Join the growing number of people in Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek counties working together to create vibrant communities where the healthy choice is the easy choice.
The healthy choice means that every day all people in NE Iowa have access to healthy, locally grown foods and abundant opportunities for physical activity and play. Food and fitness is important because no matter where we are, the places where we live, learn, work and play affect our health and quality of life.
This effort is part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Community program. Food & Community invests in community-driven policy and system change projects.
NE Iowa is one of nine projects across the country working to transform our food and fitness systems.
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Starmont
Connecting kids to their food
Starmont is one of the six Farm to School pilots for this year. This page highlights some of their projects and activities.
Videos from Starmont:
Community Action Plan
Creating vibrant communities where the healthy choice is the easy choice
The Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative has brought people in Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek counties together to make our region a place where every day, all people have access to healthy, locally grown foods and abundant opportunities for physical activity in the places where we live, learn, work and play.
Diverse groups have joined together to create a common vision. Regional learning communities, involving schools, youth, active living and community health, nurture quality relationships and policy change successes.
Youth engagement is key to our success. Eighteen high school-based Food & Fitness Teams actively work with their administrators, food service, wellness committees, and teachers to improve their school's food and fitness environment and policies.
Our strategies are to ensure that 1) School district policies & practices support healthy living of children, families and community members. 2) Local, health-promoting food is available and affordable in all communities, neighborhoods and institutions. 3) Communities have a built environment that supports abundant opportunities for physical activity and play.
Our targets are to create procurement policies allowing for geographical preference of local foods in schools, to invest in new and existing producers who produce food for local food systems, to promote development of storage/processing capabilities for local food; and to develop and maintain infrastructure for walking and bicycling to and from schools in communities. Current efforts include piloting "Farm to School" and "Safe Routes to School" programs in each county. The Food & Fitness Initiative also supports the ongoing work of the NE Iowa Food & Farm Coalition.
This initiative is one of nine projects nationwide supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Community Program working to transform our food and fitness systems through policy and system change projects.
Monthly Budget Reports
Monthly financial reports for FFI workgroups and county teams.
SEPTEMBER 2010 Convening NIFF Coalition Active Living Community Health Youth Farm to School Safe Routes to School Allamakee County Chickasaw County Clayton County
AUGUST 2010 Convening NIFF Coalition Active Living Community Health Youth Farm to School Safe Routes to School Allamakee County Chickasaw County Clayton County
Northeast Iowa Funders Network
For sustainable communities
The Northeast Iowa Funders Network was established to connect community foundations and other philanthropic organizations as they collaborate to leverage regional and national funding opportunities in northeast Iowa.
Goals of the Network:
Learn more about the FFI initiative at the regional and community level
Understand how each funder's goals fit with the initiative
Collaborate to support regional policy-focused approaches to meeting initiative goals
Support grant-making which reflects and leverages the work of the initiative
The work of our county team and work group leaders is extremely important to our work. Below are resources to make the tasks of program facilitation, recordkeeping and evaluation easier.
Before the meeting: 1. Send out meeting invitations to county listserve and any addresses for hard copies. 2. Make arrangements for any equipment needed: computer, screen, projector, speakers. County ISU Extension offices are willing to assist. 3. Refreshments budget: $400 for 8 meetings County Mini-grant: Application (Word) County Mini-grant: Partner Guidelines County Mini-grant: Progress Report (Word)
After the meeting: 1. Enter the notes from the meeting on the online form. Printable copy of form. 2. Add any new participants to the New Member Form. Please include all new partners--even those without email. 3. Prepare and submit any bills to Winneshiek County Extension by the 5th of the month. 911 S. Mill Street, Decorah, IA 52101. Phone: 563-382-2949. Sample Invoice. Honorarium Voucher for County Teams (word)
Other Links: Please enter information about any PRESENTATIONS given to groups about the FFI.
Please enter information about any GRANTS received for work related to FFI.
Evaluation Materials: Our goal is to work together on the Quarterly Cross-Site Evaluation during March and have the feedback presented to the Regional Leadership Team mtg. on May 5. Please let Mary or Nikki know if you'd like to schedule a time for a phone call and "walk through" this data collection when you are ready to complete it for your county or work group.
