The Dirt

Immediately following SFC’s long-anticipated move to its new center, we held our second annual Program Replication Training on June 10-12 – in our very own space! Twenty-two individuals representing 10 different entities from Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas came to learn how to implement one or more of SFC’s current programs; Grow Local community and school gardening, Farm Direct farm-to-institution, Sprouting Healthy Kids farm-to-school and food-systems education, and The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® cooking classes. Throughout the training, individuals engaged in planning sessions, participated in hands-on activities, spoke with program partners, and toured school and community gardens and SFC farmers’ markets. The training prepared these organizations to replicate program components in their own communities so more children and adults can “grow, share, and prepare healthy food.”

Our fabulous trainees gathered together for the first introductory session

Joy Casnovsky teaches knife skills to trainees

THK trainees gathered for a training session

Participants dove into hands-on training for The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® cooking classes and experienced what it’s like to facilitate a cooking class from start to finish. Not only did they sharpen their skills in the kitchen and create tasty recipes but they also learned how to effectively lead classes on nutrition and food education to prevent chronic diet-related disease. One participant later tested the roasted kale chip recipe on her young daughter who is a picky eater, and to her delight, it was a hit!

Vanessa Toro leads a Community Garden training session

Our Grow Local staff led engaging trainings on Spread the Harvest, Community Gardens, and School Gardens, complete with tours of school and community gardens where the group met local gardeners in action. For the School Garden training, Pickle Elementary School teacher Judith Hutchinson told her story of starting a school garden because she believed it would be beneficial to her students’ emotional, behavioral, and academic learning. She encouraged the group to always “celebrate the small accomplishments.”

Farm Direct trainees tour the SFC Farmers' Market East with Suzanne Santos

A visit to the SFC Farmers’ Market East, located adjacent from our new center, gave the group a chance to speak with local farmers and vendors and see firsthand how the Double Dollar Incentive Program functions. The topic of doubling the spending power of SNAP and WIC benefits at farmers’ markets was so popular that a lunchtime discussion group was created to further explore the topic with SFC staff.

Farm Direct trainees explore the SFC Farmers' Market East

The energy from the group was contagious. One attendee noted; “Hearing from those who actually run these programs – everyone from SFC staff and interns to food directors, farmers, and coordinators was the most valuable portion of this training!”

By Molly Costigan
AmeriCorps VISTA - Community Health Organizer

Sustainable Food Center partners with Marathon Kids to engage with parents, staff, and community members at partner elementary schools and facilitate the formation of wellness teams that participate in health and wellness activities. Wellness teams reach out to SFC for resources and programs, such as healthy cooking classes or school garden trainings. Leaders on the wellness team organize regular meetings and activities, and engage the school community in health and wellness issues.

Norman Elementary parent leader Philimena Dickson, has been involved with Cultivating Healthy Communities for almost three years. Through the wellness team, she has attended SFC’s The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® cooking class, Basic Organic Gardening class, and School Garden Leadership Training, and she and her family have helped with the installation and maintenance of a community garden at nearby St. James Episcopal church. She also participates in SFC’s Spread the Harvest program for her own family’s garden.

Why did you get involved with Sustainable Food Center and Marathon Kids?
It was definitely the gardening. We had a garden at our home, and I like gardening and knowing that you get fresh food from the garden and can feed your family well.

It is a struggle because sometimes you have sweets and the sweets are not good for you. Or you want to have something quick so you do not have to cook. But once you decide to train yourself you can see what you need to have energy all day.

What are some of your favorite things to grow?
Kale and tomatoes. I have tomatoes right now, at least three of them, that are ready to go into the ground. I will have to try again with carrots. If I have the right type of lettuce, like romaine, then I grow it too. We have cabbage now, and that is a favorite, and onions are pretty good. I would like to grow red onions.

What are some things that you have done here at the school or the church garden?
I am on the wellness team and get information out to the community and the parents. I am talking to more parents about what we do on the wellness team and what we are here to do for the community.

