The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County provides needy people of all ages with nutrition. All food is collected on a donation-basis from schools, churches, and charity events and is stored and distributed at their warehouse in Irvine. The Second Harvest Food Bank has created a number of different programs that provide food aid to the hundreds of people who go hungry in Orange County. One of these programs is the Kid's Cafe, which is a volunteer program that provides children with proper nutrition education and a healthy snack at after-school programs all over Orange County. Children from low-income homes who usually would not receive proper nutrition at home have the opportunity to learn about the importance of keeping their bodies properly nourished.
Read some of the statistics about underprivileged children in Orange County and facts about the Kid's Cafe program by following this link: http://www.feedoc.org/childhunger.html. Why is it important for us (as future teachers) to know about these types of programs? Would you be interested in volunteering in a nutrition education program such as Kid's Cafe? How can you incorporate nutrition education into your classroom and ensure that your students know about eating properly?
I think this program is great because now there is not just people talking about doing something with children and obesity, but now there is action. The Kid's Cafe program is a great idea because nutrition education is often times skipped over in the classroom because teachers are so focused on reading and math because of standardized testing. Nutrition education is critical for young students because it directly affects their lives and the tips they learn at an early age will carry on for the rest of their lives. It is important for us as future teachers to know about these types of programs because we can try implementing them into our own local school districts. I would definitely be interested in volunteering in a nutrition education program because children especially from low income homes are not always given the opportunities to make healthy food choices. I will incorporate nutrition education into my own classroom by integrating nutrition into other subjects such as art, language arts, math, etc.
ReplyDeleteNot eating healthy affects our student's achievement in schools. If they do not eat meals throughout the day they are unable to focus, participate, and complete activities and assignments. It is important that we know and research our students' background and know who comes from what kind of lifestyle and provide them with resources they do not have at home. This program is great to implement in the schools that provide the students with breakfasts and lunches. Some schools do have breakfast programs that provide students from low-income families who do not have the resources to eat breakfasts or eat proper meals. In lower income neighbor hoods you can find numerous fast food places, because the food costs less money. We need to educate our students to make healthy choices, but if those choices are not available to them we have to provide it in some way.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! I love the fact that we can focus on the whole child and care about children in every aspect of their lives, including the nutrition they receive and the education they take away with them for lifelong habits. Bravo! We teachers do it all, and we have reason to be proud of how awesome that role is to so many people.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great program! Programs like this are important for future educators to recognize because they may be resources that we need to utilized in the future. Many students in Orange County only source of food is the meal they eat during the school day. It is important that teachers recognize the effects that malnutrition has on a students learning abilities as well as on their pyschological and physical health. Programs like this can are important to recognize as resources to help our students.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great resource. It goes along with the topic I am focusing on for my research project (childhood obesity and the need for nutrition education). This is such a great resource for low income students who often do not receive nutrition education or healthy eating habits at home. As a teacher, this resource is crucial to know about because it is a great place to send kids so that they receive information about nutrition and nutritious food, which will aid in their academic performance. I would LOVE to volunteer in a program like Kid's Cafe. I feel it is so important that children receive nutrition education because they can start forming a healthy lifestyle at an early age and avoid potential health problems. I will certainly incorporate nutrition into my classroom by integrating it into other lessons such as science. I am so happy to learn about this program!
ReplyDeleteKids Cafe sounds like a fantastic program (and is also related to my research project on sugar!!). This is exactly the type of program America needs all over to reduce the frightening trends toward diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and especially obesity. If children are not educated young about healthy eating, they will likely continue harmful eating habits well into adulthood and increase their risks for the diseases and health issues above. I would absolutley be interested in this program and others like it!! It is extremely important, as is incorporating nutrition into our future classrooms. I love the idea of parent education too. Wow! So many great ideas!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an awesome program. We always say that we need to educate the whole child. This is apart of that goal. Giving a student a healthy lifestyle is a gift that will keep on giving. As we all know child obesity is worse now than ever before. This is just one of the many things that need to happen in order for our unhealthy nation to turn around.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a wonderful program! It is important for educators to recognize the hardships some of our students face and how to assist them cope with such hardships. A program like this is excellent since it gives students and opportunity to be healthy. As I read the facts of the program I was surprised when I read that "eating healthy is not a luxury." This is so true! Nutrition is essential to life! Where would one be if one weren't healthy? Through a program like Kid's Cafe students are given the opportunity to live healthier lives and be provided with the nutrition they fail to attain from home and sometimes school.
ReplyDeleteIt's important for us as teachers to know about nutrition and health because we need to model that for our students. We need to do it early and frequently. It is so easy to incorporate nutrition as well, seeing as it can be an art project, a health project, a science project, writing project, history, almost everything! As teachers, we can also provide healthy snack alternatives. When I was fifth grade, my teacher read to us every day after lunch. She would turn all the lights off, and we could put our head on our desk and relax while she read. On Friday's, she usually gave us a snack, and a lot of times it was pretzels or a fruit snack. Seeing my teacher give us stuff like this made me want to eat the kinds of foods she was giving me on a regular basis.
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