
Brighter Bites Austin has closed out the spring semester of our first school year in the Capital City with exceptionally high numbers!
Brighter Bites Austin has closed out the spring semester of our first school year in the Capital City with exceptionally high numbers!
Between December 2015 and February 2016, three significant research reports were published that focus on the entangled topics of food insecurity, childhood obesity, diet-related chronic disease, and increasing healthcare expenses. These publications, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) , the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Bread for the World Institute make it hard to ignore that much of what we eat is adversely impacting our health and, in turn, driving up healthcare costs. They are sending a loud and clear message that changes in our diet are a solution to improving health in this country as obesity rates remain high and give rise to chronic illness. As National Nutrition Month passes and Healthy Texas Week begins, I am compelled to sound the alarm about these problems and shine light on one Houston-grown solution close to my heart.
We want food and we want it fast. Fast foods are plentiful at corner stores and restaurants across our city, which make it easy to feed our kids unhealthy foods when they are grumbling for a snack. There is good news, however. We are now creating a new fast food by getting fresh fruits and vegetables into the homes of underserved families.
On nearly any given day during the school year and summer break, families in Houston, Dallas, and Austin receive 30 pounds of fresh produce coupled with nutrition education through a non-profit organization I founded four years ago in Houston called Brighter Bites. I started Brighter Bites because my son’s taste for processed food and sweets dramatically declined after he was exposed to a large variety of fruits and vegetables I brought home each week from a local Houston co-op that supports organic farmers, many of them located in Texas. After eating foods like bell peppers, kale, and fresh berries for months at mealtimes, he started asking for them instead of traditional fast foods – he even turned down birthday cake at a friend’s party.
This radical shift convinced me to recruit Dr. Shreela Sharma, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at UTHealth School of Public Health; Brian Green, CEO of the Houston Food Bank; and Mike Feinberg, co-founder of KIPP Public Charter Schools, to develop a similar co-op model for families living in the food deserts of Houston – areas of the city where access to healthy, affordable food is limited and fast food restaurants and convenience stores abound.
Together, Dr. Sharma and I developed a program to change food preferences in low-income children and families, increasing access to fruits and vegetables and nutrition education. For 16 weeks during the academic year and eight weeks in the summer, we deliver 30 pounds of 9-12 different types of free fresh produce each week to the families in our program so they can experiment with new foods without risk to their wallets; improve their eating habits; and, increase demand for more produce in their communities. We also provide every family with comprehensive nutrition handbooks, recipes, and tip sheets, and we support nutrition education lessons in the classroom.
Dr. Sharma has studied the impact of the program on our families, and the results are exciting: 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 even after the Brighter Bites season ended. Brighter Bites is also saving our families approximately $38.00 per week on their grocery bill.
Over the past four years we have provided more than 6,000,000 pounds of produce to over 20,000 families at nearly 90 sites in three of the largest cities in Texas, including Head Start programs, elementary schools, middle schools, and after school programs.
Our end goal is changing the way people think about food: to understand that food equals health. This is bigger than just Brighter Bites. Will you join us in creating a new kind of fast food?
Caitlin Daniel’s op-Ed in yesterday’s New York Times, A Hidden Cost to Giving Kids Their Vegetables, suggests a shift in the national conversation about the food kids should be eating today and cites the need for more programs that expose children to nutritious foods. Brighter Bites is highly focused on providing access to free fresh produce and nutrition education to families living in the food deserts of Houston, Dallas, and Austin in three eight-week increments throughout the year. By giving parents the financial freedom to cook nutritious meals for their kids, we give children a decent chance of liking them. Ms. Daniel’s call for more programming to help low-income kids change their tastes is spot on. Expanding the reach of programs like Brighter Bites will expand the palates of our children.
