Brighter Bites Red Book 2019

BRIGHTER CHOICES. B R I G H T E R O U T LO O K S .

BRIGHTER BITES.

INCREASE ACCESS

PROMOTE AWARENESS

An estimated 10% of the U.S. population has poor access to fresh food.

There is widespread lack of understanding regarding how food impacts health.

IMPROVE HEALTH

CREATE DEMAND

Three out of every ten children in the U.S. are obese.

Less than half of U.S. children eat the advised amount of fruits and vegetables daily.

W E LCO M E TO B R I G H T E R B I T E S

Our mission at Brighter Bites is to create communities of health through fresh food. We are a nonprofit that delivers fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands. We teach them how to use it and track their behavior change.

We make it fun. We make it free. And we make it happen via a simple, replicable formula. More on that later.

F I R ST, H OW D I D T H I S W H O L E T H I N G STA R T ?

O U R STO RY

How a Spurned Slice of Cake Sparked a New Kind of Co-Op For several years, Lisa Helfman and her family took part in a weekly fruit and vegetable co-op, and she watched her children’s eating habits dramatically transform.

So much so that her little boy turned down a piece of cake at a birthday party, craving instead the blueberries he’d grown fond of eating at home.

Like most moms, Lisa realized this was a fairly significant decision for a sixyear-old, and she wondered what kind of influence regular access to fresh produce might have on all children. Especially if that produce was free to families.

She was inspired to replicate this type of positive change in underserved communities identified as “food deserts,” or areas where access to grocery stores stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables is sorely limited. Because nutrition education in these communities is often equally lacking, Lisa’s vision was to bring a produce co-op to schools in these neighborhoods that included an

educational component. She created a collaborative partnership with Dr. Shreela Sharma, an expert in nutrition and a professor of epidemiology at UTHealth School of Public Health, and together they launched the program now known as Brighter Bites. Since then, UTHealth has been the research partner for Brighter Bites, tracking the program’s impact on the families and communities we serve.

Since its inception in 2012, Brighter Bites has delivered millions of pounds of fresh produce and nutrition education to our children and families in multiple cities.

Nibble by nibble, we’ll go nationwide!

LISA HELFMAN & SHREELA SHARMA, FOUNDERS OF BRIGHTER BITES

F I L L T H E P L AT E !

1

Produce Distribution

E D U C AT E !

2

Nutrition Education

M A K E I T G R E AT !

3

Fun Food Experience

W E E K LY & W I D E LY

( R E P L I C AT E ! )

BR IG HTER BITES IS INCR EASING FRUIT AN D VEG ETA BLE (F&V) INTA KE IN S C HOOL LUN CHE S

Research by UTHealth shows that children who participate in Brighter Bites consume more F&V served at school lunches than children who are not enrolled in Brighter Bites.

TA ST Y- M O N I A L

Of the 98% of participants who reported eating more produce while participating in Brighter Bites, 74% were able to maintain that increased level after the season ended.

“We loved this program! It was great to volunteer to load bags, and such a treat to enjoy delicious, healthy food at home.

It helps us discuss good choices with our kids and makes us proud of our school!�

H A P P Y PA R E N T

O U R T H R E E - PA R T, N OT- S O - S E C R E T F O R M U L A

1

Produce Distribution

2

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Nutrition Education

Bring fresh produce to where kids already are.

Teach kids and families healthy ways to use their food.

A majority of children in the United States do not consume sufficient fruits and vegetables. These consumption rates are significantly lower among minority populations who live in underserved areas known as food deserts: places without access to fresh produce. So we bring good food to where kids already are: preschools, elementary schools, and summer camps.

At school and during distributions, we teach kids, parents, and teachers how to make the most of their produce.

We encourage teachers to utilize their bags during in-class lessons, and we provide nutrition education handbooks, plus weekly tip sheets and recipes, for everyone to use at home.

Every week, Brighter Bites heads to these sites and distributes fresh, seasonal produce for families and teachers to pick up and take home.

Two bags contain ~50 servings of fruits and veggies, weighing 20-25 pounds.

We train and support schools in their implementation of CATCH and other evidence-based programs that promote healthy food choices and physical activity. We are one of the few nonprofits that simultaneously targets increasing food access and food literacy.

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T H E B E T T E R W E N O U R I S H , T H E B R I G H T E R W E F LO U R I S H

3

Fun Food Experience Create a fun food experience for everyone involved.

During weekly produce pickups, Brighter Bites staff and volunteers create a fun food experience for the whole family, demonstrating colorful recipes and passing out samples that incorporate that week’s fresh produce. As a co-op, we engage the community around us. The vibrant volunteers helping bag and distribute the produce are parents, grandparents, and members of our community.

Our mission is to show that what’s inherently good can taste incredibly great when combined with a little creativity, a happy environment, and a few stickers.

Hulk Smoothie, anyone?

Replicate our three-part formula weekly and widely.

The science behind Brighter Bites tells us that it takes the weekly continuity of our formula to really make an impact.

So we divide our program into three seasons: eight weeks each in the fall, spring, and summer.

Embedded within our formula is the implicit mitigation of food waste.

We increase the recovery of produce from growers, distributors, and food banks, and reduce food waste at the consumer level by teaching families how to use it.

Our goal is to link the school and home environments to create a larger community around nutrition, health, and behavior change.

