Author: Christy Stearns
Planning Unit: Clinton County CES
Major Program: Accessing Nutritious Foods (general)
Plan of Work: Healthy from the Ground Up
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
The Clinton County Extension Office facilitated a grant from the Rural Child Poverty Nutrition Center from 2015-2018 to increase coordination and participation in USDA child nutrition assistance programs. All children in the district qualify for free school breakfast and lunch through the Community Eligibility Provision, so efforts focused on the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Through the support of nearly $100,000 in grant funding, strategies for increased participation included purchasing a combi oven for the middle school to assist in preparing additional nutritious meals, extending after school bus transportation for CACFP to three nights/week, physical enhancements to the Mobile Bus Stop Café (a bus that delivers summer meals) along with an increased number of SFSP sites, and sponsoring community events such as “I Can Help Fight Hunger” & the Longest Day of Play. As a result of interventions, SFSP participation increased from 6,821 meals in 2016 to 15,099 in 2018 while CACFP participation increased by nearly 3,000 meals during the same time period. Food insecurity has risen to the forefront of major community concerns and various groups are working to bridge the gap for food access during times when school is not in session, create a soup kitchen and homeless shelter, and secure funds for a second downtown farmers market location that can serve as a feeding site in subsequent years.
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