Here is the link to the Quarterly Data Collection site. There are a few things you need to know as you prepare to fill in the requested information: 1. Only one person per work group or county team should complete the form. 2. You should be able to enter the data, and come back to it later (even after you have "completed" the survey). 3. Regarding partners: please use the printed spreadsheets as baseline data. All of the people listed on those pages are already included in the data, and do not need to be listed again. 4. Please email Mary Emery or Nikki if:
there are people on the list who should be removed
you have more than 2 partners to add under any single category (Core, Ongoing, Strategic, Targeted Allies, etc.)
Turkey Valley is one of the six Farm to School pilots for this year. This page highlights some of their projects and activities.
Decorah Community Schools
Connecting kids to their food
Decorah is one of the six Farm to School pilots for this year. This page highlights some of their projects and activities.
Oelwein Community Schools
Connecting kids to their food
Oelwein is one of the six Farm to School pilots for this year. This page highlights some of their projects and activities.
Howard-Winneshiek Schools
Connecting kids to their food
Howard-Winneshiek schools are the Farm to School pilot for Howard County. This page highlights some of their projects and activities.
Videos from Howard-Winneshiek:
Postville Community Schools
Connecting kids to their food
Postville is the six Farm to School pilots for Allamakee County . This page highlights some of their projects and activities.
Videos from Postville:
Testing All The Options
This is Just a Test.
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Capturing and telling the stories of the Initiative are important for reflection, impact and evaluation. Here are some of the stories of our work.
The Active Living Regional Team
Creating opportunities for active living in the natural and built environment
The Active Living Regional Team directs the work of creating opportunities for active living in the natural and built environment in northeast Iowa.
The Team has representation from each of the six counties and school and trail enthusiasts. Some of the key organizational champions behind this work include: Schools, City Parks and Recreation, County Conservation, Trail enthusiasts, Iowa DNR, Civil Engineering, Community Planners, Resource Conservation and Development, ISU Extension, Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, State Safe Routes to School with Dept. of Transportation, Iowa Bicycle Coalition, and Luther College.
Plan for Year 1: The Active Living Regional Team will participate in a learning community conference. The Active Living Team will create a strategic plan for engagement and strategies for expanding community walkability in the first 12 months.
Strategies: Ensure that school district policies and practices support healthy living of children, families and community members.
Ensure that communities have a built environment that supports abundant opportunities for physical activity and play.
Policy and system change targets:
Promotion of physical activity in school curricula
Promotion of school facility use by children and the public outside school hours
Development/maintenance of infrastructure for walking and bicycling for local transportation
Tactics and actions:
Implement Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program in six schools. These schools will complete SRTS assessments, convene a school-community team, assess readiness of teams to conduct SRTS community workshops, support teams to create plans for their schools and communities.
Provide Safe Routes to School mini-grants for 6 additional schools.
Increase youth and family participation opportunities, programming, and system/plans for physical activity and active play every day. This can be accomplished by expanding the use of school gyms and yards for community after school hours and assisting schools and communities in the development of joint-use agreements.
Integrate additional minutes of daily physical activity into school curricula.
Youth Conference
Regional School Team
Creating opportunities for food and fitness in schools
By taking a school-based approach, our work will include all children and families, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or age. But we will begin our school-related work in school districts where children are most vulnerable, striving to change and strengthen the systems that affect them. Our initial efforts will include the vulnerable communities of Oelwein, Postville, Elma, and Waukon where poverty rates are higher and 50 to 80 percent of students receive free or reduced lunch (as compared to the regional average of 33 percent.
School districts in the four communities named above and two other districts have been selected for the first year of the Farm-to-School program, our most intensive work, based on student vulnerability in grades K-3 and where districts show readiness. We will work to build institutional capacity to provide local foods, nutrition education, and increased options for physical activity.
During the first phase of our work, high school students formed school Food & Fitness Youth Teams where they are learning leadership, communication and advocacy skills around system and policy change. Sixteen teams are guided by FFI's Youth Coordinator. They will be instrumental in driving systems change and engaging K-3 students.
At the same time, six additional school districts are targeted for Safe Routes to Schools, which will require fewer resources, but will both build their capacity and help us judge their readiness to join the Farm to School program in Year 2 or Year 3. We will launch the Safe Routes to Schools program in Fall 2009, with active living champion Mark Fenton giving a regional workshop on walkable and bikeable communities.
Strategy A: Ensure that school district policies & practices support healthy living of children, families and community members.
Tactics:
Supports a regional learning community that nurtures quality relationships, leads to policy successes, and advances the Food and Fitness vision.