What are some of the things that you have learned as a wellness team leader?
I have learned more about how to communicate with people. If I learn here, I learn in my personal life, like how to keep the information that I have going and then pass it on or keep it on paper—and also trying to put it into the computer. I am starting to use the computer to keep up with names of wellness team members. It is a learning process and I am learning how to be an organizer. When I started I did not know how; I was shaking in my boots!

Why is this important to you?
Because I see how it helps my family, and we all have a healthier diet now.

By Joy Casnovsky
The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® Director

The foundation of The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® is the cadre of 40+ trained Facilitators that lead classes and workshops across Austin. These are community members who care deeply about helping others eat healthy and hone their cooking skills and confidence. Even though I adore working at Sustainable Food Center and thoroughly believe in our mission, I still sometimes get stuck in the day-to-day grind of running the Program (yes, I just admitted that!). However, my eyes always light up upon hearing stories first-hand from the Facilitators, like the ones I heard this week. It reminds me of the fantastic work we are doing in the community by cultivating leaders and connecting people to their food.

Ida is currently facilitating a six-week class at the HEB at William Cannon and I-35. As part of our GROW-SHARE-PREPARE model, we always use produce from one of our SFC Farmers’ Market in at least one of the six classes to introduce farmers’ market produce to the participants. Ida went to the SFC Farmers' Mkt -Triangle to buy strawberries and this is what she wrote me about her experience—

I just loved Phil the farmer he was so sweet and kind to me.  He gave me a $19.00 discount since I had bought 16 pints [of strawberries] for the class.  I did some shopping and got 2 more pints for my children.  Then I went back and said Phil you did not charge me right and he said you bought so many I wanted to give you a good deal and he thanked me for being honest.  I thought he did not use a calculator but he is one sharp little old man and he hand-picked all 18 pints to make sure he gave me the best strawberries for the class and they were delicious.  It was my husband’s birthday and I bought a plate full of vegan cupcakes, olive & rosemary bread, wheat bread, and  some Indian food since it was a special day at our home. I was the first customer so I got the best of everything they had.  So I came back with lots of goodies.  So everything went very very well at the farmer’s market. 

Ida eating strawberries from the market

Roseanna is also facilitating a six-week class, but is at the HEB at Rundberg and North Lamar. The six-week model aims to provide a supportive atmosphere for people to make those cooking and dietary changes. This story exemplifies that perfectly!

Tonight the question was asked what they wanted to get out of these next 5 weeks. Almost everyone is having major physical challenges and all of them showed a genuine concern for their overall health and really desired changes. I had some index cards with me and had an idea for this group. I shared with them on how I really applauded their humbleness on what they shared and I wanted them to take it one step further and that was to write down the bullets of what they had shared and tack on there a goal and we would review on the last week. They loved that and I had one come up to me and shared her desire to regain her ability to dream again and set goals for herself so I gave her some tools to help her achieve that. Another came up and really shared some personal info about herself so I made myself her accountability partner if you will for the next 5 weeks. This is a group that really wants it and I am really in a state of expectancy for them.

Roseanna going over The Happy Plate

We’re excited to announce that the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) is set to begin April 13th!

What is FMNP? FMNP is a program of the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) that allows qualified WIC participants to buy nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables, using FMNP vouchers, from participating farmers’ market associations. Sustainable Food Center (SFC) first contracted with TDA last year, to offer the program in Travis County and is looking forward to continuing the partnership for a second year. Most of all, SFC is excited about partnering with four area farmers’ markets to provide WIC clients with more access to locally grown nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables.

How Does FMNP Work?

Beginning April 13th through September 30th, qualified WIC participants can visit a SFC Farmers’ Market to pick up their FMNP vouchers. FMNP Market staff will be distributing vouchers at all four of the SFC Farmers’ Market on a weekly basis. FMNP vouchers can be spent on fruits and vegetables at all four of the SFC Farmers’ Markets. In addition, WIC clients can also spend their vouchers at:

• HOPE Farmers Market
• Cedar Park Farmers’ Market
• Mueller Farmers’ Market
• Pflugerville Pfarmers Market
• Lone Star Farmers Market
• Green Gate Farms

FMNP vouchers are also eligible for the Double Dollar Incentive Program that doubles the value of fruit and vegetable purchases up to $20 every week! The Double Dollar Incentive Program is found only Tuesdays at the SFC Farmers’ Market East and Saturdays at the SFC Farmers’ Market at Sunset Valley.

