Food Literacy in Preschool (FLIP)

Launched in Fall 2011

Our Food Literacy in Preschool (FLIP) Program serves as the first step of our Feed the Future programs. FLIP introduces fruits and vegetables to young children from low-income working families by means of fun, interactive lesson plans that promote healthy eating and physical activity.

FLIP serves a dual-purpose: delivering short-term food assistance and providing nutrition education to those in need.

Each month, children (ages 3 to 5) participate in a lesson centered around one selected in-season produce item. Lessons are 45 to 60 minutes and include:

  • a form of food-based literature
  • a food-focused physical activity
  • a tasting of the chosen produce item

The children are given a moderate amount of the produce item to bring home to their families, as well as a healthy recipe. Emphasizing nutrient-dense foods puts the focus on quality rather than quantity, thus addressing the issue that many clients are overfed yet undernourished.

By focusing on this younger age group, we aim to help children understand the importance of nutritious choices and prepare them for a lifetime of healthy choices.

 

Who is Served?150204-FA-CA-025

Children (ages 3-5) from low-income, working families at preschools and childcare centers in underserved areas throughout the county.

This program is not available to the public; the Foodbank hosts FLIP at preschool locations selected based on need.

 

Role in Continuum of Programs

FLIP serves as the first step of our Feed the Future programs.

 

Program Impact

There is a high rate of overweight/obesity among lower-income preschool and kindergarten children in our county.

150204-FA-CA-016

    • Screening of lower-income preschool and kindergarten children by the County Education Office Health Linkages Program found a combined overweight/obesity rate of 43% in 2010-2011.
    • Over a third (33.5%) of 2-year-olds to 5-year-olds served by the county’s Women Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition program in 2010 were overweight or obese. If you are looking to apply for WIC here are the WIC office locations.
    • The national Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System reported that 45.5% of local lower-income youth aged 5-20 were overweight or obese in 2009. (Source: Health Weight Promotion & Obesity Prevention Plan, Santa Barbara County Public Health Department 2011).

These statistics only reinforce the need for (and expansion of) programs like FLIP.

FLIP is producing the desired impacts necessary for the continued health of our young children, including:

    • improved family access to a variety of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables.
    • early childhood educator training regarding the importance of positive role modeling and the importance of good nutrition in childhood development, and exposure to fruit and vegetables during early childhood when food behaviors are often formed.

 

Program Sites (8)

FLIP currently operates at the following locations:

    • Isla Vista Youth Projects – Phelps Center
    • Isla Vista Youth Projects – West Campus
    • Notre Dame School – Santa Barbara
    • Storyteller Children’s Center – De La Vina
    • Storyteller Children’s Center – State Street
    • Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County – Guadalupe
    • Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County – Lompoc
    • Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County – Santa Maria

 

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