It is no secret we are dealing with an obesity crisis that threatens the very future of children and youth across America. Schools have become a primary battleground in fighting the growing childhood obesity rates, and Harvest of the Month has long been at the forefront of this fight, motivating students to make healthier choices by eating more fruits and vegetables and being more active.
Since its statewide launch in California in 2005, Harvest of the Month has provided innovative resources—such as monthly educator newsletters, family newsletters, and menus—to connect the areas where children live, learn, and play in order to impact their eating and physical activity habits.
While Harvest of the Month’s ready-to-go nutrition education tools that can be used in a variety of settings (daycare, afterschool programs, retail food stores, farmers’ markets, health clinics, food banks, and workplaces to name a few), the primary setting is within schools. And there’s good cause for it – healthy students perform better in the classroom.
Studies have long shown a direct correlation between nutrition and learning with healthy students having improved test scores, classroom behavior, and even attendance. Studies have also shown that children are more likely to incorporate healthy habits when they can taste, touch, and explore healthy foods, like fruits and vegetables.
Harvest of the Month does just that by engaging kids in hands-on learning experiences. Many Harvest of the Month resources, like the 36 monthly educator newsletters, are linked to common core standards for easy implementation into classroom lessons. By incorporating different California grown produce into the curriculum, kids learn about the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, botanical information, the agriculture and farming industry, and more. Learning is enhanced with connections to the cafeteria and community through taste tests, Farm to School programs, school garden activities, and partnerships with retail stores. It is also not uncommon to see more fruits and vegetables in the cafeteria, where school nutrition staff feature them in school breakfast and lunch menus to support Harvest of the Month and promote child nutrition programs.
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Every year in California, more than 1.5 million students and their families participate in Harvest of the Month, a statewide initiative of the Network for a Healthy California. Local and state health and education departments in more than 20 other states including Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts, have also adopted it. And many educators at all levels have noted its success.
One elementary school principal in Sacramento stated, “Harvest of the Month is outstanding and has made a great difference in both staff eating habits and students’ preferences. It is one of the most valuable programs we’ve had. Anytime you can integrate food into curriculum, students become that much more engaged.” Another educator from Los Angeles Unified School District noted, “The delivery of Harvest of the Month should be a day of nutrition celebration on a school campus. My aim is to support academic instruction and student health. The Harvest of the Month program does all of this.”
All Harvest of the Month materials can be downloaded for free at www.harvestofthemonth.com and can be used collaboratively among educators, nutrition staff, school leaders, students, parents, and even farmers and retail outlets. The website features an Educators’ Corner for expanded learning opportunities beyond the monthly newsletters, as well as a Training Corner to help train users on how to effectively use all the resources. To learn more about Harvest of the Month, visit www.harvestofthemonth.com or contact Allyson Conwell or Katharina Streng.
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Harvest of the Month is developed by the California Department of Public Health’s Network for a Healthy California (Network). The Network is a statewide public health effort working with hundreds of state partners and organizations to empower low-income Californians to live healthier lives through good nutrition and physical activity. Funding is from USDA SNAP, known in California as CalFresh. For CalFresh information, call 1-877-847-3663. For important nutrition information, visit www.cachampionsforchange.net.
About the Author
Allyson Conwell, Project Director at GALEWiLL Design, has been a partner to the Network for a Healthy California’s Harvest of the Month since its inception in 2005. Allyson has lead the content development and production of nearly all Harvest of the Month materials created by the Network, and works closely with a team of registered dietitians, health and nutrition education specialists, and curriculum specialists, as well as local agencies who implement Harvest of the Month programs. Contact Allyson at [email protected]. You may also contact Katharina Streng, the Harvest of the Month Manager, at [email protected].