Students at Balderas and Winchell Elementary Schools receive no-cost nutrition education and food tastings throughout the school year if their teachers are enrolled in the UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program. The aim is to instill healthy eating behaviors and physical activity habits at an early age!

The beauty of learning is that it is an ongoing feat for all people of all ages! Parents at Balderas and Winchell Elementary Schools joined in on the nutrition education fun as they explored how to make healthy eating the right and easy choice.

Parents were eager to learn about how they could plan, purchase, and prepare healthy food choices on a budget, and they agreed that eating healthy can sometimes be straining on the budget, but small changes can make a world of a difference!

Small steps are the key to success.

Here are some easy ways to save money when purchasing healthy foods for your family:

• Make a grocery list and stick to it! 
• Buy in bulk.
• Shop when you are not hungry.
• Plan your meals around sale food items and use coupons!
• Compare unit prices and try store brands!
• Visit your local Farmers Market for seasonal fruit and vegetable options. 
  • To find a Farmers Market near you, visit the Ecology Center.
    • Look for Market Match. Learn all about Market Match on our blog so that you can extend your fruit and vegetable dollars even more!

Do you have a thrifty tip or something that helps you buy healthier food, while on a budget? Comment below and share with us. We love hearing from you!

Preparing a healthy recipe is always the most anticipated class activity. Learning how to read a recipe and prepare healthy meals is a lifelong skill that can be used immediately to improve the eating behaviors of our participants. Our program participants are also encouraged to keep an active lifestyle, and move more! Does this mean parents got a little taste of physical activity in every class? You bet they did! 

Upon the successful completion of a four-week nutrition education series, parents received a University of California certificate that acknowledged their commitment to adopt healthier lifestyles. Additionally, they received a bag containing reinforcement items, such as cookbooks, measuring cups and spoons, scrub brush, grocery list, and much more!

Give it up for Balderas' Plan, Shop, $ave, and Cook class of 2017! 

Give it up for Winchell's Plan, Shop, $ave, and Cook class of 2017! 

Let's hear some of the parents' successes:

"I am more aware of what I buy, I take my [grocery list] notes when I shop so I don't overbuy. I am also reading the contents on cereal, I am saving money when I do my grocery shopping." - parent

"Estoy mas consiente de las compras, [h]echo mas apuntes para no comprar de mas. Tambien estoy leyendo el contenido de las cajitas de cereal, estoy...ahorrando dinero al [h]acer mis compras." - padre de familia

"I learned how to make healthy recipes (ranch dressing), to read food labels, and to [read] the percentages of sugar and salt that foods contain." - parent

"Aprendí a hacer recetas más saludables (ranch dressing), leer las etiquetas de los productos y [ha] saber el porcentaje de azúcar y sal que contiene [los alimentos]. " - padre de familia

Thank you to both Balderas and Winchell Elementary Schools for opening their doors and allowing us to help improve eating behaviors for families in Fresno County!

Would you would like to invite us to host a no-cost parent nutrition class at your school site?

Contact Javier Miramontes, UC CalFresh Program Supervisor, to get started! 

Javier Miramontes

Nutrition Program Supervisor

jfmiramontes@ucanr.edu

(559) 241-7539

It's National Nutrition Month! This year's theme is, “Putting Your Best Fork Forward” to show us how every bite you take counts.  

 This month is also a reminder of what was highlighted in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: change takes time, so beginning with a small change to reach a healthier, long lasting habit is important. Here are some key messages provided by eatright.org to take into consideration this National Nutrition Month:

1. Create an eating style that includes a variety of your favorite, healthful foods.
2. Practice cooking more at home and experiment with healthier ingredients.
3. How much we eat is as important as what we eat. Eat and drink the right amount for you, as MyPlate encourages us to do.
4. Find activities that you enjoy and be physically active most days of the week.
5. Manage your weight or lower your health risks by consulting a registered dietitian nutritionist. RDNs can provide sound, easy-to-follow personalized nutrition advice to meet your lifestyle, preferences and health-related needs.

How do you plan to take charge of your health this month? Hopefully this month motivates you to make a small change or to continue making changes you are already working on. Nutrition is not one size fits all, and we hope you find your perfect fit to a healthier lifestyle.

For more information on National Nutrition Month, visit eatright.org and get inspired!

Nutrition Corners are a creative way to provide indirect nutrition education. A great place to start is with resources you have on hand, like extra calendars, the Choose MyPlate website and UC CalFresh curriculum. The Nutrition Corner pictured above is a promotion of the Plant Parts lesson I've taught in my enrolled UC CalFresh teachers' classes. I hope this draws the attention of teachers not yet participating in the program and encourages them to sign up. I also placed a recipe, produce tips and a Nutrition Activity Reporting Form to extend my lesson with my enrolled teachers and remind them of upcoming paperwork.

New Year, New Goals is a great campaign to kick off the new year with healthy goals. I used MyPlate Super Tracker information, a healthy recipe, tips to make and maintain changes, and a suggestion box to create my New Year's Nutrition Corner. Take advantage of ChooseMyPlate.gov when curating content for your nutrition topics.

The Nutrition Corner above is all about MyPlate for kids. Have students help you place the food groups in their correct spot, then place pictures of their meal on the MyPlate. This Nutrition Corner is a visual way to help kids associate foods with their food groups and illustrate what a healthy plate looks like.

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What topic would you like to see on a Nutrition Corner near you?  

UC CalFresh was able to showcase its very first obstacle course for Madera Unified School District at La Vina Elementary School Harvest festival on October 28, 2016. The students were thrilled to go through the obstacle course and Nutrition Coordinators, Consuelo Cid and Angelica Perez, enjoyed sharing the benefits of the MyPlate-themed obstacle course. 

Consuelo Cid, above, showcasing the obstacle course.

The obstacle course consisted of three stations: the Whole Grain Hops, where students hopped a variety of ways, the Dairy Dunes, which made the students jump over and go under two bars, and the last obstacle, where the students were able to throw a bean bag through the Fruit Hoops.

Angelica Perez, above, watching the students toss the beanbags through the Fruit Hoops.

The obstacle course was a great success and the students had lots of fun. Even Pete, the MyPlate Superhero, joined in on the fun and sat on the information table to greet the students and parents at La Vina Elementary.

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If any Fresno/Madera schools are interested in setting up a MyPlate-themed obstacle course, contact UC CalFresh Nutrition Educator Austin Cantrell at ajcantrell@ucanr.edu or (559) 241-7505.