Farm to School: Grow a Farm-to-School program incorporating healthy local foods into school food programs while teaching people about nutrition and the local food system.
Provide opportunity for a variety of physical activity options before, during and after school time.
Food policy: Regionally develop a comprehensive school food and beverage policy that sets guidelines to ensure school food includes healthy, especially local choices.
Food Policy: Regionally develop a comprehensive school food and beverage policy that sets guidelines to ensure snacks, concessions, fundraisers, vending machines and a la carte items include healthy, and especially local, choices.
Policy Target Year 1:
Procurement Policy allows for geographical preference of local foods in schools
From FFI's inception, youth leadership and youth/adult partnerships have been central to our work. Seven youth participated in the first Systems Thinking work session where we created the FFI purpose, values, and vision. Youth comprise one-third of the Regional Leadership Team and formed a Youth Regional Team. Over 200 students are actively working on FFI in 16 schools.
Youth are ready to lead implementation, as evidenced by their work during the first phase of FFI.
The Youth Team designed and implemented a one-day workshop, "Highway to Health", attracting 111 high school students from 11 school districts and16 teacher/coaches in April 2009.
A second Youth Conference was held in November 2009 with over 180 youth from 16 schools attending. Youth led sessions on policy advocacy, nutrition, and wellness.
High school youth taught K-6 children about healthy eating and active living, generated energy for engagement across the age range of youth, and developed youth-adult partnership models in our schools.
Clayton Ridge, North Winn and Decorah Youth Teams assisted with Go The Distance days at their schools this Spring.
Riceville youth worked on the Walk & Roll to School Day and a Bike Rodeo.
Two FFI youth served as Youth Advocates for the Iowa Food Policy Council meeting in Des Moines.
Team members wrote the job description for an adult youth coordinator,interviewed candidates, and hired the coordinator.
Youth wrote jobdescriptions for adult coaches and recruited adults they believe bestserve in this role.
Youth are vital to the work of Food & Fitness. They offer new and profound perspectives on how to improve our food and fitness environments.
Postville residents learn how to make healthy meals in a hurry The Food and Fitness Initiative teamed up with Iowa State University Extension to host two meal education classes. The classes focused on preparing quick, healthy meals, food safety and the importance of family mealtime. Read more.
Data & Assessments
The Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative uses various sources of data--both internal and external --to evaluate our program.
Contents on this page: Assessments of the Built Environment Assessments of Food Security Assessments of the Local Food System Assessments of Schools Assessments of Worksites Community Health Data Initiative Evaluation Reports
Community Assessments by Luther College Students (2008) An Analysis of the Benefits of a Community Wellness Center Correlations Between Positive Affect & Fruit/Vegetable Intake on the Luther College Campus Gender Differences in Response to Preventative Health Care Self Reported Health Consciousness Levels: Organic vs. Non-Organic Shoppers Park Survey in Winneshiek County, Iowa Studying the Health Behaviors of Decorah Students with an Emphasis on Walking and Biking to School Saving School Lunch: Utilizing Healthier Options to Combat Obesity Initiative for a Healthy Lifestyle through Food: "Think Global, Eat Local" Determining Efficacy of Sidewalks and Trails for Employees to Walk to Work Walkability of Trails in Decorah Assessment of Winter Recreational Opportunities & Facilities in Decorah, Iowa
Producers learn about greenhouse production on local tours June brought both hot and cool weather to Northeast Iowa. This summer month also gave producers the opportunity to tour four local greenhouses. Read more.
Latest News:
$14,750 in Grants Received for Regional Projects
The Northeast Iowa Funders Network expresses sincere thanks to Winneshiek, Clayton, Allamakee, and the Fayette County Community Foundations' Board Members for their confidence and strong financial support of this regional effort to facilitate an open, creative and participatory network for funders around the issues related to building strong and vibrant communities. These contributions of $14,750 to our grantmaking pool, will serve the families and communities six-county region, and brings the Funders Network balance to $20,509.
Regional Leadership Team
Directing the work of the Food & Fitness Initiative
The purpose of the Regional Leadership Team is to assure a regional, integrated approach to the work achieves the highest quality results for children and families in Northeast Iowa.
Regional Team Members delegates (voting members) include Work Group Leaders (NE Iowa Food & Farm Coalition, Youth, School, Active Living, Community Health); two leaders from 6 County Teams and Postville Community, 7 Youth Leaders (6 counties and Postville). Co-conveners provide coordination and facilitation. Fiscal Agent is Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.
