ensure that our food can be enjoyed for one and for all!

Some of your meals will be new to some children, are you sure they’ll eat it?

Admittedly, there can be a learning curve to some of our items. We try to use familiar flavours and fun shapes to help encourage adoption, but kids may be a little hesitant at first. But we work closely with the staff to get ongoing feedback so that we can adapt as we go. Our goal is to develop a child’s palette along the entire school year, which takes time but is a long-term benefit to the child (and parent!).

We would love to hear from you!

info [at] elemeno [dot] co