California Ag Network

Tag: CalFresh Healthy Living

  • SNAP-Ed-Supported Program Energizes Older Adults Through Gardening

    “I not only live here, I garden here,” said Karen Smulevitz, a resident of Palo Vista Gardens, a public housing complex for older adults in East Oakland. She was wearing sunglasses and sporting a white bucket hat, a red leather jacket over a red t-shirt and white pants as she roamed the community garden.

    “This is my plot behind the mesh,” Smulevitz said, gesturing to the tall plants growing behind a chicken-wire screen in a raised bed. “I grow tomatoes, Italian parsley, rosemary. My doctor told me to eat more leafy greens.”

    She’s growing vegetables and herbs with help from a “garden club” organized by CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California Cooperative Extension in Alameda County. Growing her own leafy greens makes it easy for Smulevitz to add them to her daily meals.

    “I can come out here every other day and pick some chard and some kale, throw it in some soup or stir-fry or whatever it is I’m cooking,” Smulevitz said. “I add kale to almost everything. I’m trying to get my leafy greens in.”

    CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE provides free nutrition and wellness information to help people eligible for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) develop healthier habits.

    Palo Vista Gardens is one of a few Alameda County partners enlisted by Mary Blackburn, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor emeritus, to reach older Californians. “It was really her pioneering efforts that inspired UCCE to work with seniors,” Tuline Baykal, CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE supervisor for Alameda County, said of Blackburn, who recently retired from her 35-year UCCE career.

    Growing greens and a sense of community

    For the past 20 years, the CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE team has provided nutrition classes and gardening classes for Palo Vista Gardens residents, according to Araceli Tellez, resident services portfolio manager at Oakland Housing Authority.

    “In my role for the past eight years, I’ve seen how the partnership we’ve had has provided our residents the knowledge to eat healthier, to save money, to socialize with their community while gardening, and it has allowed them to grow as individuals so they can be healthier and live a longer, healthy life,” said Tellez.

    Max Fairbee, a CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE community nutrition educator for Alameda County, launched the garden club with Palo Vista Gardens residents. He specializes in serving older adults who live in public housing and adults living in transitional housing. In addition to providing them with nutrition advice, Fairbee shares tips to stretch their food dollars and meet goals for physical activity.

    “I love working with these residents,” said Fairbee. “Over the past 8-9 years, I’ve connected with each of them through this garden.”

    “When I first came to Palo Vista, it was as a nutrition educator and a few of the residents who garden came to my classes but not all,” he said. “You see, the residents speak at least six languages in the garden – English, Chinese, Spanish, Khmer, Vietnamese and Lao – and gardening is a way to communicate without words. Whenever I stop to see the garden, the residents take me to their plot to show me the produce they’ve grown or if there is a pest. Gardening is a common thread. They feel connected to each other even though they are from different cultures. I see how they light up and smile.”

    SNAP-Ed funding to end Sept. 30

    The federal reconciliation spending bill, signed into law on July 4, eliminates funding for SNAP-Ed beyond Sept. 30, 2025. CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California is one of the organizations implementing SNAP-Ed in California.

    Over his eight years of connecting with Palo Vista Gardens residents, CalFresh Healthy Living UCCE community educator Fairbee has left a positive impression.

    “Max is a part of our community,” said Olympia Vizcaino, assistant property manager at Palo Vista Gardens. “He has a wealth of information not only for our residents, but our staff as well. He always conducts nutrition classes, gardening classes, cooking classes. He’s constantly bringing supplies to our site, like Sluggo to keep the bugs away so that our plants can thrive. He brings us soil, he brings us calendars and he brings us baby plants, too, to plant in there.”

    The Harvest of the Month calendar contains images of colorful, seasonal fruits and vegetables highlighted each month with suggested recipes.

    According to Vizcaino, older people may forget to spend time outdoors, but gardening with Fairbee can be a powerful motivator.

    “He brings people out into the sun,” Vizcaino said. “Some people forget and don’t go outside. They’re elderly so when they have something to do, to come out into the garden to be with other people, to be in the sun, it makes them happy.”

    ‘I depend on Max’

    Recently participants who have worked with Fairbee reflected on how they have benefited from the CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE program.

    “I depend on Max and his knowledge of gardening and food,” said Geneva Moore, who has lived at Palo Vista Gardens for eight years. She said Fairbee is a tremendous resource for the community.

    When she goes to the grocery story, Moore takes time to carefully read ingredient labels on food packages before buying a product – a skill she learned from Fairbee. Her awareness of nutritious fruits and vegetables has also expanded over the years.

    “I got mustard greens, tomatoes and all kinds of things going on right now,” said Moore, pointing to the raised garden plot behind her while steadying herself with a walking stick.

    Nutrition lessons learned in the garden follow participants into the kitchen. To encourage Moore to make use of her abundant, home-grown vegetables, Fairbee suggested a vegetable soup, a simple recipe that’s easy to digest.  “One good way for seniors to eat their vegetables is to make a soup,” Moore said. “You’re always going to drink that soup. And, whoo, you got vegetables!”

    Besides rewarding seniors with delicious meals, gardening pays off in terms of their physical health and mental health.

    “I always loved to garden. I used to garden when I owned my own house. I missed it, then I come to Palo Vista and Max,” Moore said. “He brings all these good things for me. He helps me. He helps us all the time.”

    Smulevitz listed many ways that the garden club enhances the quality of life for residents.

    “I just love gardening; we get so much aid from UC and from Max,” she explained. “He supplies us with soil and compost and all kinds of things. Gardening lifts one’s spirits a lot. Our particular garden helps to enhance our sense of community because we often work together. We share our crops with each other, like I’ll give some kale away or somebody will give me something else that they grew and it just strengthens those bonds we have as neighbors here.”