Be sure to stop by any of the SFC Farmers’ Markets for more information!

Citizen Gardener provides a framework for receiving 10 hours of introductory gardening instruction, completing 10 hours of service apprenticing with a more seasoned gardener, and becoming an official Citizen Gardener.

We are profiling one of our newest Citizen Gardener instructors, Wendy Leiva, who debuted in the Citizen Gardener program Citizen Gardener 34 with Dick Pierce.She is also a graduate of the Austin Permaculture Guild’s Permaculture Design course and lives in Round Rock with her family.

How did you hear about Citizen Gardener?

I was looking at a lot of local food organizations and got connected to SFC on Facebook. I was interested in the class because I was about to take the Permaculture Design Course and I wanted to revist introductory level gardening before going in to intensive permaculture. I had gardened on and off before my kids were born, but then after I had my kids and life happened. I fell into that trap of thinking I didn’t have time for gardening. Taking Citizen Gardener reminded me it’s not really that much work, the little bit of work [you put in] yields so much happiness and satisfaction. I was reminded how much I missed gardening.

What did you take away the most from Citizen Gardener?

 The class exceeded my expectations. I thought the class would be just sort of…a list of all the plants you should have in your garden. I was surprised that Citizen Gardener showed me the skills for how to build my garden… I went home so excited and started working on my box but in the first class session I had worked on site preparation so while I really knew how to do that part, I hadn’t learned the details of building the box. I ended up with a wonky box that I ended up rebuilding after the 2^nd Saturday session. Still, I realized how quickly it can be done, easily, and cheaply!

What has teaching been like for you?

Admittedly, I was a little scared because I’d never taught a gardening course before. But, after working with Anne Woods (a fellow Citizen Gardener teacher), I realized I could do it and I could do it well! The experience of teaching was wonderful. We had students from Round Rock, Pflugerville, and North Austin and it was great to connect with people right outside of Austin who are also interested in this movement. I look forward to doing it again!

How has Citizen Gardener influenced your relationship with food?

Citizen Gardener has inspired me to eat more local food and more fruits and vegetables. And it has inspired me to want to grow my own food… which is a big deal because I grew up thinking food is something you buy from a package in a grocery store and now I try to buy local and unpackaged. With two kids I don’t always uphold to [buying local and unpackaged] everyday, but I try. My goal for my home garden is to make it a family space full of edible food! My daughter is only two years old but loves to be outside [in the garden], and my son is ten years old and loves to water the plants.

What are your future projects?

I’m inspired by the work going on in Austin and I feel a little sad that the ‘burbs’ (suburbs) don’t have the awesome resources that Austin does. Round Rock isn’t listed by the US Census as a food desert, but I think there must be underserved areas that lack access to local food. We don’t have much public transportation and we have mostly huge, scattered mega-HEBs. I want to see what I can do to help ignite passion for local food in Round Rock. I’m working on building relationships in the areas north of Austin, starting with places like Monument Café and Jack Allen’s Kitchen.

 Interested in networking with Wendy? Email her at wendy.p.leiva@gmail.com

 Stay tuned for upcoming fall 2013 Citizen Gardener classes, with locations north of Austin by joining the Grow Local monthly- newsletter or checking our events page.

Without its 40+ Facilitators, The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® would not be able to operate. The Program is built upon the peer to peer model, training community members to become Facilitators. Informative (and fun!) six-week classes and workshops are then delivered to communities in need.  One such Facilitator is FayeLynn, who has been facilitating since 2008.

What made you want to become a Facilitator?

Being raised in a family of Seventh Day Adventists and by a nurse and a doctor, I was taught from early on the importance of food and health. My mom, who is 90, is a fantabulous cook! I grew up with her giving healthy cooking classes and she used to say “a lot of people are digging their graves with their forks.

