The end of the year has arrived for our local schools…..after a wonderful year of learning about growing food, how to cook and eat healthy, fresh food and the importance of caring for our bodies, it was so inspiring to see these Deer Creek students celebrate the end of the year by harvesting a fresh salad from the school garden!

We can’t wait for 2013/14 school year when we can make even more progress with Live Healthy Nevada County’s Farm to School Programs! Until then…..go play in the dirt!!!!

Aidan, Bella and Harry all helped harvest and make a fresh salad right from their school garden as part of their end of the year 3rd grade celebration.  

Food Love Project

Farming Summer Camp 2013!

·      Session 1 is July 15-19

·      Session is July 22-26

The Food Love Project is an educational farm designed to share the love of fresh, local, seasonal, whole foods with our community.  Started in partnership with the Bear Yuba Land Trust in 2010, this site is a growing hub where kids and adults come to engage in the cycle of how food is produced.

We do this by planting, harvesting, and tasting fresh veggies, learning tangible skills, and getting dirty!

The Food Love Project Camp runs from 9AM-1PM each day, with each day having its own theme.  The size of the program is kept small to insure that each child gets to explore his or her own interests and take on farm responsibilities. 

FLP camp is open to kids ages 6 and up! 

What to expect at camp:

During the week, campers will choose a “farm name” and a “farm job” that they are responsible for.  For instance, a camper who has decided to call herself “Radish” for the week may have the task of collecting eggs first thing in the morning, or watering the tipi. 

We will be planting seeds, harvesting vegetables and flowers, seed saving, feeding chickens, taste testing and cooking fresh foods, searching for and identifying bugs and reptiles, creating art projects on the farm, photography, and working on natural building (ie cob pizza oven, bench). 

Each day will have a theme to it, but there will also be underlying structure to how each day goes.  The experience is designed to give campers an idea of what it takes to have a garden or farm, while at the same time encouraging their creativity and ownership of the space.

Each camper should bring a water bottle, sunscreen, a hat, a bathing suit (or clothes that can get wet) and a bag lunch.  We will provide snack, water and fun! 

Cost:

Camp runs from 9AM-1PM each day, and the cost is sliding scale $100-$200 per camper.  There is also an “a la carte” option of coming for just the day for $40

We are currently working on securing funding to provide scholarships to those who can’t afford it, so if cost is an issue let us know.

 If you would like more information or to reserve your child’s spot, email Farmer Amanda atfoodloveproject@gmail.com or go to www.livinglandsnetwork.org  to pay online and download registration materials.

http://www.livinglandsnetwork.org/education/educational-programs-food-love-youth-education/food-love-summer-camp/

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May’s Harvest of the Month brought us lettuce and peas from Mountain Bounty Farm on the North San Juan Ridge! Our partnering schools also held plant sales as a fund raiser for farm to school events and to encourage families to “grow their own”!

Thanks again to Mountain Bounty for growing and sharing such beautiful food!

Here are some wonderful photos of a sweet pea tasting event at Deer Creek School! Thanks again t all of our fabulous liaisons and volunteers!

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered their time, energy and services this far -Live Healthy Nevada County is GROWING!!

We are looking for volunteers who have specific interests in these areas to continue to help us bring fresh, local foods to our schools! As LHNC grows, we are looking for ways to engage the greater community in these areas. This is an ideal time to get in touch and let your talents SHINE!

Early in May, our very own Malaika Bishop was invited to attend a gathering and conference in Wisconsin at the Waterfront Riverside Center, situated along the banks of the picturesque Mississippi River. The event was called WomenShare- a gathering of over 150 women who have been working to improve food systems for decades.

The event begins with two premises:

First, our food system is stressed and broken. And second, we believe that women have a unique, powerful role to play in transforming it.

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations reports that 70% of the world is fed by women.
• According to the USDA, there is a 30% increase in women farmers.
• Women across the globe hold top-level positions in the largest food production businesses and food and agriculture policy-making agencies in unprecedented numbers.

WomenShare is designed as both a gathering and long-term grassroots movement of diverse women leaders from all sectors who are passionately committed to creating real and lasting change in today’s food system.

