Public Health partnership supports food literacy project

March 16, 2023

By Denise Washington, Staff Writer

You can get over two times more calcium from kale, spinach, and collard greens than whole milk, according to calculations by “Food Unfolded.” Children of the Farm to Early Childhood Education program hosted by the New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee get to experience these super nutritious foods and gain invaluable knowledge about healthy eating.

“Farm to ECE programming benefits our community on multiple levels. It increases access to healthy, local foods and quality nutrition education for children and their families while supporting local farmers and providing economic and environmental benefits for the city,” said Megan Knapp, a partner for Farm to ECE and assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Xavier.

The Farm to Early Childhood Education program aims to increase healthy and sustainable dietary practices during early childcare years (0-5 years) by providing access to healthy food options and nutritional education to Head Start and early childhood centers. Increasing exposure to healthy foods and nutrition education at an early age to shape future eating habits and expand local food options.

“I have learned that public health initiatives start with: identify what you observe to be going on, concerning the health issue and ecological influence; finding appropriate frameworks and program design to incite change,” said Ashlynn Stovall, a public health sciences major from New Orleans.

The program goes into two early care centers every month to teach the children about gardening, provide taste tests, and nutrition education materials. Students like Stovall are able to learn through the grant writing and implementation process how public health practice can take place.

“I value that it gives me an opportunity to explore a different side of public health. The policy aspect of public health. The program shows the ins and outs of a nonprofit and the hardships that goes with it. The constant work that goes into grant writing and funding,” Stovall said.

The program hopes that this exposure will increase the children’s love of and access to healthy foods. They also believe that connecting growers through an aggregation and procurement pilot means that farmers have more economic stability and a new wholesale outlet for their produce.

“We are really excited to begin connecting growers with the centers in a procurement pilot that will bridge the gap between farmers and children by aggregating from small-scale growers. We believe this direct connection between children and farmers is a vital part of a healthy food system,” said Elisa Muñoz, the executive director of the New Orleans Food Policy Action Council.

Seeing how children love to garden and eat the food they have grown and the excitement they feel has been really impactful to the progression of the program, organizers said.

“The kids really light up in the garden. They love to harvest and try the foods that they’ve grown themselves. Our cafeteria staff is eager to incorporate the fruits and vegetables of our garden into school meals and snacks. It has been very successful so far,” said Haley Holeton, a program manager for Farm to ECE.