On Friday, December 4, Brighter Bites wrapped up our first fall season of programming in Austin! Over the course of eight weeks, we distributed more than 373,000 pounds of produce to nearly 1640 families at nine elementary schools and one after school program, including:
The volunteers at some schools had potluck celebrations to mark the end of the semester. Volunteers prepared dishes like soups, salads, and healthy protein dishes that were chock full of many of the fruits and vegetables seen in the Brighter Bites bags. We were also excited to see some new fruit and veggie combinations in some of their own recipes! We sincerely thank all of our volunteers who spent their time and flexed their muscles to make this program a success for eight weeks this fall. We look forward to working with these volunteers and schools in January when our program starts up again in the spring. Go Austin!
Bethany Dawson was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas. She graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a B.S. in Biology in 2012. She went on to serve a year as an AmeriCorps member with City Year San Antonio, where she worked as a full-time math tutor in a low-income middle school. This past May, Bethany graduated from the UT Health Science Center School of Public Health in Houston with a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology. Bethany is passionate about childhood obesity prevention through nutrition and physical activity, and she developed an adaptation of the CATCH Middle School curriculum for use in faith-based communities for her Master’s thesis. During her second year at the UTSPH, Bethany found out about Brighter Bites and joined the Houston team as a part-time Graduate Assistant on the research end. After graduating in May, she moved to Austin but just couldn’t say goodbye to Brighter Bites and is very excited to join the new Austin team full-time! Bethany enjoys running, photography, traveling, and trying to replicate her mom’s cooking. Ellen Orabone is originally from the Chicagoland area. She has a BS in Food Science from North Carolina State University, an MA in International Affairs from American University, and an MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from the United Nations-mandated University for Peace. Ellen started her career in the food world with a scientist’s eye, but has incorporated social and environmental threads into her passion for food. She has realized that what is most important for a sustainable food system is the balance between nourishing our growing population with healthy, affordable food and maintaining a healthy, thriving planet. Ellen has lived, worked and attended schools in multiple cities. In Costa Rica, she worked on sustainable agricultural practices and studied neglected and underutilized crop species. In California she was a Garden Programs Coordinator with Bronco Urban Gardens where she constructed school gardens and implemented garden-based education programs in low-income communities. And, most recently, in Austin, Ellen built and managed the Sustainable Food Center’s Teaching Garden, where she was also the Teaching Garden Coordinator. In that role, she created and taught food gardening classes, led food-system youth field trips, coordinated free seed and plant giveaways, and composted anything she could get her hands on. In her free time, Ellen enjoys participating in Camp Gladiator bootcamp-style workouts, kayaking on Lady Bird Johnson Lake, and watching the latest sci-fi and comic book superhero movies at the Alamo Drafthouse with her boyfriend.
Eating well is important, but staying physically active during the summer also promotes a healthy lifestyle. The following are a list of FREE activities in Houston, Dallas, and Austin that will keep your kids happy and healthy. HOUSTON:
DALLAS:
AUSTIN:
Brighter Bites has expanded to Austin, establishing the program’s third city in Texas! Stefanie Cousins is the Program Director, overseeing the day-to-day operations and working closely with the Capital Area Food Bank, the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at The University of Texas School of Public Health, and other Austin community partners. Stefanie is also the newly appointed Director of Communications for Brighter Bites. She is responsible for the organization’s digital presence and communications strategies. Stefanie is an award-winning producer for ABC News, PBS and The New York Times, and a specialist in public health, health promotion and program development. Before joining Brighter Bites, Stefanie was principal of Blue Heart Media. She has written and produced several videos for MD Anderson Cancer Center, John Snow Inc. (JSI) and the United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Stefanie has also provided writing services and communications consulting to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), WebMD, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, APQC Education, and the United States Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Before launching Blue Heart Media, Stefanie was a producer for Barbara Walters at ABC News 20/20, New York Times Television’s Science Times, and NOW with Bill Moyers. She also has produced long-form documentaries for PBS about human trafficking and smuggling and for The National Geographic Channel about the obesity epidemic. As a client supervisor for a mid-size communications firm in Raleigh, NC, Stefanie provided team management and project execution in the firm’s health care practice. Stefanie holds an MPH from the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health and a BA in English and Italian from Middlebury College. She lives in Austin, TX with her husband and two children.