Farm to Preschool Program (Occidental College)

Farm to Preschool Program (Occidental College) Early Childhood Domain - Annual Work Plan June 2012 – December 2012 COI Strategic Plan Goal(s) and Objective(s): 1,2,3 Action Plan Strategies: A, B, D, E Project Describe your overall project and identify a timeline for description & completion of the project. estimated completion date Work with Occidental College Center for Food & Justice to institute a farm to preschool model in San Diego County. The program will establish local procurement at a preschool site, promote nutrition education with a connection to seasonal growing patterns and local farmers, provide parent workshops on health and nutrition, institute a nutrition education curricula, and promote life-long healthy eating habits. Lead person & Identify the lead person & any other major partners involved in partners completing the project. involved Lead: JuliAnna Arnett (COI)

Partners: Kim McDougal & Joangrace Espiritu (YMCA Childcare Resource Service), Lita Moore and Stan Miller (North County Community Services), and Zoe Phillips (Occidental College)

Level of COI Please check the option that most closely describes the required Staff level of COI staff support: Involvement and support Minimal (e.g., domain partners primarily lead and conduct activities work) Intermediate (e.g., administrative support, technical assistance, resources, etc.) Significant (e.g., COI staff manage or are highly involved in project implementation)

Please specify anticipated COI staff support activities: partner recruitment; identification of resources; project coordination, as needed Other domains Identify any other domains involved in the project. involved Update (6/12): No longer working with Tierra Miguel Foundation as business partner. In late 2010/early 2011, North County Community Services began operation of a community garden on North River Road in Oceanside, which sits on a ½ acre of land. Half of this plot is currently dedicated to supplying NCCS child development and preschool programs. Will continue to seek potential partnerships with local growers that can meet needed quantities in order to supplement the purchase of produce/supplies at farmers’ markets. Once a sustainable/consistent supplier is identified, the program could potentially be marketed/expanded to other Update 0612 Update 0612 Update

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Update 10/11:

All of the project activities have been completed. The EC domain worked with Occidental College to fully implement the pilot project at the Thunder Drive preschool. The Farm to Preschool curriculum was implemented at Thunder Drive with approximately 200 children. Currently 7 preschool sites are using the curriculum and have on-site gardens. A video describing how to implement this program at preschool sites was developed and will be available on the COI website. Occidental College is producing 200 DVDs for distribution. Occidental College has conducted an evaluation of the project and preliminary results are also available on the COI website.

Update 5/11:

Completed activities:

1) Select a farm to preschool site (October 2009- North County Community Services- Thunder Drive Site) Complete 2) Conduct farm to preschool curricula trainings with teachers (December 2009) Complete 3) Institute Farm to Preschool Curricula in Classroom (On-going) Curricula was instituted in the classroom in January 2010. 4) Conduct parent nutrition education workshop (On-going) Parent workshop held in February 2010 5) Identify a farm(s) that can source the site on a regular basis to integrate local foods into snacks /meals (July 2010)

Update 0612 The parent workshop and demo day is being held on April 29, 2011.

Two new sites will start in Escondido later this year: Oak Hill and Eucalyptus

Kim McDougal presented at a California Child Development Administrators Association (CCDAA) spring conference in Sacramento in March.

Update10.8.10 :

COI Food Policy Coordinator, YMCA Childcare Resource Services, and NCCS met on 9/27/10 to discuss year 2 of the farm to preschool pilot program. JuliAnna is following up with Occidental College to determine expectations for year 2 and acquire program and parent workshop curriculum. NCCS would like to host 2 parent workshops and a technical assistance demonstration workshop targeted towards childcare providers in early spring 2011. JuliAnna is also following up with Tierra Miguel Foundation to have NCCS added to their distribution list of weekly available products and connect a farm(s) to NCSS for regular food purchases.

Project partners presented this project at the SD County Family Childcare Association’s annual conference referred to above. They were scheduled to present again on October 28 – 29 at the California Child Development Administrators Associations’ Fall Technical Assistance and Statewide Meeting but due to budget cuts NCCS is unable to attend the statewide conference so the presentation was cancelled. The program is still in operation at the Thunder Drive. Due to the delay in passage of the State budget, Thunder Drive is the only operating NCCS early childhood education center and is open only in the mornings. The number of students served by this program have been reduced due to the limited operating hours. The program will be in full-operation and expanded to two additional sites in Escondido once the budget is approved.

NCCS is still in search of a farm that can regularly distribute to the childcare facility. Most of the food to date has been sourced through NCCS’s onsite gardens and the local farmer’s market. The executive director anticipates that in the future NCCS may be able to sustain the program through the expansion of its garden lands. The COI still is helping identify a farm for the interim period.

YMCA has provided technical support for this project by assisting Occidental College in evaluation and parent education. YMCA Health Educators assisted with implementation of the pre/post assessments of the children’s gains as well as with implementation of the parent workshops. In the future upon expansion of this project the YMCA will provide the parent workshops and serve as a resource for questions and support for other sites interested in implementation of the program.

4/26/10: The program has been a success with the Thunder Drive site. The curricula has been a natural fit into the teachers day. The preschool has been sourcing its food for the nutrition demonstrations from local farmers’ markets- local sourcing has reduced some food costs for the preschool. A farmer has not yet been identified to source the preschool on a regular basis outside the farmers’ market model. A parent workshop was hosted for student families, and follow-up Update 0612 education has been provided to teachers on an as needed basis. A family garden day was held in March 2010.

The partners on this project, including Kim, Lita, Stan, and Zoe, have presented on this model at the SDCOE’s Early Years Conference. Another presentation is scheduled for 5/15 at the SD County Family Childcare Association’s annual conference.

Barriers Explain any difficulties/challenges to implementing your project. Be specific. If an activity or the overall project was cancelled, explain the circumstances.

- The largest barrier to date has been the identification of a farmer that can source the preschool’s needs on a regular basis. JuliAnna will work with Lita and the SD Growers to figure out if they can identify a farmer able to source the program. (Update 6/12: still a barrier) - 9/10 The hold up on the State budget is another significant barrier impacting the program and organization’s regular operations. - 10.8.10 NCCS is still awaiting a decision on the state budget. Thunder Dr. is the only site in operation at the moment with 50 kids.

Promotion/ PR Identify any promotional or public relations opportunities you see opportunities might arise from the project, or might assist the project. There may be exceptional PR opportunities when the model is opened up to other preschool sites. There are numerous visual opportunities- children gardening, nutrition education lessons, healthy meals and snacks. (Update 6/12: still relevant) Desired Identify any specific recognition you would like to see either for recognition the project or the people involved in implementing the project. Update 6/12:

Recognition of program as it thrives and expands in San Diego County on the national Farm to Preschool website, launched in late 2011. www.farmtopreschool.org already features some of San Diego County’s work, and was developed with significant input and contribution from Occidental College.

5210 Campaign Please describe how you have used the 5210 campaign as a part of workplan activities (If you have not, please so indicate). If you have used the 5210 materials, please specify which materials, languages, target audience(s), approximate # of people reached, geographic region(s), dates:

Future childcare providers and agencies that adopt a farm to preschool model could be encouraged to use 5210 messaging as part of the program’s education, but as of yet no tangible opportunities have been identified.

Update 0612 Update 0612