The key responsibilities of the Regional Leadership Team include:
Bring ideas, proposed actions, concerns, suggestions, and learning from work groups and county teams for discussion by regional team members
Create synergy and learning across the region and beyond
Work with co-conveners and the Vision Work Group to set regional priorities, decide how funds will be allocated, and provide leadership for the FFI
Serves as the decision-making body for FFI
The Story of the NE IA Food & Farm Coalition The NIFF Coalition became the first pilot community selected in 2006 by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture's Regional Food System Working Group. Their initial three goals were to provide an opportunity for existing and new producers to diversify, to explore development of regional processing and storage facilities to add value to all agricultural products in the area, and to increase the consumption and sale of locally grown crops. Read more.
First Grant Awarded
The members of the NE Iowa Funders Network approved a $9720 request from the Food and Fitness Intitative for the Farm to School Cross-Age Teaching Folios. The folios will be used by high school youth to teach 1-3 graders about where Iowa food comes from and what, that any of the foods we eat are grown in NE Iowa. The focus is on the importance of purchasing foods locally in order to support local jobs, local producers and local communities.
Through this project, students and families will strengthen their knowledge about agriculture, local foods, nutrition and the environment. This project will touch 1400 first graders and high school youth together with 120 teachers and the families of the children in the six county region including schools in Decorah, Postville, Turkey Valley, Howard-Winneshiek, Oelwein and Starmont. This grant leverages $7740 in costs plus the in-kind match from the FFI Regional Team for development of the folios. Folio topics are diverse and include information on local fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat and grain products.
Youth attend Boston Conference Nine Northeast Iowa residents, including five high school youth, attended a youth planning retreat for Food & Fitness in Boston, Mass. The conference was organized by the Youth Engagement Associates with the WK Kellogg Foundation to allow five of the nine Food & Fitness community cooperatives the opportunity for cross-site learning. Read more.
PE4Life
The Northeast Iowa Funders Network is reaching out to the Iowa Business Council and its PE4Life program. The Northeast Iowa Funders network has much in common with the Iowa Business Council as we seek to gather funders committed to building a healthy future for Iowa through partnerships with our schools. Does your school district participate in PE4Life? To learn more, visit: www.pe4life.org.
County Team Meeting Materials
The following materials are for use at the next County Leadership Team meeting. Visit the calendar for meeting locations and times.
The Aspen Institute, a nonprofit organization serving missions around the globe, hosted Northeast Iowa Funders Network Convener M.J. Smith as a presenter in April for a symposium of the Kansas Community Foundation. Aspen Community Strategies Co- Chair John Molinaro commended the Northeast Iowa Funders Network for being a model for regional cooperation for other rural states. Most noteworthy to conference participants was the willingness of counties to come together around a common vision for the future, and overcoming barriers to dialog and sharing of financial resources for the benefit of all.
County Leadership Teams
Connecting Food & Fitness to Your Community
The purpose of the County Leadership Team is to implement the Food and Fitness Initiative in its county, and to inform the direction of the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative by making suggestions, gathering learning from their work, and identifying opportunities and needs within the county. There are County Teams in Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek counties and in the Postville community.
The following materials are for use at the next County Leadership Team meeting. Visit the calendar for meeting locations and times.
For more information about the county team meetings, contact: Allamakee: Danielle at Waukon Wellness Center, (563) 568-0074 Clayton: McKenzie at Strawberry Point Economic Development, (563) 933-4417 Chickasaw: ISU Extension--Chickasaw County, (641) 394-2174 Fayette: Karla at Fayette County Economic Development, (563) 422-5073 Howard: Sue at ISU Extension--Howard County, (563) 547-3001 Winneshiek: Rick at Decorah Park & Rec, (563) 382-4158
Engage other county residents in FFI by recruiting them to participate on the county team and in local events and activities
Encourage and initiate local policy, organizational, and environmental changes and projects that create healthy food and fitness environments
Support pilot projects and mini-grant work within the county
Monitor progress of the FFI work in the county through participatory evaluation
Assist in documenting impact of local work
Make decisions regarding use of county mini-grant funds
Participant in FFI initiative evaluation
Projected Schedule/Topics for County Teams 2010
January FFI Community Action Plan Overview Youth Engagement
February Active Living Learning Community Safe Routes to School
March Farm to School
April Community Health Learning Community Messengers of FFI
May No meeting
June NE Iowa Food & Farm Coalition Tours
July No meeting
August/September Youth and Schools Learning Community
October FFI Fall Conference No county meeting
Contact Us
Join the growing number of people in Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek counties working together to create vibrant communities where the healthy choice is the easy choice.
