Harvest of the Month

Hi everyone. Welcome back to another year of Harvest of the Month. My name is Brooklyn Dreher. I am the pediatric dietician here at Tahoe Forest Hospital. I am also one of the co-coordinators of Harvest of the Month. I just want to start off by saying thank you so much for being a parent volunteer for this program. Both myself and the kids truly appreciate it. This program wouldn’t be possible without you. So again, thank you so much for being here.

If you’re new to the volunteer side of Harvest of the Month, welcome. We’re so excited to have you. If you’ve done this before, again, thank you so much for your years of volunteering. These slides may look similar to ones you’ve seen in the past, but please stick around and watch the video. There are a couple things that have changed, and it’s also a really great refresher course, especially when it comes to things like food safety, pickup spots, where to pick up, when to pick up produce. This year we’ll actually be having about a three to five question quiz at the end just so we can make sure you watch the video and make sure you understand the importance of this program, food safety, and just your understanding in general.

As a friendly reminder, we also run the BFIT program. That stands for BFIT in Tahoe. It was created by our personal trainers and athletic trainers, and this is to help kids reduce the risk of injury. If you’re at all interested in also volunteering for that program, please just reach out to us at [email protected]. You can also see the email on the slide. There is also a QR code. If you have not completed your volunteer Google form yet, please scan the code. If you have a hard time scanning or accessing the volunteer paperwork, again, just email us at [email protected]. This is required for you to be a volunteer. It helps us with getting your contact information, what school classroom you are going to be a part of.

This is our agenda for this presentation. It should take about 20 minutes. This goes over everything from the background of Harvest of the Month, the purpose behind it, an example calendar of what it’ll be like, Tahoe Forest responsibilities, my responsibility as the coordinator, and your responsibilities as the parent volunteer. At the end, if you do have any questions, feel free to email us again at the [email protected] email.

This is a little bit about the background of Harvest of the Month. It was originally created by several schools in the California district as part of a broader nutrition education effort. Over time, the California Department of Public Health actually adopted that program and it launched statewide. Harvest of the Month promotes connecting in the classroom, engagement with the kids and their peers, with parents, and with the teachers. It also connects things like gardening, local farming, family, and community. It is an incredible program. A lot of it is really successful because it is amongst their peers, and they absolutely love having you as their parent volunteer. So again, thank you for being here.

Why Harvest of the Month? The purpose of Harvest of the Month in general helps students do better in school. It provides lessons and activities for students to explore, learn, taste, and use all their senses when it comes to exploring new fruits and vegetables. Especially if you’re a picky eater, this can be very helpful. It is also fun and social, hands-on and engaging, which is great for kids and learning. Research has shown that Harvest of the Month helps students perform better in school. Studies show that eating a diet that is nutrient-rich and comes from things like fruits and vegetables can lead to increased concentration, improved math, reading, and writing skills, as well as higher test scores. It also decreases disruptive behaviors and having sick days, and helps with immunity boost. These are all really important and the purpose for Harvest of the Month.

This is a sample of our Harvest of the Month tasting calendar for a year. This is something we had done in previous years. It will not look like this this year, but just so you get an idea of what it looks like. If you want the updated tasting calendar, you can go to our website using this QR code. It is also on the Tahoe Forest Hospital website. It is a little challenging to get to, so we just give you a QR code so you can get access to it right away. We have about seven tastings in the year. Usually, we have no tastings in December since it is such a busy month with the holiday season. We will have an October tasting, November, a break in December, and then January through May we will have tastings.

Our responsibilities from Tahoe Forest as coordinators: we order the produce and organize it to each classroom. Each classroom bag will have a label with your teacher’s name on it. After sorting the produce, we will deliver it to your school by 1:00 p.m. on the Monday of Harvest of the Month week. We will go over again what the calendar will look like in our emails that you’ll be getting out. That is why it’s so important to fill out that Google form for volunteers so that we have your contact information. During the Harvest of the Month season, we’ll send you two or three email reminders. The first email will be the week before Harvest of the Month week and will include all the education materials and website links. The second email will be sent on that Monday to confirm that the produce has been delivered. If your bag is still at the school by Tuesday, we will send out a third reminder for whoever’s classroom it is so that the volunteer can pick it up. If your bag is missing or you can’t find your teacher’s name, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Sometimes it happens where someone grabs the wrong bag. We will make sure to get you the produce that you need for that week. If anything else goes wrong, again, you have our email, so just let us know. In addition, we do work with the school food service to promote monthly fruits and vegetables in the cafeteria so that the kids are more engaged in Harvest of the Month. These are some examples of our education sheets. We have everything from a family newsletter to an educator letter. It has fun facts on it, botany of the fruit or vegetable, and engaging questions. It is all on our website. If you scan that QR code, you’ll be able to find all the resources you need. We will also email it to you, and we will have printed copies at the school when you pick up the bag.

