From August 2023 to March 2024, UC Cooperative Extension in San Bernardino County provided interactive classes and demonstrations in English and Spanish for ethnically diverse and limited-resource residents that led to increased food security and reduced food waste.

These efforts were funded by the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program Small Grants Program, which supports the development of sustainable community food systems.  

Workshops draw on experts from variety of UC ANR programs

The project in San Bernardino County, led by Christine Davidson of UCCE and the Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program, mobilized a team of EFNEP, UC Master Gardener Program and UC Master Food Preserver Program staff and volunteers to educate families in underserved communities through a series of hands-on workshops.

Thirty-six mothers attended EFNEP lessons from the “Eating Smart, Being Active” curriculum focusing on improving knowledge and skills in the areas of diet quality, food resource management, food safety, physical activity and food security.

They also attended Master Gardener workshops to learn how to grow vegetables in their home gardens and compost food waste, and Master Food Preserver classes where they made healthy recipes and learned about safe food preservation with a focus on food waste prevention.

Two hundred and twenty children at two schools attended a series of EFNEP lessons and a workshop to learn about composting with worms or composting in a jar. “The students love the hands-on activities, and with this knowledge they can participate in composting food waste at home,” said Davidson. “It was especially rewarding to teach the kindergarteners about composting since it was a new concept for them.”

The SAREP grant provided funding for kits and materials that parents and children took home to apply their new knowledge in making different salads, using scraps to make vegetable broth, growing herb gardens and composting at home. “The kits are great incentives for people to attend the classes and reinforce their learning at home,” Davidson noted.

With better meal planning and proper food storage, families can save food and money. “I have begun saving scraps to make vegetable broth that I use to make rice. My kids love collecting the scraps and it saves money buying the broth,” said a parent at Bradley Elementary School in San Bernardino.

Additionally, families are educated on the organic waste reduction requirements of Senate Bill 1383 and how they can do their part to reduce food waste.

The final product of the SAREP-funded project will be a Food Waste Prevention Workshop Toolkit in Spanish and English that will be shared widely and delivered in UC ANR workshops by staff and volunteers in other counties. “Our goal beyond providing these materials to support our community is to help grow their use across UC ANR so more families can benefit from them,” said Davidson.

Small grants, big impacts

Funding priorities for the Small Grants Program include supporting California farmers, ranchers and land stewards in the adoption of environmentally regenerative practices and partnering with rural, urban and tribal communities to expand access to healthy, sustainably produced food and promote community well-being.

“The Small Grants Program is an important part of our mission,” said Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, interim director of UC SAREP, a program of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. “Program outcomes show that a small financial investment can have a large impact in improving the lives of Californians.”

This article is part of a series on the impact of the UC SAREP Small Grants Program. To support this program, please donate here. Choose SAREP Small Grants Program for the designation.

Eight Evergreen Middle School sixth graders presented their findings and recommendations on physical activity upgrades to their local school board. Photo courtesy of CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Shasta Cluster

Tehama County students empowered by CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE educator and teachers

It's not uncommon for high school or college students to speak up and seek to improve their school environment. But at Evergreen Middle School in Tehama County, more than 100 sixth graders led the way to create healthy changes at their school.

As part of their health classes during the 2022-23 school year, the students researched the availability of spaces for physical activity, developed a survey gauging their peers' health awareness and needs, analyzed the results and data, and made recommendations for improvements.

“We learned that there's not a lot of places – except for Evergreen Middle School and some other parks around [our community of] Cottonwood – that have many physical activity places that you can easily get to or have access to,” said Bailey, one of the students.

They were guided by Mario Monroy-Olivas, a nutrition educator with CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California Cooperative Extension in Tehama, Shasta and Trinity counties. Locally administered by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, CFHL, UCCE is one of the agencies in California that teaches nutrition to people eligible for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) – referred to as CalFresh Food in California.

Mario Monroy-Olivas, a nutrition educator with CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California Cooperative Extension in Tehama, Shasta and Trinity counties, challenged the young people to investigate their physical environment through a Youth Participatory Action Research project. Photo courtesy of CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Shasta Cluster

Working alongside Evergreen teachers Roxanne Akers and Albert Estrada, Monroy-Olivas challenged the sixth graders to tackle a “Youth Participatory Action Research” project – a yearlong, multi-step undertaking typically designed for older teens.