The healthy choice means that every day all people in NE Iowa have access to healthy, locally grown foods and abundant opportunities for physical activity and play. Food and fitness is important because no matter where we are, the places where we live, learn, work and play affect our health and quality of life.
This effort is part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Community program. Food & Community invests in community-driven policy and system change projects.
NE Iowa is one of nine projects across the country working to transform our food and fitness systems.
Project Co-Conveners: Brenda Ranum, ISU Extension Ann Mansfield, Luther College
Iowa State University Extension - Region 4 911 South Mill Street Decorah, IA 52101 Phone: (563) 382-2949
Grant Administrator: Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Nancy Van Milligen, President/CEO Dubuque Building, Suite 195 700 Locust Street Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Background: Six school districts in Northeast Iowa have been chosen to be Farm to School pilot schools for the first year of the Food & Fitness Initiative grant. The schools have assembled teams with school, community and youth members to plan and implement Farm to School activities at their schools.
Participating schools are Postville, Decorah, Howard-Winneshiek, Turkey Valley, Oelwein and Starmont.
These six schools will receive technical, educational and financial support including training opportunities for teachers and food service staff. The schools will also receive $1,500 mini-grants for creating healthier school environments.
Americorp workers Flannery Cerbin and Rachel Wobeter are coordinating the Farm to School efforts in NE IA. They can be reached at (563) 382-2949.
Five Components to Farm to School
Teacher Training Hold region wide-training day(s), giving teachers exposure to Core standards and cross-disciplinary Farm to School curriculum.
Cross-Age Teaching Engage high school students as Farm to School educators, creating lessons that focus on a local food item each month.
Field Days/Producer visits Provide students the chance for place-based education and involve producers in the classroom.
Food Service Training Provide opportunities for food service personnel to met with local producers and to further culinary skills specific to local foods.
The NIFF Coalition was the first pilot community selected by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture's Regional Food System Working Group (2006). NIFF has 30 very active members and over 60 producer members. The NIFF Coalition completed a strategic planning process with a diverse group of stakeholders where the assets, strengths and opportunities of the area were identified as well as the barriers and challenges. The conversations quickly narrowed to food production as a strength in the area. Farms in this area lead the state in direct food sales with $1.3 million dollars in sales. Yet, local food sales only account for about 1 percent of the total food purchased.
Today, the work of the NIFF Coalition has been integrated into the NE Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative (FFI) a partner of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Community program and one of one of nine initiatives in the U.S. The goals of the FFI are to promote opportunities for existing and new producers to engage in the local food system and regionally advance planning and policy change to support processing, distribution and storage opportunities in the local food system.
The Impact: Creation of a learning community. The NIFF Coalition became the first pilot community selected in 2006 by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture's Regional Food System Working Group. Their initial three goals were to provide an opportunity for existing and new producers to diversify, to explore development of regional processing and storage facilities to add value to all agricultural products in the area, and to increase the consumption and sale of locally grown crops.
Developed a strategic plan. This plan was instrumental in their proposal submission to the W.K.Kellogg Foundation, and they were selected as the site of one of nine Food and Fitness initiatives across the U.S. The work of the NIFF Coalition has since been integrated into the NE Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative (FFI).
Facilitated institutional purchases of produce, dairy, and meat products. Through the work of the NIFF Coalition and RFSWG, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship clarified its policy on the use of local food by institutions, including schools, care centers and hospitals, and these buyers are again purchasing local fruits and vegetables.
Expanded the growing season. In 2008, increased buying interest from institutions led to a local wholesale and retail horticultural company to convert almost three acres of greenhouse space into a home for several types of vegetables and fruits.
Engaged Schools. The availability of off-season produce in the greenhouses led local school districts to realize they could purchase local food for approximately nine months out of the year. As of the spring of 2009, the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative is collaborating with the school system to provide children and their families access to healthier food options.
Increased commitment to buying local. Luther College, a local private college in the region, will contract with local producers for seven high volume food products in 2009, and has committed to purchasing 35 percent of its food from local producers by 2012.