I first took The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® class (as a participant) at Dove Springs Recreation Center. I was so impressed with the information and how accessible it was. It was so practical. And I liked the fact that the participants got the grocery bags to go home and practice the recipe at home—that’s amazing! I feel that the Program reaches people that might not have this information, but who need it. I also like that the classes are made up of “real people,” not just professional culinary artists. Everyone has real life experiences, which is important.

Growing up did you ever “rebel” against this healthy lifestyle?

As a child, I got very stick one time. My mom told me I was sick because I wasn’t eating my vegetables. I associated that feeling of sickness with not eating my vegetables and ever since then, haven’t stopped eating them. I rarely get sick. I didn’t have my first Sprite until I was 14!

How has Facilitating affected your own life in terms of healthy eating?

Although I grew up eating healthy and knowing its benefits, I think the culinary skills skipped a generation. Combining food in a way that will be tasty, the art of cooking, that is hard for me. I cannot cook like my mom. I will make dishes for my family that my mom makes and my kids like her version way better! Every time I lead a class as a Facilitator with The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre®, I learn something new.  Facilitating challenges me.

FayeLynn (right) helping a participant read a food label.

In preparation for the move to our new home in May, SFC had a chance to work with UT Social Work Masters students on a recent community engagement project. This is a great example of how educational institutions and non-profit organizations can collaborate! 

By Rebekah Brown, Kristi Click, Jenny Horton, Katherine Keegan, Katelyn Walbridge

Our project began with an initial meeting with Joy Casnovsky (Program Director of The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® Program and Sari Albornoz (Co-Director of the Grow Local Program), who were our Project Leaders from Sustainable Food Center. In our first meeting, they introduced us to the programs that SFC runs, the new Center that will open up in 2013, and a brief explanation of what they expected from us. The Project objective was to create ties between organizations within a 3 mile radius of the new SFC home so that SFC could engage with the surrounding community in anticipation of the big move in May 2013. In order to further familiarize ourselves with SFC’s programs and services, we toured the new SFC site as well as participated in the “Germinators” meetings. (The “Germinators” is the group of community members that has been working to develop the St. David’s Foundation Community Garden at SFC’s new home.)

Our first step was to develop a list of non-profit, religious and education-related organizations within a 3-mile radius of the new SFC Center. Sari and Joy then prioritized each organization so we knew the order in which to contact them. Also, as was anticipated, Sari and Joy identified organizations with which they already had a strong relationship, so did not need our help at this point in time in the engagement process. We then developed a brief survey to gauge interest in specific SFC programs among the prioritized organizations.

Sari met with us to discuss the actual engagement interaction. She provided us with talking points and role-played with us to ensure a successful interaction. We divided up the final list of organizations and began making contact. Our general strategy was to either call or email the appropriate people at each agency to provide more information over email or set up an in-person meeting. Using the responses from this correspondence we created a final list of interested organizations, as well as the specific SFC programs that were of most interest to organizations. This data will help grow the awareness of SFC among neighbor organizations and help form partnerships between them and SFC!

                                                                                                            Masters Students Presenting their poster!

The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® (THK) Program Director, Joy Casnovsky, had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco for the annual American Public Health Conference, the largest conference of its kind in the US. With over 12,500 people in attendance, there was a little public health for everyone. THK submitted an abstract, which was accepted as part of the session titled, “"Nutrition Education, Culinary, and Gardening Programs.” The presentation focused on a small research project conducted with the UT School of Public Health (UTSPH) that measured eating habits before and after participants enrolled in THK. Among some of the dietary improvements were an increased consumption of vegetables, a decreased consumption of fruit juice (whole fruit is always better to eat!), and decreased use of cooking with lard and oils. The conference was a great way to exemplify the partnership that SFC shares with UTSPH, which helps SFC improve its programs offered to the public based on the evaluations that UTSPH conducts. Joy was also elated to hear several of her favorite public health heroes speak, including Marion Nestle from NYU, Michele Simon, author of Appetite for Profit, and David Wallinga of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Not to mention she was able to put the face behind the partner of Wholesome Wave, the foundation that is funding the double dollar matching program at the SFC East Market. Sustainable Food Center is proud to be recognized as one of the players on a national level that is promoting a more just, assessable and healthy food system.

