Inside the Veterans’ Memorial Community Hall in Santa Maria, a Latino mother and her children approach bags full of fresh produce.
A volunteer hands them one, and they move on to the stage area of the auditorium, where they watch a cooking demonstration given in both English and Spanish. The recipe of the day is baked cauliflower with chipotle peppers, which the family will be able to make later at home using their bagged ingredients.
Along an opposite wall, volunteers help children build makeshift kites to fly in the nearby city park, and in the courtyard, a DJ spins traditional Mexican music while parents listen to tips on health and college preparedness.
The sights and sounds are part of the monthly THRIVE Healthy School Pantry program, a collaborative effort of the Santa Maria Bonita School District, the City of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department, and the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. The program launched in Santa Barbara last fall, and began in Santa Maria in January, spearheaded by the Foodbank as a way to combine nutritional training with food distribution.
According to the Foodbank’s North County Development Manager Judith Monte, the main purpose of the program is to affect the way children and families perceive food, and encourage them to eat in a healthier manner.
“It’s our food distribution that entices the families to come in,” Monte said. “But then we’re trying to really change their relationship with food by giving them knowledge and the tools to make that change.”
Monte said through the program, which includes free produce and cooking demos, the Foodbank is hoping to see reductions in child obesity and diabetes, and to influence children to choose healthy snacks over junk food.
Kimberlee Hampton, a program director at the University of California-Cooperative Extension in San Luis Obispo, studied the Mexican diet while working on her thesis in Mexico. She assists with the demonstrations, and strives to make them acceptable to the families who need them most.
“We’re not asking them to do something completely new,” Hampton said. “We’re encouraging them to maintain the healthful aspects of the traditional diet. There’s something as easy as going to McDonald’s right here. It’s right here in your bag, and right there in your home—all the skills you already have. So we’re just capitalizing on that.”
Through surveys of families who have experienced the program, Hampton said she’s already seen indications of positive impacts. Children are reporting they’ve tried more fruits and vegetables, and are pledging to continue eating healthier.
“If we get them young, you can still change the behaviors, then when we bring the parents into the loop, we close the circle,” Hampton said.
The pantry events are free and take place the third Tuesday of every month. For now, they’re only open to students and families in Robert Bruce and Fairlawn elementary schools, both identified as free and reduced lunch schools.
Last year, the Foodbank implemented its first nutritional education program—the Kid’s Farmers’ Market—teaching children about produce and sharing recipes using the donated food. The markets are now at more than a dozen sites, including Boys & Girls Clubs in Santa Maria and at Battles Elementary. For it, the Foodbank received the Program of the Year Award at the 2011 Feeding America Summit.
Building off that success, the Foodbank approached the Santa Maria-Bonita School District with the Healthy School Pantry concept. The district had wanted to implement similar food education programs in the past, but didn’t have the resources. It’s now in seven sites countywide, including Santa Ynez Elementary and the Evans Park Housing Authority in Santa Maria.
Kids sign up for the program through their respective schools and bring in their parents. Monte said in Santa Maria, they’re reaching 1,500 students, averaging 150 to 200 families at each event.
The THRIVE collaboration is funded by First 5 and several philanthropic groups, including the Santa Barbara and Orfalea foundations.
Karin Dominguez, project lead for THRIVE Santa Maria and coordinator with the Santa Maria-Bonita district, said educators jumped at the chance to work with the Foodbank and further their goals of building a healthy community from “cradle to career,” starting with young children.
In Santa Maria, the city provides the hall, the Foodbank brings the food, and the district coordinates the effort. Dominguez said the collaboration is “critical” in giving low-income families access to resources they wouldn’t otherwise know about.
While food is at the core of Healthy School Pantry, it’s not the only focus. There’s an information center, where families can learn about school readiness and health services. At one booth, CalFresh signs up qualified families for food stamps; at another, parents register for Zumba classes. Occasionally, dental technicians also visit to provide free fluoride treatment for toddlers and children.
According to Foodbank program manager Gina Fischer, the intent of the fair-like event is to create a fun, communal environment, not just a place to conduct handouts.
“Food is at the core because food brings people together for so many different reasons,” Fischer said. “As long as food is there, people will always come … but it’s so much better the more that the community is involved, and the more different services we can offer.”
The collaboration is mutually beneficial, Fischer said; the schools are able to get parents in contact with educators in a more intimate setting, and the Foodbank is able to pursue its objective.
Fischer said the program has been well received, and families are asking for more services, like English literacy and library card sign-ups. Once it’s perfected, Fischer said, they’ll look to expand it to other “high need” areas of the county, to as many as 24 sites in 2013.
Feeding America recognized Healthy School Pantry as the best children’s nutrition program of the year at the 2012 Hunger’s Hope Awards in April. But the Foodbank isn’t resting on their past accomplishments.
They’re starting work on bringing food literacy to preschool-age children, and continuing involvement in Cal Poly’s “Pink and Dude Chefs” class, teaching middle school students advanced recipes. They’ve also recently launched “Grow Your Own Way,” a program instructing families on how to grow their own organic food. And next year, they’ll institute classes for high school seniors, stressing making healthy choices into adulthood.
The Foodbank’s Monte said all the combined efforts are geared toward improving health and forging a foundation for a more food-knowledgeable generation than the previous one.
“Solving the hunger problem is a community-wide problem, and its going to take a community-wide effort,” she said.
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas can be contacted at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 10-17, 2012.