Good News from Growing Minds-Healthy Bodies!


Childhood obesity prevention program succeeds and continues in community

For the last three years, children across Western North Carolina visited farms, families learned how to cook with fresh produce, teachers created gardens for students, food pantries stocked healthy items, and children in need received backpacks of healthy food and recipes for the weekend. 

These are just a few programs in the Growing Minds-Healthy Bodies Partnership.  Through a North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF) Fit Together grant, Children First, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), and MANNA Food Bank worked together to promote healthy eating and physical activity in Western North Carolina since 2004.  This local partnership was one of just 21 community-based initiatives in North Carolina selected for a three year Fit Together grant. 

The partnership’s goal was to increase access to fresh produce and provide education about nutrition and physical activity so that children can achieve a healthy weight.  The three year grant concluded in March 2007 and the results are in.

In our schools, the partnership:

  • Reached 9 elementary and high schools with ASAP’s school garden program, offering youth the experience to grow and eat their own vegetables. 

  • Provided 11,900 students in 4 school districts with the opportunity to eat locally grown produce from Western NC farms through ASAP’s Farm to School initiative.

  • Organized 39 cooking demonstrations, teaching 2,280 children and 340 adults how to prepare healthy food.

  • Provided 1,596 children in 15 elementary schools with 60,222 pounds of fresh produce to take home to their families from MANNA’s Backpack Program.  

  • Delivered nutritious meals to 941 children at 5 Kids Cafe sites.

  • Implemented MANNA’s Healthy Snack classes at 17 sites/schools, reaching over 760 children.

In our community, the partnership:

  • Provided 151,972 pounds of food to over 1,300 families at the Children First Family Resource Center at Emma.

  • Distributed 820,684 pounds of fresh produce to over 67,000 households through MANNA’s Community Distributions.  This includes 988 deliveries at 45 different sites in 16 WNC counties.

  • Distributed 2,061,843 pounds of fresh produce to MANNA member agencies.

  • Handed out 52,596 recipes in English and Spanish, helping MANNA clients learn how to cook produce in a healthy way.

  • Enabled one farmer to accept Electronic Benefits Transfers (EBT) at a tailgate market. 

“This project really opened our eyes on how cooking with children can have a positive impact on the health of children and their families,” said Emily Jackson, Growing Minds Director with ASAP.   The partnership’s work reached not only children and families, but changed organizations as well. 

“The Growing Minds-Healthy Bodies partnership transformed our organization and our programs at all levels,” said Allison Jordan, Executive Director of Children First. “From cooking demonstrations and a community garden at the Children First Family Resource Center at Emma to serving healthy food at board meetings, we recognize the importance of providing all children and families we serve with access to healthy food choices.  And we are committed to sustaining these improvements.”  

“I am honored to have been a part of this work in my community," said Shelley Booth, Program Coordinator for Growing Minds-Healthy Bodies. "It also impacted me on a personal level.  During this three year grant, I gave birth to my daughter, Lucy.  Being exposed to the rich experiences of school gardens, farm field trips, nutrition education, and overall the importance teaching children at a young age about the value of good food and where it comes from has been a gift to me.  This work deeply influenced me and I feel that I am a better mother because of it.”

In addition to the long list of accomplishments, the good news is that the benefits of this partnership will continue in Western North Carolina. Children First, ASAP, and MANNA raised over $200,000 to keep the programs active in our schools and communities for the coming years.  “A measure of success is the collaborations that grew from this program.  Other people and organizations have stepped up to take on this issue,” said Emily Jackson.  “It’s heartening for the future.”

ABOUT GROWING MINDS-HEALTHY BODIES:

Growing Minds-Healthy Bodies is a partnership of Children First of Buncombe County, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, and MANNA FoodBank.  The Partnership’s goal is to increase access to fresh produce and provide education about nutrition and physical activity so that children and families can make healthy lifestyle choices. 

Growing Minds-Healthy Bodies is part of the Fit Together Initiative, funded by the NC Health & Wellness Trust Fund and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina, a long-term comprehensive statewide overweight and obesity prevention initiative uniting $4.5 million in public and private resources.  For more information about Fit Together, please visit: www.fittogethernc.org.

       

 

©2006, Children First of Buncombe County