“The fact that we're doing it with these younger kids, starting a lot sooner, I think it's super impactful for them to know that, together, collectively they can make huge changes that will create positive outcomes – not just for themselves but for an entire community,” Monroy-Olivas said.

Middle school students speak up at school board meeting

In February 2023, eight class representatives presented their findings to the Evergreen Union School District Board of Education. Speaking before the five-member board for 20 minutes, the young people were naturally a bit nervous.

“It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but it wasn't that bad, once we got up there and got it over with,” said Lilah, one of the presenters. “Me and a couple of my friends were doing pep talks and practicing what we were going to say.”

The students showed a composite map that they drew from their classes' investigation of spaces for physical activity in the area, and shared a brochure that outlined their research and survey results. In a survey of more than 80 of their peers, 92% of respondents said they needed more access to physical activity equipment during class breaks, recess and lunch.

Members of the Evergreen Union School District Board of Education were impressed by the middle schoolers' presentation and report that outlined their research and survey results on student needs. Photo courtesy of CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Shasta Cluster

“The board members were super impressed with the students, coming to the school board and doing this,” Monroy-Olivas said. “They said they haven't had students doing this kind of advocacy work; for them, it was a really big deal.”

In the end, the young people made a strong case for more water-bottle refilling stations, badminton equipment and balls for other sports, and stencils for schoolyard activities like hopscotch, four square and snail (a type of hopscotch game).

“We got almost everything we asked for, and the project we're working on now is to help put in the things we asked for,” said Lilah, adding that, during this current school year, the students (now in seventh grade) are working on acquiring the stencils and paint.

More than just equipment, students gain skills and confidence

While the promise of new gear is exciting for the youth, they are acquiring something even more valuable and enduring – a sense that they are empowered to make a difference in their community, according to Janessa Hartmann, UC Cooperative Extension community nutrition and health advisor for Tehama, Shasta and Trinity counties.

Monroy-Olivas' energy and passion inspired the students throughout the project. “It was really fun because he’s very hands-on and he’s always super hyped," one student said. Photo courtesy of CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Shasta Cluster

“Yes, it's important to want to do stencils and hydration stations and have more equipment,” Hartmann said, “but the bigger impact for the students is that they think: ‘Now I know that my health is important, now I know how to advocate for myself, and now I know that I can do that.'”

Monroy-Olivas said he observed tremendous growth in all the students, and especially in the self-confidence of the class representatives.

“I grew as a leader because I used to be really shy and hated talking in front of people, but through this project we're doing, this has really helped me be able to talk in front of crowds – and listen to others,” Lilah explained.

In a survey at the end of the sixth-grade project, the percentage of youth who answered “Yes, most definitely” to the statement “I want to make a difference in making my school/community healthier” jumped from 19% before the project to 44% after. And that percentage of “Yes, most definitely” replies jumped from 6% to 31% for the statement “I can use research results to come up with solutions or recommendations for making my school/community a healthier place.”

“We learned to promote what we want and try to get it as much as we can, so we can get more physical activities and more people can be included,” said Brian, another student working on the project.

“It's important so when we get older, we know how to voice our opinions and let people know what we're thinking,” added classmate Brooklynn.

Wishing that he had such an opportunity when he was growing up, Monroy-Olivas said he feels the students now know the power of their voice.

 “I wholeheartedly believe that's the biggest win out of this whole project, that they're learning how to advocate for their own voice and change,” he said.

In an analysis of 153 low-income elementary schools in California from 2021-22, just 56% of schools reported providing more than 20 minutes of recess daily. Photo by Myles Tan on Unsplash

New law mandates at least 30 minutes of recess for K-8 public school students

Last year, while working on a bill that would require California public schools to provide at least 30 minutes of recess, State Sen. Josh Newman sought the latest research on youth physical activity. Newman, whose district encompasses parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, traveled to the Bay Area to see one of the leading experts in the field.

During several visits with Newman, Hannah Thompson – a Nutrition Policy Institute senior epidemiologist and an assistant research professor in the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health – shared the most recent science.

Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that children have 20 minutes or more of daily recess. But, when asked about the current “state of recess” across California, Thompson said she only knew of anecdotal evidence at the state level.

Hannah Thompson, Nutrition Policy Institute senior epidemiologist

“I said, ‘You know what? I don't actually know what is going on in California,'” Thompson recalled. “I contacted a couple of colleagues who had done more national-level work on recess that included samples of California schools – but no one was really able to disaggregate what was happening in California.”

She brought up the bill during a meeting with her fellow researchers at NPI, an institute under UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.

And it turned out that Janice Kao, an NPI academic coordinator, had exactly what she needed.

CalFresh Healthy Living evaluation team provides key recess data

Kao leads a project team that evaluates local health departments' programs of CalFresh Healthy Living – California's version of the educational arm of SNAP (the federally supported Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

As part of that evaluation process, Kao's team coordinates questionnaire administration at SNAP-Ed-eligible schools that are partnering with local health departments on CalFresh Healthy Living interventions, ranging from nutrition programs to physical activity initiatives. The survey asks school administrators about their current policies, environments and practices – including the provisioning of recess.

“It was just really good luck that everything was in the right place at the right time to be able to work together,” Thompson said.

At Thompson's request, Kao and her colleagues processed and cleaned that crucial piece of data, comprising responses from 153 low-income elementary schools in the 2021-22 school year.

“Just 56% of schools reported providing more than 20 minutes of recess daily,” Kao said. “So this was a situation where the data showed, ‘OK, there is some room for improvement, perhaps at that state policy level.'”

Janice Kao, Nutrition Policy Institute academic coordinator

Thompson and Rebecca London, a sociologist at UC Santa Cruz, wrote a research brief detailing their analysis of the data. They describe disparities in recess time based on school size and income level of families, with students in larger, less affluent schools generally receiving less daily recess.

Thompson said those disparities are related to funding and academic inequities, as the imperative to boost test scores forced schools to increase certain classroom hours at the expense of recess time.

“We did all this work engineering physical activity out of the school day despite the tremendous body of evidence that shows physically active kids not only are healthier but can concentrate better; they have better academic performance, fewer disruptions, better classroom behavior,” explained Thompson, a former physical education teacher in Oakland. “In trying to address that academic gap, we ended up exacerbating a lot of these public health disparities.”

Virtual learning during the pandemic showed educators and parents – firsthand – the harmful effects of children staying sedentary in front of computer screens for hours. But the resulting momentum for restoring recess and time for physical activity was soon stalled as schools tried to make up for “lost time” in returning to classrooms, Thompson said.

NPI resources, expertise invaluable to lawmakers

Newman's bill, SB 291, was an attempt to lock in those recess minutes that are crucial for student health, development and scholastic performance. Both Thompson and London testified before the Senate Education Committee in April 2023, providing the senators with science-based information and context to guide their policymaking.

“Crafting policies rooted in science is critical for legislators to ensure our policies are impactful,” Newman said. “The work of Dr. Thompson and her colleagues at UC provided clear and useful guidance on the benefits of unstructured play and how to improve health and educational outcomes in California schools.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 291 into law last October. Starting this coming school year, public elementary and middle schools across California will be required to give at least 30 minutes of recess to K-5 students – and prohibited from withholding recess as punishment.

Kao said her team was excited that their CalFresh Healthy Living evaluation data was useful for lawmakers, illustrating NPI's important role in informing evidence-based policy.

“I'm hopeful that we can use this same data set to also provide key pieces of information on other types of legislation that's in the works, or newly passed legislation,” Kao said.

Thompson said the challenge now will be ensuring schools have the resources and funding to provide quality time for young people.

“If you only have one schoolyard, and it's already dedicated to PE, what do you do now, if you have to increase your time for recess and you don't have that space?” she said.

Thompson added that she is currently applying for a grant to study how schools across California are adjusting to meet the new requirements.