Through art, theater, yoga, technology, conversation cafes and round tables, the group of women explored the operating principles in effective food systems. One of the key take-aways that this event highlighted is the importance of working together, collaboration and engaging everyone who is involved in food systems leadership to share perspectives, challenges and success in order to move forward

One of the most exciting bits of news is that through Malaika’s  time at the conference, she was able to connect with Chef Ann Cooper. Ann helped to lead the transformation of the Berkeley School lunch program. Ann donated 3 salad bars to Live Healthy Nevada County and the plan is to offer salad bars in the 4 middle schools LHNC works with, 7 Hills, Lyman Gilmore, Magnolia and Union Hill.

We are currently in the research and development phase of working out logistics in getting the salad bar program going.

Thanks to Ann and most of all, Thanks to Malaika for traveling cross country to attend such a fantastic event!

Oscar Mayer Lunchables are a popular option for busy parents who are looking for something fast, easy, and affordable for their kids to eat for lunch.  But how do they compare to the school lunch that comes from Grass Valley School District Child Nutrition Services’ Central Kitchen, which is an option in 11 schools in our county?

It’s certainly less work for parents if their kids eat the lunch that the school serves. And, with Lunchables selling for between $3.00 and $3.50 per meal, school lunches might even be more affordable, especially if families qualify for a free or reduced price school lunch. The biggest advantage of the Central Kitchen’s lunch, however, is the nutritional value. Each lunch that GVSDCNS serves must meet stringent federal nutritional standards, which include a limit on the amount of fat (no more than 30% of calories from fat/ 10% of calories from saturated fat) and a minimum requirement of one-third of the recommended Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for calories, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium.

We compared a “Chicken Dunks with Juice” Lunchables meal with the Central Kitchen’s elementary school lunch menu for May 29: Chicken Tenders, Sweet Potato Fries, Baby Carrots, Couscous Salad, Fruit and 1% unflavored milk. Here is what we found:

 If you fill out a school food survey here before May 31, you will qualify for a drawing to win a month of FREE school lunches from GVSDCNS, which provides students with a nutritious, balanced meal choice every day.

Lunchables Nutritional Information: http://www.walmart.com/ip/6-Fl-Oz-100-Fruit-Juice-Chicken-Dunks/13908410#ProductDetail

Check out this post from grist.org comparing the foods that families eat around the world:

Have you seen these photos by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio? They show what a family eats for a week in countries around the world. They’re a quick and fascinating window in the differences in the quantity and the quality of food people eat.

Just look for a second at all the colors in this Mexican family’s food:

And then check out the American family’s groceries. Still colorful, yeah, but the colors come from the bright packaging of processed food:

In Mongolia, a more arid environment, the food’s more monochrome:

And in the countries where families have fewer resources, like Ecuador, their food has less variation: They buy groceries in sacks.  Full article here.

In many places around the world, children eat what they grow and produce with their families in their town or village.  In America, we are blessed (and cursed) with a huge variety of foods available.  If asked to display a weekly supply of food, Americans could put together almost any combination.  Children here often have the chance to make food choices on their own, away from parent guidance.   Unfortunately the choices marketed to them aren’t the healthiest.  This reminds us that growing vegetables, cooking, and eating as a family helps to guide children’s food choices now and as they grow up.  In Nevada County, we have an abundance of fresh local food.  Just imagine how colorful and vibrant you could make your family’s weekly food choices, loaded with fresh fruits and veggies.  Maybe try it and take a picture!

Nevada County schools will be learning about, tasting and then enjoying lot of FRESH LETTUCE in their school lunches!
May is the ripest month in spring and as dormant life underground starts to pop out in celebration of renewal, we get lots of LETTUCE!

Each month, our school lunches reflect what is being featured for Harvest of the Month. This month director Suzanne Grass will highlight salads on the menu with salad mixes such as Romaine, Spinach with a bit of Cabbage for some crunch. And though it is not noted on the menu  spring mix will be added into the salads this month as well!

As you get ready to put your garden in this year……make sure to visit your local school to purchase plant starts from the school garden carts!

In early May, the garden stands will sell vegetable starts and seeds to encourage home gardening and raise money for the schools farm to school activities. The program will also include farm field trips for 3^rd and 6^th grade students including standards based science curriculum on the farm. Check with your local school for specific dates for each sale.

Live Healthy Nevada County works together with local farmers and garden cart liaisons to bring hands-on farm and garden education to Nevada County students.

When discussing the importance of the quality of food served in schools, I am sometimes met with the argument that perhaps this is not such a crucial topic to be championing…..after all it is just food right?

It is in these situations that I am glad to be armed with scientific research that correlates childhood obesity to poor health throughout the course of a life. A recent study presented by the American College of Cardiology, it was suggested that being overweight from a young are appears to lead to a bigger heart later in life which has been linked to serious cardiac problems.