    “Max is the face of CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE to them,” said Baykal, CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE supervisor.

    Fairbee said, “It’s obvious to me, by the way they light up, that being here in the garden is good for their well-being. And it’s good for me too! It feels really rewarding to help them grow their own food.”

    Leaders at University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, which oversees CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE in 34 counties in the state, are reimagining the future of nutrition education and how the work of Fairbee and his colleagues can continue helping older Californians.

    “I can’t even put a price on what Max does,” Vizcaino said. “It’s so invaluable to our community. To watch our residents thrive in that manner makes us happy as well.”

    UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings UC information and practices to all 58 California counties. Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, economic growth, nutrition and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu and support our work at donate.ucanr.edu.

    To read more UC ANR news, visit our newsroom at  http://ucanr.edu/News.

  • CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Reaches Every Head Start Student in Calaveras County

    In Calaveras County, a preschooler was helping his instructor pick up some class equipment when he announced proudly: “I’m really strong because I eat a lot of protein!”

    “That’s right!” replied Mary Manning, a CalFresh Healthy Living nutrition educator with the University of California Cooperative Extension’s Central Sierra office. “And protein makes you what…?”

    “GROW!” proclaimed the young boy, flexing his muscles.

    This vignette illustrates the memorable impact of programs administered by CalFresh Healthy Living, UC – one of the organizations in California that teaches nutrition and promotes physical activity for people eligible for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. UCCE educators – affiliated with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources – deliver the lessons throughout the state.

    Manning partners with The Resource Connection, a nonprofit based in San Andreas, to offer nutrition programs at six Head Start and two Early Head Start sites across Calaveras County.

    “Our program reaches every single Head Start student in the county, which I think is fantastic because it sets the template and lays the groundwork for health in these kids’ lives,” said Noah Cooke, community education supervisor for CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Central Sierra. “They’re learning – as three-, four-, and five-year-olds – skills that are going to be useful when they’re 74 or 75 and beyond.

    Noah Cooke

    In addition to delivering nutrition lessons for the 113 preschoolers currently at the eight sites, the CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE team incorporates physical education activities, as well as useful newsletters and virtual meetings for family members. After a pause due to COVID, The Resource Connection staff and participants were delighted when in-person programs restarted in fall 2023.

    “The goal is to reach students and families on a lot of different levels,” said Cooke, who also works with CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE educator Mariana Garcia to support programs across the region.

    Cooke noted that the preschoolers are only just beginning their health and well-being journey with CalFresh Healthy Living, UC programs. After the young students graduate from the Head Start program, they will continue to benefit from nutrition education programs at the elementary, middle and high school levels. By partnering with teachers, administrators and site staff across Calaveras County, CFHL UCCE served nearly 1,600 students in schools and before- and after-school settings from October 2023 through September 2024.

    Physical activities engage young students in lessons

    While the frequency and content of her visits vary across the various sites and facilities, Manning – who was trained in classical ballet and has extensive experience teaching dance to children – always incorporates a lot of movement and energy into her lesson plans.

    As part of the curriculum, educators incorporate energetic physical activities, such as “parading around” the yard, for the Head Start students.

    In addition to “parading around” cones while pretending they are sharks, crabs or other animals, the young students also especially enjoy making the gestures that symbolize the “Go, Glow, Grow” nutrition curriculum.

    For “Go” foods like grains and carbohydrates, they run in place. For “Glow” foods like fruits and vegetables that make their hair shine and eyes sparkle, they touch their hair and wiggle their fingers by their eyes. For “Grow” foods like protein and dairy, they flex their muscles and jump up and down.

    Manning has heard from the Head Start teachers that the students’ parents are seeing those lessons in action.

    “They’re at the grocery store and their child is pointing out the different foods and what type of food it is, whether it makes them ‘grow’ or makes them ‘go’ – that’s so exciting for the parents,” Manning said.

    Mary Manning

    Another direct impact is that many of the children become more willing to taste new foods.

    “I love how Mary allows children to actively engage in trying new foods and physical activity,” said the lead teacher at West Point Head Start. “Our friends have made connections through nutrition, physical activity and a healthy body.”

    At the end of each visit, Manning incorporates a sampling of foods related to the theme or lesson for the day. While the fruits are almost universally well-received, some of the young ones are more reluctant to taste the vegetables. Manning teaches them a positive alternative to rejecting a particular item.

    “I’ll urge them to say, ‘not today,’” she explained. “I don’t want to them say ‘I don’t like it’ because they might like it tomorrow or the next day – or in five years!”

    Newsletters highlight healthy recipes for families

    Just as the children are trying new things in class, their parents and family members are trying new recipes, thanks to monthly “Harvest of the Month” newsletters written in English and Spanish. Prepared by Garcia and the CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE team, each issue highlights different ingredients and how to prepare them in novel and delicious ways.

    “We’re really just trying to incorporate healthy living into the day-by-day,” Cooke said.

    As a result of CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE efforts, young children try healthy new foods and their families try new recipes.

    Manning puts together a different newsletter – translated into Spanish by Garcia – for families that receive items from The Food Bank, administered by The Resource Connection. She said she’s constantly trying to think of recipes that make creative use of common food bank items, such as beans, lentils and peanut butter – and different ways to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables.

    “It’s hard when money’s tight and it’s easier and less expensive to buy that processed food and serve those,” Manning said.

    Between teaching the children in the Head Start and Early Head Start program and reaching families through the newsletter and recently launched virtual meetings, CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE is making a real difference in the lives of community members.

    “In Calaveras County, our impact has been more than I could have ever imagined,” Manning said. “I love the work we do; I’m so thankful that I’m able to do this, because it fills me with so much joy.”

    UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings UC information and practices to all 58 California counties. Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition, economic and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu.