Comida Casera: Influencing the Informal Food System of an Elementary School and Community

Healthy and sustainable food at school involves two inter-related but also independent systems – the formal food system (such as school lunches, vending machines, and cafeteria meals) and the informal food system (food brought to school by teachers and staff, children, parents, and the community). Comida Casera (“Homemade Food”) was designed to influence the informal food system of a low-income, immigrant community to increase availability, consumption, and enjoyment of healthy, homemade food at school. Formative research explored the sources and scope of the informal food system, including what is brought to school, how, and why. Investigators in this phase included the girls health club (Las Flores de la Salud), participants in the mothers' health education group (Las Campeonas de la Salud), teachers and staff, and university public health students. Based on the formative results, action research included three primary initiatives: 1) promotion of healthy, homemade food at all school-related or school-based events, 2) establishing the school as food distribution site and developing a partnership with a farm-to-table program, and 3) nutrition and cooking series for mothers and children using the ingredients now more readily available and easily accessible. Supportive projects included a social marketing campaign with selected classrooms and a set of integrated health communications products to reinforce the importance of the informal food system in "comida casera". This presentation will provide process and outcome evaluation results, including a discussion of unanticipated findings regarding the unique role of pushcart vendors in the broader social ecology of the school.