A Banner Week
Brighter Bites made news this week and I could not be prouder. The Houston Chronicle’s Mother’s Day tribute and Andrea White’s insightful article in the Chronicle about Brighter Bites created a buzz in social media and in our schools. Hundreds of our Facebook friends “Liked” the two pieces and other friends emailed and called to wish us well on our continued growth and the families that flourish from it. We are thrilled to begin our summer distribution cycle next month as we look back on three great years. Brighter Bites started with just one school in Houston and now serves 32 schools and community programs in both Houston and Dallas. Over the last three years, we have distributed nearly three million pounds of fruits and vegetables to more than 8,500 families. Brighter Bites is currently one of the Nation’s only non-profit initiatives that simultaneously target both increasing food access and food literacy. We help teach families to make healthier choices via in-class lessons for kids, nutrition education handbooks for their parents, and weekly recipes for everyone to try at home together. All of our materials (including this Website) are available in Spanish. The best news yet is that we are feeding with impact and have a lasting effect on the families we touch. Here are some recent numbers crunched by our statisticians:
- >98% of parents reported that their children ate more fruits and vegetables while participating in Brighter Bites.
- >Of those, 74% said they were able to maintain that increased level after the Brighter Bites season ended (Brighter Bites provides 30-35 pounds of produce each week for eight weeks three times per calendar year).
- >In the 2013-2014 school year, Brighter Bites families surveyed said that 89% of them ate all or most of the vegetables we provided and 93% ate all or most of the fruit.
- >Families are also telling us that Brighter Bites is helping them save some money, too. Each week, Brighter Bites pays an average of $2.67 for the produce each family takes home. The fruits and vegetables we provide allow them to save an average of $36.77 on their weekly grocery bill.
Looking ahead to the summer, I feel even more confident about the future of Brighter Bites in Texas. We are excited about expanding our operations in Houston and Dallas, growing the number of sites we serve, and increasing the population we reach. Stay tuned to find out where we’re going next…