Under the watchful eye of national MyPI program trainers, workshop participants, including young people, practice using a pry bar to move an object off of a person. Photo by Ryan Akers

4-H leaders, youth complete state's first MyPI instructor certification workshop in Tehama County

Disasters do not discriminate. They can impact people regardless of their race, color, creed, socioeconomic status – or age. That's why a nationwide effort to train young people in emergency preparedness continues to grow and is establishing itself in California.

The national MyPI (Preparedness Initiative) program, developed by Mississippi State University Extension, partnered with California 4-H this fall to train the state's first cohort of instructors, who will then lead trainings for young people in the coming months. With Northern California as the catalyst, organizers plan to spread the program across the state, said Nate Caeton, 4-H youth development advisor for Shasta, Tehama and Trinity counties.

“If you look at the research, everybody is affected by disasters, but young people even more so, for a number of reasons – whether because they don't fully understand what's going on, or they don't have the same experience or skill sets as adults,” said Caeton, who serves as the MyPI California manager. “But this takes a huge leap in addressing that.”

Nate Caeton, 4-H youth development advisor (far right), said the MyPI trainers were impressed by the maturity of the young people among this initial group of instructor certification workshop participants in Red Bluff. Photo by Ryan Akers

California is the 28^th state/territory-level program to partner with the national MyPI team to train instructors – but the first to allow young people to participate in the three-day instructor workshop.

Of the 11 4-H-affiliated participants who completed the October training in Red Bluff, five were teenagers. The workshop, led by national MyPI trainers, included comprehensive Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) content developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA – covering medical operations, fire safety, light search and rescue, disaster psychology and more.

“By the end of day 1, the trainers were already commenting on the maturity level of the teens who had attended,” Caeton said. “They've been doing this training for a long time and they were definitely impressed – that says a lot about our young people.”

Potential disasters necessitate preparation by all

The youth participants in the workshop gained valuable hands-on experience, like in this fire extinguisher training. Photo by Ryan Akers

Bodie, a ninth grader in Shasta County, said the MyPI California workshop gave him a new perspective on his father's role and responsibilities as a CAL FIRE battalion chief.

“It was a great class, a great experience,” said Bodie, who participated in the training with his two brothers. “It was a 30-hour-long class – really long, but really fun; there was a lot of hands-on learning.”

Katy Zulliger, Bodie's mother, also attained instructor certification through the workshop. She said that, in their city of Redding and communities across the region, there remains considerable trauma from the devastating fires of 2018 – the Carr Fire and Camp Fire. Zulliger said that educating and preparing the public – including youth – will be crucial in meeting future challenges.

“There's a lot that can happen around here – from earthquakes to fire to flood to mudslides, and the list goes on and on…even, living on I-5, potentially tanker trucks spilling over,” she explained. “It's smart for the kids to learn how to think outside the box.”

Bodie noted that the workshop has made him more aware of his surroundings and potential contingency plans.

“When I'm out in the town, I really do think about what can happen in different scenarios – for example, maybe an earthquake or active shooter situation – and I ask myself, ‘What would I do? How would I respond?'” said Bodie, who is considering a career as a first responder.

Youth have a voice, role in boosting community resilience

The skills and knowledge gained from the MyPI program can equip young people to be leaders among their peers, and even in the broader community, when emergencies arise.

“Kids can actually use this and be engaged – instead of just being a watcher or video taker,” said Zulliger, a 4-H volunteer who has served as a club leader of the Palo Cedro 4-H club. “They have a voice and they can use it positively.”

Bodie, a ninth grader in Shasta County, said the workshop helped him develop leadership, communication, teamwork and decision-making skills. Photo by Nate Caeton

Her sons – and the other two teens who completed the workshop – will help adult instructors organize and deliver the 10- to 12-week MyPI training to young people in their communities. As part of the program, tentatively slated to begin in Northern California by summer 2024, youth participants will be required to work with their families to create an emergency communications plan, assemble a disaster kit, and reach out to six other households to make similar preparations.

“This gives them some ownership over their own personal preparedness and the preparedness of their family and those they are closest to,” Caeton explained.

By partnering with schools, 4-H clubs and community groups, Caeton said the goal is to deliver the program to 125 young people, across five Northern California counties, by summer 2025 – before expanding participation across the state.

“I'm hoping it spreads like wildflowers, because it's definitely needed,” Zulliger said.