Community Empowerment in Your Neighborhood:

Successes and Challenges in providing Nutrition Education

in Non-traditional settings

Edie Kuyper – Network for a Healthy CaliforniaDan Perales – San Jose State UniversityDenise Cintron Perales – Perales & Assoc. Evaluation ServicesSteve Diaz – Los Angeles Community Action NetworkBergen Watterson – Children’s Council of San Francisco

INTRODUCTION to the LFNE PROJECTS

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Moderator: Edye Kuyper, M.S.

Funding channel: non-profit, community-based organizations

Engaging diverse populations

Not duplicating work of other Network partners

USDA FSNE guidance changes: 2005 From “food security” to “local food and nutrition education”

THE AGENDAPresentations by:

Dan Perales & Denise Cintron Perales Overview of six projects: Nutrition education interventions, challenges, & lessons learned

Steve Diaz: CANGRESS / LACAN

Bergen Watterson: Children’s Council of San Francisco

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

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At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to:

1. Understand the purpose and scope of the Network’s Local Food Nutrition Education projects.

2. Describe the various educational approaches used in multiple settings by the projects to provide nutrition education.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to:

3. List the lessons learned from the efforts of various projects to promote participation in the food stamp program.

4. Gain skills and connections to be able to implement transformative nutrition education with non-traditional audiences

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Challenge

Implementing nutrition education programs to diverse populations (i.e. ethnicity, languages, socio-economic levels, reading levels)

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Community Services UnlimitedSouth Central Los Angeles

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CSU’s Growing Healthy Project incorporates urban farming with nutrition education

Nutrition education to elementary & middle-school children

Involved the community in planting fruit orchards and vegetable gardens at both schools

Community Services Unlimited

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Community Services Unlimited VIDEO

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CSU Lessons Learned Incorporate children’s background and

culture into nutrition education program.

Have students make a Food Diary, then asked them to answer questions related to what they ate, when, why, and the cost of the it. Exercise helped children recognize their eating behaviors and created change in consumption habits

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CSU Lessons Learned Engage and empower community

involvement in program – Be an active stakeholder in the community Train peer leaders

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Food Bank of Yolo County

Moveable Market Program in conjunction with Yolo County Health Department

Distribution of nutrition education materials and Food Stamp information at Capay Valley Farmers’ Market and Yolo County Fair

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Moveable Market Program• Combined bilingual one-on-one nutrition education

at 7 low-income sites (including a large migrant farm worker camp)

• Distribution of produce

• Cooking demonstrations & taste tests

• Distributed nutrition newsletter with recipes

Food Bank of Yolo County

Food Bank of Yolo County

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Yolo Food Bank Lessons LearnedUse simple nutrition messages

Moveable Market

Yolo Food Bank Lessons LearnedSurvey of Moveable Market clients showed that they wanted info on how to prepare vegetables.

Lesson Learned: Provide cooking and tasting class at movable market sites.

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Yolo Food Bank Lessons Learned

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Yolo Food Bank Lessons Learned

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HEALTH EDUCATION COUNCILWest Sacramento

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• Assessed the community

• Organized growers and land owners

• Built a community coalition

• Organized the Del Paso Heights Farmers market

• Created culturally diverse education and outreach materials

• Conducted nutrition education and cooking demonstrations at the market

• Conducted nutrition education and youth cooking classes in conjunction with the market

HEALTH EDUCATION COUNCIL

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HEALTH EDUCATION COUNCIL- West Sacramento

Nutrition Education & Cooking Demo

Introduced new fruits and vegetables to customers

Shared healthy cooking tips and recipes

Increased use of WIC Farmers Market Coupons

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HEC Youth Cooking Classes

Increased nutrition knowledge

Farm to market tours

How to shop for produce

Use of cooking utensils

Classes taught by trained chef

Students improved cooking skills

HEC Lessons Learned

Make farmers nutrition educators

Make nutrition education cooking classes fun & interactive

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Occidental College, Center for Food & Justice

Implemented Harvest of the Month (HOM) to complement Farm to School in Riverside County Public Schools

Project activities included: Training & support to teachers in implementing HOTM

Monthly taste tests of locally grown HOM produce

Farmer presentations in classrooms

Cooking in the classroom

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Occidental College, Center for Food & Justice

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Additional project activities included:

• Garden based learning

• Promotion of the schools’ salad bars

• Family nights featuring nutrition related activities

• Produced Riverside Nutrition & Community Resource Guide

Occidental Lessons Learned

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Build relationships with school & food service administrators, and classroom teachers

Change a school, change a child Collaboration with School Salad Bar roll-out in

Riverside County, leveraged impact of their program

Lasting change begins at home Educate parents at school health events

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Primary objective: Create Edible Landscape Model

Produced Edible Landscape Toolkit

Provided training & consultation on replicating Edible Landscape

Nutrition education to pre-school & school age children

Produced Kennedy Estates Cook book

Conducted three surveys of availability & consumption of fruits & veges, and use of Edible Landscape

Community Services Planning Council

Sacramento Hunger Commission

Edible Landscape Project-Sacramento

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Edible Landscape Project-Sacramento

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Edible Landscape Project-Sacramento

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Harvest Celebrations

Edible Landscape ProjectLessons Learned

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Involve residents in planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting the Edible Landscape

When language and reading levels are a barrier, conduct fact-to-face surveys using translators

Improving Diet and Nutrition among Agricultural Workers in the Central Valley

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The Regents of the University of California, Berkeley & the California

Institute for Rural Studies

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Year 1: Conducted Farmworker Assessment during Summer & Winter

Hunger Diet and nutrition Access to food assistance programs Barriers to accessing food assistance Other barriers to food security Potential interventions

U.C. Regents & the California Institute for Rural Studies

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Some Assessment Results from Year 1:

• Rates of food insecurity higher in Winter

• Farmworkers in this study consumed high fat diets, rates were highest in Summer

• Farmworkers consumed high amount of sugar from sweetened beverages

• Consumption of fruits & vegetables lowest in the Summer

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U.C. Regents & the California Institute for Rural Studies

Year 2: Conducted nutrition education classes for 527 farm workers

o Used visual approach

o Provided measuringTools

o Evaluated classes

99.5% said they wouldeat more fruits & veges

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The Regents of the University of California & the California Institute for Rural Studies

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U.C. Regents & the California Institute for Rural Studies

Years 3 & 4: Produced nutrition education Telenovela

Nutrition Education Classes & Telenovela focused on three main themes:

1. decrease fat consumption, 2. Increase fruit and vegetable consumption, and 3. decrease consumption of high-sugar

beverages.

NUTRITION EDUCATION TELENOVELA

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U.C. Regents & the California Institute

for Rural Studies

Filming the Telenovela

UC LESSONS LEARNED

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• Do face-to face surveys when language & reading levels are a barrier

• Focus intervention on small do-able changes – reduce fat & sodas, increase fruits & vegetable

consumption– Use of measuring spoons to measure oil, not pour

• Telenovela can be done on a small budget, but editing time & costs are high

Questions & Answers

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