Read the research summary below fore more on these disturbing findings. Healthy foods now= Healthy life later.

Age matters in weight gain: Overweight at

young age takes toll

High BMI seems to predict harmful changes in the heart’s structure

SAN FRANCISCO (March 7, 2013) — Being overweight, especially from a young age, appears to lead to a bigger heart later in life, a condition that has been linked to serious heart problems and even death, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

Results of this longitudinal study found that people who carry excess weight over their lifetime are much more likely to have increases in left ventricular mass and relative wall thickness — both strong and independent predictors of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In this instance, timing is indeed everything; the earlier someone becomes overweight, the greater the increase in the heart’s mass later in life.

“Being overweight in your 20s can have detrimental effects on the heart 40 years in the future, especially if you keep the weight on over the years,” said Arjun K. Ghosh, MBBS, MRCP (U.K.), MSc, clinical research fellow at the International Centre for Circulatory Health of Britain’s National Heart and Lung Institute and at the U.K. Medical Research Council’s Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging and the study’s lead investigator, on behalf of the full study team.

“It’s probably the wrong attitude to think ‘I know I’m overweight now, but I’ll lose the weight later’ because the longer you spend overweight, the greater the weight of your heart muscle. And we know from other studies that even if we take away or account for high blood pressure, diabetes or other risk factors for heart disease, somebody with a bigger heart muscle is more likely to have a heart attack, die or have other problems, such as stroke.”

Researchers tracked the body mass index (BMI) of 1,653 men and women at different points in their lives to examine the effects of being overweight on the structure of the heart. BMI is a simple measure of the body’s fat using a calculation of weight to height. People who were considered overweight, with a BMI of 25 to 29.9, or obese, with a BMI of 30 or above, had the heaviest hearts. Dr. Ghosh said few, if any, studies have been able to look at this question over such a long duration. He and his team drew from 44 years of data. Strikingly, the heart was 7 percent heavier for those who were overweight beginning in their 20s compared to those who only became overweight in their 60s.

“Our findings add to the wealth of evidence that obesity and being overweight from a young age is not good and provide yet another reason why we need to focus on preventing obesity and promoting a healthy lifestyle,” he said. “Being overweight is a significant risk factor for heart disease, and worldwide, people seem to be becoming overweight at younger and younger ages.”

Dr. Ghosh said previous research demonstrates that it is difficult to go back to and maintain a normal weight once someone has become overweight. As such, prevention of becoming overweight in the first place should be the aim. This is especially relevant amid the growing obesity epidemic, even among children. One in three school-aged children in North America are now overweight and this upward trend shows no signs of slowing, which means more children are entering adulthood carrying excess weight.

Individuals included in this study are participants in the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (or the 1946 British birth cohort), which is the longest running birth cohort study in the United Kingdom. Between ages 60 and 64, participants underwent echocardiography, an ultrasound of the heart, to allow researchers to measure the size of the heart muscle and their BMI was calculated. BMI and other cardiovascular risk factors had previously been measured at 20, 26, 36, 43 and 53 years of age. Higher BMI from 20 years onward was associated with increased heart muscle mass, with those with higher BMIs at each time point having heavier hearts at age 60-64 years of age. These associations remain after researchers adjusted for related risk factors, e.g., high blood pressure, diabetes and sex.

Two previous analyses of cardiac health indicators in the same study cohort revealed that people with diabetes are at greater risk of heart problems the longer they had diabetes and that a sharp spike in blood pressure during midlife, not just crossing a certain threshold, such as becoming hypertensive, can increase a person’s risk of heart disease later in life. Both were presented at ACC.12.

This study was funded by the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom.

The ACC’s Annual Scientific Session brings together cardiologists and cardiovascular specialists from around the world each year to share the newest discoveries in treatment and prevention. Follow @ACCMediaCenter and #ACC13 for the latest news from the meeting.

The American College of Cardiology is a nonprofit medical society comprised of 43,000 physicians, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists and practice managers. The College is dedicated to transforming cardiovascular care, improving heart health and advancing quality improvement, patient-centered care, payment innovation and professionalism. The ACC also leads the formulation of important cardiovascular health policy, standards and guidelines. It bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists, provides professional education, supports and disseminates cardiovascular research, and operates national registries to measure and promote quality care. For more information, visit cardiosource.org.