Your responsibilities as the Harvest of the Month parent volunteer: If there are multiple volunteers in a classroom, you will coordinate to see who does what tastings each month. You’ll coordinate with the classroom teacher as well. Ideally, by the first week of October, this should be finalized. Get together and communicate with whatever parents are volunteering within the classroom. Check with your teacher to see if there are any food allergies in the classroom. We will go over food allergies in more detail in a later slide. Talk to your teacher about that to reduce the risk of activating someone’s food allergies. The week before Harvest of the Month, coordinate a time and date with your teacher on when you will be doing the tastings and lessons. Typically, the tastings and lessons are anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. This is something you can coordinate with your classroom teacher. You can make it as fun and engaging as you’d like. We have sample recipes on the Harvest of the Month website that you can look at if you’re unsure how to prepare or present that Harvest of the Month fruit or vegetable. Check your emails frequently, as we send them out if anything changes, for example, if we had to change the produce due to a shortage or seasonal issues.

Harvest of the Month week: On Monday, pick up your produce. Check your email to make sure it has been delivered. Bags are usually delivered no later than 1:00 p.m., sometimes sooner. Ideally, pickup time is around 1:00 p.m. If you don’t pick it up by the end of Monday and your bag is still there on Tuesday, we will send a reminder email to pick up your bag. Pickup locations may change depending on the school, so coordinate with the front office if you have a hard time locating your bag. If you don’t see your bag with your teacher’s name, someone might have accidentally picked up the wrong bag. Email us at [email protected], and we are happy to help you get the bag you need for your tasting.

Produce pickup: Pick up the bag with your teacher’s label on it. You can either bring your own bag and just toss it in there and leave the Tahoe Forest-provided bag, or you can take our Tahoe Forest bag home with you. Return the bag to the big canvas bag by the following Monday because we pick up the bags on Monday. Grab your educator packet with fun facts about the produce, engaging questions, and history of the produce. We also have fun stickers for the kids in all classrooms. Mark off that you picked up the bag by checking it off with your teacher’s classroom name.

Preparing the tasting: We have example recipes online. Limit added salts and sugars to the produce and keep it as the main ingredient. Focus on food allergies to make sure it is safe for children. Look for allergens on the food label, including the top nine allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, and sesame. These are always labeled on the food labels as required by the FDA. If you have any questions or concerns about reading a food label or reducing the risk of activating a food allergy, email us at [email protected].

Food safety: Wash your hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds. Clean the produce with cold water, rinse, and pat dry. For fruits with tougher skin, give an extra rinse. Use separate cutting boards for meats, poultry, fish, and produce to reduce cross-contamination. Cook poultry to at least 165°F. Chill prepared food promptly, as bacteria grow within two hours outside of 40°F.

Harvest of the Month education: You will get an education packet with history, botanical facts, cooking in the classroom, and comparing textures and smells. Sometimes there is a Harvest of the Month kids book featured around the fruit or vegetable of the month. Check the front office if you are interested.

Tasting day: Bring your tasting, education packet, and stickers to the classroom. Follow the teacher’s seating arrangement and timing, typically 20 to 30 minutes. Have fun. Kids love guest volunteers, especially familiar parent volunteers. Encourage creativity with tastings and recipes, but email us if unsure about nutritional suitability, added sugars, or salt.

Kings Beach classrooms: They have a Charlie cart for cooking demos. Reach out if interested. Training is available on our website. All volunteers must complete the Google form to volunteer. Scan the QR code if you haven’t. Email us if you have any questions. Thank you for being parent volunteers. You are a big help, and the kids love it. We appreciate your time and effort. Thank you again.

Bye.