Leverage funding and expertise. In two years, the initial $20,000 provided by the RFSWG in 2006 to support the NIFF Coalition has leveraged approximately $1.2 million in food and fiber infrastructure and resources for the region. This includes investment in greenhouses, apple and pear trees, grapes, poultry expansions, garden expansions, honey bee production, farm stand marketing, construction of packing sheds, hydroponic production, and much more. By tracking the purchases of four to five institutions in the last two years, the NIFF Coalition has realized an increase of more than $377,000 in local food purchases.
Over 40 people from 5 schools attended the Safe Routes to School Workshop on February 2, 2010! Resources from that event are posted at the bottom of this page.
SRTS is a rising international effort to increase safety and promote walking and bicycling to school through the 5Es: engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation."
During the past two to three decades, there has been an incredible rise in obesity and physical inactivity in children and adults. The impact on health and health-care costs is high and will continue to rise dramatically. In 1969, roughly half of all children walked or biked to school. Now, it is about 15 percent. For school trips less than one mile, 29 percent walk or bike.
There is a strong correlation between communities with good bicycle and pedestrian environments, and having more active residents. Air quality and traffic congestion around schools has also become an issue.
Six Northeast Iowa school communities have been targeted to promote safe ways for children to walk and bike to school in their respective community. This will be an initial step to promote physical activity for youth and families to benefit their health and the health of their communities.
Participating communities are Riceville, Ossian, Valley of Elgin, Elkader, New Hampton and Waukon.
Expectations for a SRTS pilot school:
Form a school/community SRTS Team
Attend the SRTS Regional Workshops
Review SRTS Assessment
Participate in monthly FFI County Planning Team meetings
Create a plan to promote safe ways for children to walk and or bike to and from their school
Collect data Spring and Fall (# of children walking /biking to school)
A video CD of Mark Fenton is available for checkout from your county ISU Extension office
Other Resources for Schools: Action for Healthy Kids Review and download tools to help you create healthier kids and schools. Use the search function to access programs, guides, toolkits, lesson plans and curricula on childhood obesity prevention and improving nutrition, physical education and activity and school wellness from Action for Healthy Kids and our partners.
Healthier US School Challenge The Healthier US School Challenge (HUSSC) was established to recognize schools that are creating healthier school environments through their promotion of good nutrition and physical activity. Four levels of superior performance are awarded: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Gold of Distinction.
Membership:
The NEIFN is comprised of representatives from community foundations in the region, including Allamakee, Winneshiek, Howard, Chickasaw, Clayton, and Fayette as well as host foundation representatives in Waterloo and Dubuque.
The role of community foundation representatives is to become educated about projects and funding opportunities and then officially communicate the networkšs business back to the county boards as well as bring the county boardšs needs to the network.
Funding Partners: Allamakee County Community Foundation Clayton County Foundation for the Future Chickasaw County Community Foundation Howard County Community Foundation Fayette County Community Foundation Winneshiek County Community Foundation Community Foundation of NE Iowa Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
For more information, contact: Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Nancy Van Milligen, President/CEO Dubuque Building, Suite 195 700 Locust Street Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Phone: (563) 588-2700 Fax: (563) 583-6619
Community Health Team
The Messengers of Food & Fitness
Health's messages and practices are at the core of FFI and basic elements in all of our work. Community Health Work Group has defined their role in NE Iowa as messengers for FFI. We are the catalyst to tell the story of what being healthy can look and feel like if you make healthier lifestyle choices with food and fitness.
The Community Health Work Group is a collaboration among a diverse group of health providers, educators and organizations. Our goal is to plan, implement and sustain communication avenues in the region to promote healthy eating and physical activity. We truly believe healthier people make stronger families and vibrant communities.
School cooks back to school
Turkey Valley cooks went back to school early this year to sharpen their cooking skills by attending a 5th Season Workshop hosted by the Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative Farm to School program. Guest chef and author, Monique Hooker from De Soto, Wisconsin showed food service workers how to prepare and store fresh local produce to be used throughout the school year by creating a vegetable dish called ratatouille. (Read more)
It's Garden Time
Where were Turkey Valley students for the second to last day of school? Planting veggies.
With guidance from horticulturist David Cavagnaro, students in Robyn Vsetecka's fourth grade class designed and planted a 20-by-70 foot plot in a few hours. However, much preparation contributed to the success of the day.
