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Community Collaboration For Improved School Nutrition Environments

Goals:

1. To promote the 5 A Day campaign in the school systems
2. To implement policy and environmental changes in school nutrition environments through collaborative “grass root” projects

Objectives:

1. To increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables by offering more healthy meal and snack choices
2. To implement hands-on learning opportunities to apply classroom knowledge about nutrition
3. To build long-term partnerships in the community with students, teachers, parents, and various community entities to sustain on-going school nutrition projects

Target Audiences:

1. All school-age children in Saluda and Edgefield Counties.
2. All community citizens (with an emphasis on school teachers/educators and parents) in Saluda and Edgefield Counties.

Collaboration with the Community

Saluda:

• Prevention Net, a “grass root” multi-ethnic coalition, is made up of community members working together to mobilize local citizens to build a healthy community.
• The Healthy Schools Task Force is made up of teachers and community members working together to address child health/safety issues.

Edgefield:

• Volunteers from Concerned Health Citizens (CHC) and AmeriCorps have been instrumental in promoting 5-A-Day nutrition. Concerned Health Citizens is a “grass root” coalition made up of diverse community members from various backgrounds. AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.
• The volunteers help coordinate the Fruity Friday project at all Edgefield Elementary schools through collaboration with area grocery stores (i.e. IGA, Bilo, Winn-Dixie, Fairway). They also help coordinate other various nutrition projects such as the Fruit and Vegetable Garden and Nutrition tied to the science curriculum.

Summary of Project/Activity and Potential Impact

Saluda:

• Salad Bar Line Program: Within the first week of implementation at Saluda High School, 700 students participated. The cafeteria database system is currently tracking the number of students participating in the program. This preliminary evaluation indicates potential impact the salad bar is having on the students’ eating habits.
• Garden Program: Prevention Net has been instrumental in initiating a garden program at the Saluda Elementary School. “Landscape for Learning” is a program used to tie the garden into the science curriculum. The program serves as a stimulus for scientific learning about plants, insects and nutrition for 3-5th grade levels. The garden program is enabling the students to apply their knowledge in an environment conducive to personal and academic growth. Saluda community members and the Saluda Garden Club regularly sign up for a specific time slot to assist teachers with the garden activities. The curriculum coordinator works with the teachers and community members to help facilitate and support the “hands-on” learning aspect of the garden program.
• Healthy Schools Task Force: This task force has organized numerous monthly projects based upon the National Health Observances. For example, Healthy Weight Week was observed in January by displaying fruit and vegetable posters in the primary campus library. The monthly events have a potential impact on increasing the students’ awareness of various health/safety issues at an early age.
• Recently, the task force was awarded a one-year school nutrition grant to increase nutrition education and awareness among students, teachers and parents. The potential impact is nutrition knowledge and awareness applied to the students’ eating habits.

Edgefield:

• Fruity Friday: The health department staff and community volunteers helped implement the Fruity Friday project at W.E. Parker, Johnston, Douglas and Merriwether Elementary Schools to offer children a healthier option. Each month, different fruits are targeted for nutrition education. Over 2200 students are now offered fruit and vegetable samples on a monthly basis. Samples are hoped to increase the numbers of children meeting the 5 A Day recommendations.
• General Nutrition Activities: Through various projects (i.e. educational presentations, “fruit of the month” activities and Bilo store tour), increases in nutrition knowledge and awareness of students have been documented. The potential impact is increased nutrition knowledge and awareness applied to new eating habits.

Challenges/lessons Learned

Saluda:

• The school system advocates the reward of unhealthy snacks to students as incentives for good academic performance. The vending machines are widely promoted and supported by school officials to generate more school profit.
• The salad bar line program and the quality of healthy lunch choices must be maintained long-term to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.
• The school nutrition grant deliverables must be planned carefully within the one-year period. The school system’s buy-in and support of the plan is vital to successful implementation and evaluation.
• Prevention Net and the Healthy Schools Task Force must maintain their membership and active participation.
• The schools need to balance their “profit making” needs from unhealthy snack sales by offering healthy snack choices as additional options.

Edgefield:

• Sustainability of fresh fruit donations (from the grocery store donors) must be maintained.
• An optimal level of freshness and appeal of the donated fruits must be maintained to encourage consumption of samples.
• Community volunteers must be available to help transport fruit donations from the stores to the schools to maintain Fruity Friday activities.
• The schools need to balance their “profit making” needs from unhealthy snack sales by offering healthy snack choices as additional options.

Evaluation Methods

Saluda:

• School Health Index Assessment to track changes/progress in the school nutrition environment.
• Pre- and post- surveys to monitor the effectiveness of the salad bar line program.
  Informal feedback from students about quality of lunch choices/menus.

Edgefield:

• Pre-and post- "5 A Day" surveys to monitor the effectiveness of the Fruity Friday project.
• Informal feedback from students and teachers about the quality of lunch choices/menus.