Garden-to-table food education strategies to induce healthy food choices & reduce risk of obesity in NYC middle & high school students

Urban Assembly, a non-profit intermediary organization managing 19 middle & secondary NYC public schools, partnered with FamilyCook Productions to develop a skills-building food and nutrition education program based on NY State Standards for students at two pilot schools using the RE-AIM evaluation format. REACH: A cohort of 60 out of 103 6th graders received 12 weeks of food education, including healthful meal preparation and school gardening. Non-intervention students served as control. At the secondary level, a cohort of 50 out of 97 9th graders participated in a similar pilot for 12 weeks, with the non-involved students also serving as control. EFFICACY: pre and post program surveys using select questions from CDC YRBS measuring fruit and vegetable intake; focus groups; individual student portfolios; and essays will measure behavior and attitudinal changes. ADOPTION: target grades adapted the program to their curriculum, teachers were recruited and trained to become program mentors in future years; IMPLIMENTATION: weekly electronic teacher feedback confirming actual lesson delivery and feasibility will inform maintenance and rollout. MAINTENANCE: The preceeding measures will inform program expansion. The program goals for both pilot grades were as follows: 1) improve students' consumption of healthful food choices, particularly fresh fruits and vegetables; 2) increase the prevalence of and capacity for students to participate in family meal planning, shopping and preparation through skills development; and 3) develop students' awareness that their overall well-being and long term health are related to their food behaviors. Preliminary results, using qualitative measures (quantitative will be available upon program end in June) indicate that students in the program group are asking for opportunities to shop for fresh foods and practice the recipes they learn at school at home. Urban Assembly and FamilyCook will build on the pilot results to continue the education in successive grades in the pilot schools and roll out the program to more schools in a staged process.