Growing Chefs! Ontario: Frequently Asked Questions

How do I order meals for my school?

Sign up with Lunchbox by SchoolCashOnline.com (there is no cost associated with this). If you have preferred dates in mind for deliveries, Growing Chefs! will do our best to accommodate you on your desired dates based on our capacity.

How many days a week do you offer hot lunches?

Currently we are taking orders for hot lunches Tuesday – Friday.

How do I see the menu items?

Once you are logged in the order calendar will open. Select a date to see which menu items are available.

When do I need to order by?

Orders must be confirmed the Sunday at noon before the order week with SchoolCashOnline.com and paid through their internal system. Families have the option to preorder weeks and months in advance.

What if my school uses another system other than SchoolCashOnline?

We may be able to use different lunch ordering systems, please reach out to chef@​growingchefsontario.​ca to discuss further.

What if I need to cancel my order?

Orders can be cancelled through SchoolCashOnline.com with sufficient notice, at least two days before the lunch day.

How do we know which students have ordered?

On Monday morning, schools receive a detailed order report via email for each scheduled vendor delivery that week. In addition, the email will include a delivery summary outlining the number of orders placed and a report listing which students ordered in each classroom, including the order details per student.

What do we do if our lunches are late?

If your scheduled lunch delivery is more than 10 minutes late, please contact us directly at 226−503−8473 for an update. Our contact information can also be found on the classroom delivery report.

Do you cater to dietary restrictions?

All of our meals are made in a nut-free kitchen. All proteins sourced will be made from Halal meat, and we are proud to offer vegetarian alternatives to all meals. We can accommodate most allergies and dietary restrictions, please read our allergen statement on our website for more information, and reach out to chef@​growingchefsontario.​ca with any questions.

Do we need volunteers to run this program?

We suggest that you may have one adult to oversee the opening of the hot containers, but because we will have sorted them already, it is fairly straightforward to have senior students deliver the meals to the respective classrooms.

What can you tell me about your reusable containers?

We believe in a sustainable lunch program and part of that is eliminating single-use packaging. Our lunch containers are stainless steel and we will pick them up before the end of school to bring them back to wash and sanitize to be used for the next day. If you have students that have not finished their meals, we suggest that you ask them to bring their own reusable containers from home to transfer the food into those containers.

Do you provide cutlery?

We do not provide cutlery automatically, but if needed, there is an option to add on birch cutlery for $0.25

We accidentally forgot a couple of containers, how do we get them back to you?

We are working on the honour system so we are not charging a deposit on our containers, but we would very much appreciate them being returned! Please call us at 226−503−8473 or email chef@​growingchefsontario.​ca

How does the food arrive at the school?

The food will arrive separated into hot and cold containers, and arranged as best as possible by class. Each lunch will have a label with the student’s name and what they ordered attached to it. We will send the hot items in insulated food safe containers, and the cold items in a separate container. It is up to the school to distribute the lunches to the appropriate classrooms. Please take care, as the hot lunch items will be quite hot! Please especially take care when opening and closing the soup thermos, and consider helping younger students with this as they are very hot.

What do we do with our dirty containers?

After the meal, please make sure that all containers are emptied of all food. There is no need to wash the containers; just transfer them back into the cooler bins that they came in, and then our staff will be back prior to the end of the school day to pick them up. Please arrange with Growing Chefs! if you have a preferred pickup time, but usually someone will be there between 1:30 – 2:30 pm.

We are missing an order that is on our confirmed order sheet, what do we do?

Please contact Growing Chefs! as soon as possible at 226−503−8473 and we will ensure that we have a replacement meal sent out as quickly as possible. Do not email if you are missing a meal, call immediately.

Where can I find more information about cashonline.com and their procedures?

Please refer to schoolcashonline.com website and their FAQ.