The UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program maintains a well-established partnership with Bringing Broken Neighborhoods Back to Life (BBNBTL). BBNBTL hosts summer community outreach events throughout the City of Fresno to build trust and deliver resources to the community. 

The entire family enjoys the lively music and upbeat atmosphere while they learn about the community resources available to them. 

 Community Education Specialists Consuelo Cid and Maira Enriquez attended the Vang Pao Elementary & Sequoia Middle School Community Block Party. They delivered nutrition and physical activity education to the entire family. Parents and children alike learned about MyPlate and the importance of eating healthfully and staying active. The entire family was reminded to include a variety of fruits and vegetables in their diet, choose lean meats and poultry, select more whole grains, and consume low-fat (1% milk) or fat-free dairy products. The entire family had fun learning about healthy eating and physical activity habits in an environment that was safe and nurturing. 

Community Education Specialist, Consuelo Cid (pictured above) showcases the MyPlate interactive display. The Myplate food icon always provides an excellent icebreaker to spark conversation about healthy eating! 

Community Education Specialist, Maira Enriquez (pictured above) engages and teaches participants about the importance of eating healthfully and staying active.  

We would like to thank Bringing Broken Neighborhoods Back to Life for hosting such a wonderful family event and for their commitment to enhancing communities throughout Fresno County. We look forward to attending more community block parties next summer!

School is finally back in session! The UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program hopes our teachers and students had a restful and healthy summer vacation. We are excited to get the school year running by attending Back to School Night at some of our sites. Nutrition educators set up booths that provided great information for parents who may be interested in attending nutrition workshops in the near future.

Nutrition Coordinator, Nath Say at Rowell Elementary's Back to School Night

Leavenworth Elementary's Back to School Night display

We would like to say thank you to our sites that welcomed us at their events. The UC CalFresh team looks forward to another great school year of offering nutrition education!

If you are interested in attending a nutrition workshop, please contact us at (559) 241-7550.

UC CalFresh Nutrition Educator, Emily Harris, reflects on the experience of teaching her first adult nutrition education series.

Making a difference in the life of community members is something we aspire to here at UC CalFresh. I had the privilege of teaching my first class of adults, and I'll admit, I was nervous. After teaching kids who are younger than me, shorter than me, and expected to listen to me by their respective teachers, I had no idea what to expect.  

“I buy more [healthy] dairy for my son, ‘non-fat milk.' I learned how to check how much sugar is really in drinks. [I] also plan on keeping up on [healthy] foods and drinks.”-Adult program participant

Being a 20-someting with no kids, I didn't know if my adult participants would take what I had to say seriously. I don't have to budget for three hungry children with particular food sensitivities/preferences; who am I to tell them how to do this?

Despite these thoughts coursing through my mind, I decided to be confident and share the information I had to offer with the life experiences (however limited they are) that I do have. I was astounded by the positive responses that I had! I felt that my participants appreciated my honest and sometimes comical anecdotes about my own struggles with eating healthy and trying to stick to a budget.

 

“It was an informative class. [I'm] going to look at nutrition facts now that I have a better understanding. [I] would love to learn in more detail how eating unhealthy affects us.”–Adult program participant

What I decided to emphasize when I teach is that changes will not happen all at one time in every aspect of a participant's life. One of my participants was an avid soda drinker, consuming at least three cans a day. I did not tell this participant that he should quit drinking soda completely; I know within a week or two he would be back to drinking it and probably at a higher volume. My suggestion to any situation like this one is to begin with a small change. Maybe for this participant the best thing to do would be to only drink two sodas a day this week.

I know some adamant health fanatics are probably astounded by my suggestion. Is she really encouraging a participant to drink high amounts of soda? Not at all! What I've seen and learned in my classes is that people have habits that they need to break, and the only effective way to break them is at a gradual pace. What I desire for my participants is that they develop healthy habits they can pass on to their children, and I'm thankful I was able to see that begin to happen in their lives.

~Emily 

Interested in more success stories from past participants? Find them here! 

The UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program offers a hands on nutrition education class series called Plan, Shop, Save, and Cook. This 5-part series teaches participants how to maximize their food dollars, plan meals, save time, save money, create menus, read nutrition fact labels and so much more!

The parents of Roosevelt High School students learned how to plan, shop, save and cook using simple strategies. Check it out:

Using the MyPlate model helps participants remember the importance of including the 5 food groups when planning a healthy meal.

Planning a meal using food that you have on hand, and using the weekly sale ads helps save time and money!

Reading the nutrition facts labels from one of the ingredients of the healthy recipe demonstrated in this class! This is a great way to make cooking a fun learning activity!

Nutrition facts labels are a great tool for selecting foods that are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and low in fat.

These series graduates became experts in planning healthy meals and snacks for 5 days!  

For more information on adult nutrition classes, please contact Sandra Ortega at (559) 241-7514.