Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Strengthening our relationship to food, by increasing our knowledge of food systems and having access to high-quality foods, increases the likelihood that we will make positive dietary choices, and influence our families' choices positively as well.
Activity Ideas
- Healthy Foods Committee
- Create a healthy foods committee, appoint leader and coordinate with district or campus SHAC.
- Vegetable and Herb Garden
- Involve students in Creating, harvesting and keeping a school vegetable garden or green schoolyard- indoor/ outdoor (helps increase nutrition knowledge and preference for vegetables)
- Community Garden
- Team up with Community Garden and use a garden plot (if no facilities exist on campus) to start, harvest and teach from your interactive garden.
- Seed to Plate (Tray) Program
- Implement the schools garden harvest into cafeteria menu and at other school functions if possible.
- Farm to Cafeteria
- Implement/ partner with Farm to Cafeteria initiatives that benefit small farmers and provide fresh vegetables and healthy meals for students
- Fruits and veggies- more matters
- Increase Fruit & Vegetable Consumption on campus
- Drink More Water Campaign
- Reduce or eliminate consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
- Junk Food is History Campaign
- Decrease or eliminate processed "junk food" availability including sales at school functions.
- Nutritional Foods Audit
- Evaluate nutritional services and ensure compliance with the USDA guidelines relating to foods of minimal nutritional value.
- Healthy Foods Campaign
- Increase access to healthy foods in school (salad bars, implement healthy menu).
- Adult Foodie School
- Teach staff and parents about nutrition and food systems. Provide opportunities to learn through cooking demos showcasing healthy recipes, portion control and healthy menu planning, family health fairs, articles in PTA newsletter.
- Student Health Assessment
- Measure students cognitive, behavioral, attitudinal changes related to nutrition and health education (CSHP)
- Nutrition knowledge assessment
- Conduct evaluation of students knowledge of food and nutrition sciences at the beginning and end of school year
- Food science in curriculum
- Incorporate food science, cafeteria menu planning, and nutrition lessons into health/ science curriculum
- Community grocery or farm tours
- Conduct Grocery store or farm tours
- Farmers market
- Host community farmer's market at or near school grounds and encourage families to visit local farmer's markets. School can have a table at the farmers market. (Farm to School)
Links to more Web Resources
Visit the Resources page for more ideas.
