Catholic Charities CYO Nutrition Education is an innovative program empowering students in low-income urban schools and afterschool programs to grow their own produce using state of the art hydroponic gardens systems.
Unfortunately, a loss of federal SNAP-ED funding places our CYO Nutrition and Physical Education programs at risk for closure.
“If we are unable to continue our programming, we stand to lose our impact in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin Counties,” says Brendan Rea, Program Manager at CCCYO Nutrition and Physical Education. “We would lose our direct outreach to 2,100 students per month, and more than 4,100 indirectly. We indirectly impact thousands of families by sending students home with recipe cards, resources, and fresh produce from our hydroponic gardens. We are at a pivotal time for our program where over the past year we have expanded to multiple new cities and sites that need our services.”
State of the art Fork Farm Hydroponic Garden Machines, installed in partner schools, libraries and community spaces, take up only 9 square feet and produce up to 28 pounds of leafy greens in a 30-day harvest period. The produce is used for educating students on healthy eating habits, cooking demonstrations by our in-house chef, and lots of opportunities to gather, eat and enjoy together. Extra produce is bagged and given to families to ensure that no food goes to waste. This is very impactful for the program’s sites that are considered to be in “food deserts”, areas where access to fresh food and produce is limited with very few markets and grocery stores.
“If this program did not exist,” Brendan says, “the communities we serve would not be able to access valuable resources and information that allow them to lead healthier lives into the future. It is through movement and food that we educate the entire community—from children to seniors—about better choices they can make to improve their health and overall well-being.”
Brendan and his team have seen this firsthand from the many individuals and families they serve. Recently Chef Jerry, Lead Nutrition Educator, was teaching a class at the Half Moon Bay Library. He had just finished using some of the freshly harvested Romaine Lettuce in a cooking demonstration and was bagging extra produce to distribute to community families. One young child ran up to Chef Jerry’s table, excited to take some of the lettuce home. The child’s mother was surprised, to say the least. “You don’t eat lettuce!” she said. The child looked back, and said, “I will now!”
Results like this are why we do the work that we do, and why the CYO Nutrition and Physical Education programs are so vital for families in our community. Your support will help us continue this vital work.
