Healthy Victories August 2021 |
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Celebrate Healthy Victories! |
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Champions for Change are real people just like you. Champions make good health a priority for themselves and their families by making small changes in their diet and daily physical activity. Visit Del Norte CalFresh Healthy Living website and learn more about nutrition and physical activity resources and healthful tips. Let's celebrate healthy victories that lead your families healthier and happier!
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Harvest of the Month Live at Lunch
Fruits and vegetables are some of the healthiest and best-tasting foods. They are low in sodium and calories, and most are fat-free. Fruits and vegetables, as part of a healthy diet, may help you control your weight, lower your risk of stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure, reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, lower your risk of certain types of cancer, boost your energy level, and look and feel great! Harvest of the Month aims to increase access to fruits and vegetables through school meal programs, farm-to-school programs, classrooms, school gardens, farmers' markets, grocery stores, food banks, and other community-based locations. Harvest of the Month program also aims to increase consumers' preference for fruits and vegetables, increase consumption of locally grown fruits and vegetables, increase participation in daily physical activity, and understand why it is vital to our health.
We celebrate Harvest of the Month featuring a seasonal fruit or vegetable on Mondays via Facebook Live from 12 pm- 12:30 pm. Our local Champions for Change are also joining us and share healthy recipes. This month, Champion for Change, Saroj, shared two different recipes featuring green beans, "Green bean patties & Green beans plus potato fusion recipes". Watch the recipes by clicking Cooking with Saroj
Please join us for our Harvest of the Month Live at Lunch on Mondays, meet our local Champions for Change, and connect with us with healthy recipes and nutrition education!
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2021 Brings fun and active play back to summer |
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This summer we were, once again, able to promote gardening and have Harvest of the Month taste testing at the Farmers Markets. That was barely started when several other opportunities presented themselves. Summer camps and summer fairs began to take place. We were tired of staying inside behind a computer screen and we know you have been too! Participants of all ages came out to play as if they had waited all year for an invitation.
Active play and Harvest of the Month swirl together like a smoothie in the blender bike. That’s just what we did. We reached deep down and dragged out all the old games. Now it seems like we’re bringing hop scotch back in style and relearning how to play Double Dutch, having a blast playing group games with the parachute and the most active game of tic tac toe ever!
When we’re all laughing and sweaty, tired and thirsty our Champions were right there waiting with a smile and a healthy drink, perhaps a smoothie fresh blended with people power.
We had such fun this summer, and we hope you did too.
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We were invited to the Food & Farm camp this summer. The campers learned about a healthy and balanced diet, the importance of physical activity, and hydration through fun games and activities. Thank you, Paloma, for your active participation and engagement! We had a lot of fun! |
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We promoted Rethink Your Drink/Hydration at the farmer's market this summer. The kids and families enjoyed a delicious drink, "Melon Cooler, made by the people-powered smoothie bike. It was fun! Thank you, Angelica and Amore, for your active participation! |
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Champion for Change, Sequoia Cooper |
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Champions for Change are also individuals who have overcome obstacles to secure good health for themselves and their family, and who can serve as role models for others in their community. Champions make good health a priority for themselves and their families and inspire others to make healthy changes for a better life. You, too, can become a Champion for Change by making small healthy changes and joining the movement! Thank you, Champions for Change, for sharing your stories and experiences, and skills with us!
We are honored to work with the most outstanding leaders and Champions in our communities who walk the talk and model the changes they would like to see in our community, promoting healthy lifestyles. We are pleased to introduce a new Champion for Change, Sequoia Cooper. She will be joining us for a Harvest of the Month Live at Lunch on the last Monday of each month. Welcome, Sequoia! We are honored and excited to have you as our Champion for Change.
Click Meet Our Champions to find out what other Champions have done across the state to help their family eat healthier and be more active every day.
Click Meet Your Local Champions to meet Del Norte Champions for Change to learn from their personal success stories and healthy lifestyle demonstrations.
If you like to learn more about the Champions for Change program and to become a Champion for Change, Contact Us
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Painting Playgrounds For Movement
Stencil Project
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Physical activity supports more than fundamental movement skills in young children. Children gain motor skills by using the playground stencils for free-and teacher-led play while complementing learning in social-emotional development, language and literacy, Mathematics, and nutrition. By participating in group activities, children learn self-awareness, self-regulation, interaction, group participation, cooperation. Children have the opportunity to practice listening, speaking, letter awareness, rhyming, and color recognition by participating in free play and teacher-led activities. Additionally, healthy food choices are promoted by integrating fruits and vegetables into the playground.
We can lend the stencils and offer technical assistance with the day care providers and early childhood education sites, Head Starts and Preschools, and community centers and agencies. The stencils we have include Playground Paths, Number Hopscotch, Letter Hopscotch, Bull's Eye Toss, Shapes, Numbers 0-9, Letters A-z, Playground Pond, Words, Wall Target Toss, and Footprints, and Fruits and Vegetables, MyPlate, and Traffic Sign. Don't hesitate to Contact Us if you like to learn more about the stencil project.
Most recently, Uncharted Shores Academy has used some of them (along with creative freehand from some of the staff) to make their playgrounds more colorful and inviting for their students. Thank you, Uncharted Shores Academy, for your partnership and dedication to promoting our children's health through an active playground stencil project! We are excited and honored to be a part of this beautiful stencil project!
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Uncharted Shore Academy Early Learning Center, Stencil Project; Frog pattern |
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Uncharted Shore Academy Early Learning Center, Stencil Project; Snake pattern |
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Healthy Meal and Snack Tips |
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There are many ways to eat healthfully. Food choices are often driven by taste, traditions and availability. For healthy meals, aim for at least 1 food from each of the 5 food groups; vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, and dairy. For healthy snacks, aim for foods from 2-3 of the food groups. Think of snacks as mini meals. Milk and water are the healthiest drink choices for children age 1 or older. Whole foods are nutrient-dense, meaning they provide many nutrients and the most health benefits! For example, whole-grain or whole-wheat bread has more nutrients such as fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals than refined bread. Choose whole grains more often when possible. Oranges have more nutrients like fiber than orange juice. Some of the same nutrients but not all of the health benefits come from 100% fruit or vegetable juice. Check out our program website Delnorte CalFresh Healthy Living for more healthy eating ideas and tips.
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- The Colors remind us to eat from different food groups
- Vegetables and fruits take up half of MyPlate.
- Switch half your grains to whole grains-for example, whole grain bread and brown rice.
- Choose water or low-fat milk with meals.
Click MyPlate to explore the MyPlate food groups. |
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P-EBT for Children Under 6 on SNAP |
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What is Pandemic EBT?
The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program provides nutritional resources to families who have lost access to free or reduced-price school meals and/or child care meals due to school and child care facility closures and/or reduced hours. It applies for both the school year and the covered summer period, which varies by state.
Which Children Under 6 are Eligible to Participate in P-EBT?
Children under 6 years old who live in households that were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at any time since October 1, 2020, are eligible for P-EBT benefits if they lived in or attended child care in an area where one or more schools or child care facilities were closed or operated with reduced attendance or hours. As for P-EBT benefits for summer 2021, children under 6 whose households were enrolled in SNAP in the last month of the school year, or at any point over the covered 2021 summer period, are eligible for summer P-EBT benefits. Infants in SNAP households who were born before the end of the covered summer period also are eligible for P-EBT benefits for the entire covered summer period. Even if SNAP-enrolled children under 6 receive meals at their child care provider over the summer, they still will receive P-EBT benefits. Receiving and using P-EBT, along with benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and SNAP, do not impact an individual’s immigration status; they are not considered under the “public charge” rule.
What Benefits do P-EBT Households Receive?
P-EBT provides households with money on a new or existing EBT card that they can use to purchase food from SNAP-authorized food retailers. For most states, the benefit per month is $136 for a child under 6. As with SNAP, each $1 in federal P-EBT benefits during a downturn generates between $1.50 and $1.80 in economic activity, positively impacting the entire food chain, including farmers, food manufacturers, truck delivery services, and grocery stores and their employees.
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September-Hunger Action Month |
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September 17 is Hunger Action Day, a movement advocating for the millions of people facing hunger. Join us this September for Hunger Action Month, where people all over the United States stand together with the Feeding America Network to fight hunger. Hunger can affect people from all walks of life. Millions of people in America are just one job loss, missed paycheck, or medical emergency away from hunger. Food insecurity refers to USDA's measurement of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. According to Feeding America, food insecurity may reflect a household's need to make trade-offs between essential basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods1. Overall food insecurity rate in Del Norte County in 2019 was 15.8%, and 4, 350 people experienced food insecurity1.
However, the rate of children's food insecurity in Del Norte County in 2018 was significantly higher, 24%, than overall food insecurity and the state revel, 17% and 19%, respectively2. Food insecure people are disproportionately affected by diet-sensitive chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, linked to adverse effects on overall health. Research shows an association between food insecurity and delayed development in young children, risk of chronic illnesses like asthma and anemia, and behavioral problems like hyperactivity, anxiety, and aggression in school-aged children3. Check out the Feeding America's website and learn the ways for you to take action to end hunger in your community today and join in the Hunger Action Day, a movement advocating for the millions of people facing hunger.
- Feeding America, Food Insecurity in Del Norte County https://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2019/overall/california/county/del-norte2.
- SNAP-Ed 2018 County Profile: Del Norte
- Feeding America, Compromises and coping strategies https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger
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Ask a Master Gardener of Humboldt & Del Norte Counties
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Join in the movement for a healthy change! You also can be a Champion for Change. Please nominate yourself or others who would like to become a Champion for Change and share your healthy victories with others! Let's make positive and healthy changes together!
Email to Sunny Baker, sbaker@co.del-norte.ca.us
Contact, 707-464-3191 X 2830
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Funded by USDA SNAP, an equal
opportunity provider and employer.
Visit CalFreshHealthyLiving.org for
healthy tips.
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