TA ST Y- M O N I A L

Since 2012, Brighter Bites has delivered more than 40 million pounds of fresh produce and millions of nutrition education materials to more than 475,000 individuals (including teachers) in multiple cities across the country. “I am more impressed each and every week.

Not only with the goal of the program, but also with the participation rate, how smoothly the distribution runs, and the dedication shown by our parent volunteers. Brighter Bites is really making a difference.�

H A P P Y T E AC H E R

BRIGHTER BITES IS INCREASING PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOL

Research by UTHealth shows that 69% of 704 teachers surveyed agree that Brighter Bites has increased parental engagement at their school.

SEE HOW IT ALL WORKS!

ST E P 1

ST E P 2

Engage Communities

Select the Week’s Variety

It all starts with the right relationships.

We engage schools, communities, and partners. We introduce them to Brighter Bites. Together, we build a community of health.

After our select produce suppliers donate fresh fruits and vegetables to our procurement partners, our staff chooses 8 to 12 different types of produce from huge warehouse coolers, and the food is specially tagged for Brighter Bites.

ST E P 5

ST E P 6

Teach Brighter Choices Also in the bags are nutrition handbooks, tip sheets, and recipes for parents and teachers that incorporate that week’s fresh produce.

These are linked to children’s in-school nutrition lessons from CATCH and other evidence-based coordinated school health programs we help implement via trained staff.

Sample & Share Let the fun food experience begin! Our team prepares healthy and tasty new “brighter bites” for families to sample, using one or more of the produce items being shared that week.

ST E P 3

ST E P 4

Load Up!

Bag the Produce

Massive pallets teeming with bags and cases of fresh produce for Brighter Bites are loaded by warehouse staff into a large box truck. Each truckload carries produce for hundreds of families.

Once the truck arrives at the site, it is typically unloaded into a gym or cafeteria.

Parent and community volunteers and Brighter Bites staff in our red t-shirts work as an assembly line to unpack and divide the variety of produce into our bags.

ST E P 7

ST E P 8

Take Home the Fun

Replicate

When all is said and done, each family and teacher walks away with a pair of bags that contains ~50 servings of fresh, seasonal produce, plus tips and tools for how to use it. All at zero cost to the participants.

This process repeats for 16 weeks during the school year and 8 weeks during the summer. Our scalable co-op model allows us to bring Brighter Bites to more schools and camps, creating a community of health wherever we go.

TA ST Y- M O N I A L

While it costs a family $0 to participate in Brighter Bites, it also saves them approximately $35 each week on groceries.

“Brighter Bites made me cook things I wouldn’t have bought for fear of wasting money if my children didn’t like it.”

H A P P Y PA R E N T

BRIGHTER BITES IS C R E AT I N G P R O D U C E CO N S U M E R S

Research by UTHealth shows that two years after participating in the program, an average Brighter Bites family consumes 19 additional servings of fresh fruits and vegetables over one week.

R E S E A R C H & R E S U LTS

Brighter Bites Research The Proof is in the Papaya While food co-ops are becoming popular, there is little published literature to show their benefit and impact. This is where Brighter Bites takes the fruitcake. Researchers at the UTHealth School of Public Health conducted a two-year study evaluating the impact of Brighter Bites on 760 students and their families at nine schools in Houston during the 2013-15 school years. Results from this study have been published in a scientific peer-reviewed journal called Preventive Medicine. Suffice it to say, science finally proves what we’ve suspected all along: Brighter Bites works—and works well.

98%

EATEN

96%

EATEN

87.5% PARTICIPATION RATE

CONTINUOUS CONSUMPTION

HIGH PROGRAM FEASIBILITY

98% of participating parents reported their family ate all or most of the fruits provided, and 96% ate all or most of the vegetables.

Participating families reported attending 7 of 8 available distributions on average in each of the fall and spring semesters.

R E S E A R C H & R E S U LTS

As compared to those in the study’s control group (not receiving Brighter Bites) CHILDREN AND PARENTS WHO DID RECEIVE BRIGHTER BITES DEMONSTRATED:

HEALTHIER HABITS

LESS ADDED SUGAR

MORE HOME COOKING

Significant increase in amount of fruits and vegetables consumed.

Significant decrease in amount of added sugars consumed among children.

Twofold increase in cooking meals from scratch.

HEALTHIER SNACKING

MORE FAMILY MEALS

SMARTER DECISIONS

Significant increase in serving more fruits and vegetables as snacks.

Significant increase in eating meals together at home, and serving more produce as part of those meals.

Twofold increase in using nutrition labels to guide grocery purchases.

Sharma et al, Preventive Medicine, 2016 (91): 8-17.

PA R T N E R S H I P

Let’s Keep a Good Thing Growing We partner with institutions and entities all over the map who share our mission to shape healthy futures. We are humbled by the incredible support of our partners, whose continued creativity, enthusiasm, and expertise help sustain our program and nourish our nation.

PA R T N E R S H I P

S AY H E L LO

Contact Us Drop us a lime and let’s see what we can build together.

DEVELOPMENT

development@brighterbites.org MARKETING & PRESS

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media@brighterbites.org PARTNERSHIPS

Visit us online for resources, recent news, research, et celery.

partnerships@brighterbites.org

WWW.BRIGHT ER BI T ES.OR G

produce@brighterbites.org

PRODUCE

PROGRAMS

programs@brighterbites.org

This material was funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

is rooted in the belief that if we

give our kids something

better to munch on,

they will. and the lives they lead will be

as vibrant as the foods

they crave.