About a year ago I set out to cook every recipe in The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre™’s cookbook Fresh, Seasonal Recipes and blog about my experiences. I thought it sounded like a fun project, a good chance to try some of the recipes that I hadn’t made before and hopefully a way to make it a little easier to decide what to have for dinner each night.

I don’t recall what my expectations were going into it, but looking at it from the other side I can honestly say that it was a great opportunity for my whole family. In the last year, my kids have eaten an amazing variety dishes that I wouldn’t have thought to serve them a year ago. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I assumed they’d turn their noses up and reach for the peanut butter.

Over the last year I’ve certainly seen a few turned up noses but more often I’ve seen my kids eat things I used to only dream about. I can’t even tell you how happy it makes me to see them enjoying (or at least not rejecting) kale or lentils or quinoa. There must be some evolutionary mechanism that makes a mom burst with pride at her children eating nutrient-rich food. They’ve even started to show an interest in cooking themselves.

Just last night I was making Sweet Potato Wraps for dinner. A friend stopped by and ended up sitting at my kitchen table and chatting while I was cooking. After a few minutes of watching me cook, she mentioned that her kids would never eat the healthy meal I was preparing. “They’d think I’d gone to Mars and brought back some weird Martian recipe,” she said. I just smiled politely and offered to get her a copy of our cookbook.

Thirty minutes later I was sitting around the table with my husband and kids, eating whole wheat tortillas stuffed with mashed sweet potatoes and spinach. My husband got seconds and my son asked to have the leftovers in his lunch today. Cue beaming mom. If you think your kids (or your spouse, or yourself) will never eat healthy food, just give it a try. You may just be pleasantly surprised.

For Immediate Release

October 5, 2012

Austin, TX — 10/5/12-- “ I am cooking more fruits and vegetables,” Maria Gonzalez nodded, when asked about the impact of the Fruit & Vegetable Prescription Program (FVRx) on her family’s lifestyle. “Now my daughter is eating vegetables, when before, she wasn’t eating vegetables at all. This program makes vegetables more available to my family, making it the easy choice for them.”

WHAT: An innovative project combining the health intervention of fruit and vegetable prescriptions with cooking classes for pregnant mothers is finding success thanks to People’s Community Clinic (PCC), Sustainable Food Center (SFC) and their funding partners, St. David’s Foundation and Wholesome Wave.

WHY: Recognizing that pregnancy affords a valuable opportunity to encourage women to make behavior changes that improve immediate health outcomes and reduce the risk of future chronic disease in both mother and child, PCC has launched the Prenatal and Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Project in collaboration with the Wholesome Wave Fruit & Vegetable Prescription Program and SFC. This unique pilot aligns with the Centers for Disease Control’s Measures Project for Obesity Prevention by encompassing strategies that promote the expanded availability and consumption of fruits and vegetables, improved use of farmers’ markets, and increased support for breastfeeding.

WHO and WHEN: Three groups of ten women each (approximately 30 total patients), recruited from the same geographic area are currently receiving nutrition-related information and peer support through group activities that will complement their regular prenatal visits to the clinic. Additionally, during the prenatal visits for the 30 participants, PCC doctors and nurse practitioners issue FVRx prescriptions monthly for six months as part of the patient’s routine care.

“We are delighted to support efforts by these innovative local nonprofit organizations to foster healthy eating habits in our community!  Kudos to People’s Community Clinic and Sustainable Food Center for partnering to create this unique and promising new program,” said Earl Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer of St. David’s Foundation.

Clients are available for interviews upon request.

About People’s Community Clinic

PCC’s mission is to improve the health of medically underserved and uninsured Central Texans by providing high quality, affordable health care.  As the medical home for 11,000 low-income patients, the Clinic delivers a comprehensive, holistic approach to primary care that covers the lifespan and improves the health and well-being of our community.  http://www.austinpcc.org/

About Sustainable Food Center

SFC cultivates a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food. www.sustainablefoodcenter.org.

Media Contact:
Susan Leibrock, Community Relations Director, SFC
512-236-0074 ext. 111

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