Fruity
Friday Outreach In Edgefield, South Carolina Elementary Schools
The Fruity Friday project
began in 2001. Fruit and vegetable
samples were offered one Friday per month to school age children at W.E.
Parker, Johnston, Douglas, and Merriwether Elementary schools in Edgefield,
South Carolina to encourage students to increase their fruit and vegetable
consumption. It is currently sustained
by the teachers at W.E. Parker, Johnston, Douglas, and Merriwether Elementary
schools.
The intended outcome was to
increase consumption of fruits and vegetables among school age children by
providing samples and interactive nutrition education. The project findings
indicated that younger students were more open to trying fresh fruit and
vegetable samples, and repeated offerings were needed to encourage the children
to try the vegetable samples. The project also found many students had never
tasted fresh produce commonly available.
Environmental Change Initiation
Environmental Change Initiation
The early efforts to promote
policy and environmental change in the school district began with an informal
focus group session facilitated by the Edgefield County Health Department to
address various health disparities related to HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and
cardiovascular disease. As a result of this focus group, Concerned Health
Citizens (CHC), a community-based grass roots coalition, was formed in May
2001. The founding members included the original focus group participants and
later expanded to include representatives from the Edgefield Health Care
Center, W.E. Parker Elementary School, Edgefield Hospital, and local
churches.
During a second focus group
session convened by the health department health educator, CHC, and an
elementary school nurse, it became evident that the children in the school
district were not consuming adequate fruits and vegetables. This discussion led
to the birth of the Fruity Friday Project. The first major task required
gaining buy-in from the school nurses and principals to create a 5–a-day sampling
and education program. The second stage involved approaching local grocery
stores within a 5-mile radius from the schools to donate fruit and vegetable
samples. Fruity Friday was first piloted at W.E. Parker Elementary. Its success
led to the project’s expansion to other elementary schools in the county. The
AmeriCorps Coordinator in the local school district provided volunteers to help
with picking up fruit and vegetable donations and transporting to the
participating schools.
Public Health Agency Roles
The health department
provided technical assistance and support in the planning, design,
implementation, and evaluation processes of the school-based effort. The local
health educator initially coordinated the Fruity Friday project at W.E. Parker
and solicited the monthly fruit and vegetable donations. The health department
also provided limited signage and nutrition education materials to the schools.
Coordination of the project was then transitioned to school personnel when it
was expanded to other schools.
Major Partners
The major partners involved in this outreach were the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC)/Edgefield County Health Department, Edgefield School District
, and various community
volunteers.
Partnerships with public
officials were not sought with the exception of school district officials and
administrators.
Results from the Environmental Change
Currently, over 2200 students are offered fruit and vegetable samples, in which
different healthy snacks are
targeted during one Friday each month. Limited nutrition education is also
provided at the sample booth. The long term outcome of Fruity Friday is
unknown. A simple pre and post student survey indicates students have increased
their consumption of fruits and vegetables. It is hoped that the variety of
produce samples offered at the school will help increase variety and number of
produce servings in the home.
The Fruity Friday project
coordinators noted that the 3rd grade students were most open-minded
to experiment with unfamiliar fruits and vegetables. The younger students were
more reluctant to taste new food items and the most reluctant were the 4th
and 5th grade students. Thus, project assessment of Fruity Friday
suggests that introducing samples at a young age is more likely to impact food
choices than offering samples after 3rd grade.
Opposition
There was no significant
opposition to this project.
Lessons Learned
Establishing buy-in and
collaboration with school officials prior to involving outside partners was
critical to the project’s success. Involvement of health department staff for the
initial leg work was critical to get the project off the ground. Once the pilot
proved popular and successful, the transition of leg work to AmeriCorps
volunteers was needed to reduce dependence on the health department and to
ensure project sustainability.
Because of tight school
budgets, project success depends on community partners from both the public and
private sector.
Submitted By
Ellen Boyce, MPH, CHES
Director of Health Education
South Carolina Department of
Health and Environmental Control/Region 1
1736 South Main Street
Greenwood, South Carolina,
29646
(864) 227-5961
(864) 942-3690 FAX