Fall Harvest Pilot a Huge Success
LOCK HAVEN – Considering central Pennsylvania’s focus on agriculture, a nationwide educational movement called Farm to Head Start is taking root locally.
STEP, Inc. recently piloted a “Farm to Head Start Fall Harvest” program in one of their Head Start classrooms at the Clinton County Community Center in Lock Haven. Instructors from Mindful Harvest, a Williamsport-based firm, spent time twice a week with 18 students, teaching the 3- to 5-year-olds about where their food comes from, how it’s grown, the nutritional value, and fun ways to prepare and eat fruits and vegetables.
“This is a very exciting, hands-on initiative,” says STEP Head Start Director David Spring. “It’s the type of program that can really make a meaningful, lasting impact on families. Statistics show poor nutrition leads to unhealthy lifestyles among low-income children. Fall Harvest provided much-needed nutrition education, connected the children and their families to healthy, local foods, and helped them establish lifelong healthy eating habits.”
While the Farm to School movement involving school-age children is fairly established, initiatives for preschool children are relatively new. The STEP pilot was the first to be undertaken locally and saw a great measure of success: overall, there was a 41 percent increase in the students’ knowledge of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Importantly, the Fall Harvest initiative helped educate children about the presence of local farms and the journey of food from soil to plate. Local farmers provided fresh produce for the program, which allowed the children to take raw fruits and vegetables and prepare healthy snacks and meals.
“I absolutely loved the program,” said one parent. “With so much of our diets prepared, it’s important to teach kids to eat fresh foods. I recommend the program in other classes and schools.”
Funding for the pilot came from the federal Head Start program and the STEP Head Start Policy Council, which provides oversight for the Head Start program in Lycoming and Clinton counties. STEP is interested in developing local partnerships that will allow the Fall Harvest program to be offered to additional Head Start classrooms. More information on the Farm to Head Start Fall Harvest program is available on the STEP web site at www.stepcorp.org.
STEP and Mindful Harvest are also teaming up to pilot a “Healthy Aging through Local Harvest” program for senior citizens in STEP’s service area, which includes Lycoming and Clinton counties. The initiative will be a hands-on, interactive series that will incorporate foods from local farmers, lots of taste testing, and even gardening. The 90-minute weekly workshops are designed to expand people’s knowledge about healthy lifestyles and encourage them to make changes in their lives to live longer and healthier. Registration for the Healthy Aging series will begin in February.
STEP, Inc. is one of 1,100 Community Action Agencies nationwide, and a member of the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania. Formally known as the Lycoming-Clinton Counties Commission for Community Action (STEP), Inc., the agency is celebrating its 49th year of service to the community. The mission of STEP, Inc. is to engage diverse individuals, families, and communities in the pursuit of social and economic success. STEP, Inc.’s mission is accomplished through five Pathways to Success, including: Early Learning, Housing Options, Workforce Development, Community Collaboration, and Independent Living.
The Head Start program is part of STEP’s Early Learning Pathway to Success. For more information on the programs offered by STEP, visit www.stepcorp.org.