School and community members started planning the garden in February. Vsetecka and her 25 students started tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants in their classroom. Add garden tools purchased with a Farm to School grant from the NE Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative and a friendly neighbor to till a section of the school lawn, and the garden started to take shape. (Read more)
FFI Team members flex dodge ball muscles!!
Advisor time at Postville High is now dodge ball tournament time that promotes school-wide bonding with student and staff exercise. The dodge ball tournaments started in January and concluded in April. The whole high school student body watched two days a week as two homerooms battled each other.
This was just one of the many projects Postville completed with their mini-grant money this year. Schools who attended the FFI Fall Conference and nurtured high school teams received funds to increase access to local food and opportunities for physical activity.
Postville used some of their FFI funds to test the student body for diabetes and were happy to report that 177 students tested below the normal range. The students also supplied nutritious snacks to their classmates during Basic Skills testing.
One person from each grade (6-12) was randomly selected each day to wear a pedometer and to keep track of their steps. Each participant received a water bottle and the student with the most steps received a "blinker." The top winners for the school year received free subs. Cici Mueller reports that this program has made students aware of their activity and they work hard to move more.
Cross-Age Teachers Proven Role Models
Kids eating tomatoes like apples? Youth begging for Pepperjack cheese? Sounds like fiction, but these were some of the actual reactions of students at Crestwood Elementary involved in Northeast Iowa's Farm to School cross-age teaching program. "Cross-age teachers" are high school students who model lessons for elementary students.
"When you show them a new food and they actually like it, and they bring [the folio] home and show their parents, and their parents end up liking it, it changes their whole perspective on different foods," said Kameron LeFebvre, a cross-age teacher at Cresco High School. (Read more)
Minutes & Notes from County Teams and Workgroups
The Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative values inclusiveness and transparency. Below are the minutes and notes from the county teams and work groups.
County Teams August-Oct 2010 -- Farm to School Tours Allamakee Chickasaw Clayton Fayette Howard Winneshiek
Decorah cooks went back to school early this year to sharpen their cooking skills by attending a 5th Season Workshop hosted by the Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative Farm to School program. Guest chef and author, Monique Hooker from De Soto, Wisconsin showed food service workers how to prepare and store fresh local produce to be used throughout the school year by creating a vegetable dish called ratatouille. (Read more)
School cooks back to school
Oelwein cooks went back to school early this year to sharpen their cooking skills by attending a 5th Season Workshop hosted by the Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative Farm to School program. Guest chef and author, Monique Hooker from De Soto, Wisconsin showed food service workers how to prepare and store fresh local produce to be used throughout the school year by creating a vegetable dish called ratatouille. (Read more)
School Lunch
Turkey Valley has used some of their FFI funds to purchase a salad bar for their school lunch.
The Starmont FFI Team made food kabobs and shared them with elementary students.
Healthy snacks
Starmont students are selling bagged salads at thier concession stand. One day, the student body got to try the salads as a snack.
School Garden
Students, adults and volunteers from Turkey Valley have been planning the school garden. Parents, staff and youth are doing some serious planning! One fourth grader interested in herbs is leading the pack!
They are meeting on April 6 to with two teachers and students for a tour of potential garden locations. On April 22 (Earth Day), classes will be planting tomatoes and peppers. From May 27 to the end of the year, they hope to engage as many kids as possible on the very last days of school to keep them from going nuts by having them all help plant the garden!
Cross-age teachers trained
High school students participated in a training to prepare them for their role as cross-age teachers in the Farm to School program which will begin in January. The high school age team teachers will facilitate Farm to School lessons with second grade students once a month using folios developed specifically for northeast Iowa. The folios feature a different local food each month and provide information for parents and students. (Read more)
Cross-age teachers trained
High school students participated in a training to prepare them for their role as cross-age teachers in the Farm to School program which will begin in January. The high school age team teachers will facilitate Farm to School lessons with second grade students once a month using folios developed specifically for northeast Iowa. The folios feature a different local food each month and provide information for parents and students. (Read more)
Cross-age teachers trained
High school students participated in a training to prepare them for their role as cross-age teachers in the Farm to School program which will begin in January. The high school age team teachers will facilitate Farm to School lessons with second grade students once a month using folios developed specifically for northeast Iowa. The folios feature a different local food each month and provide information for parents and students. (Read more)
Cross-age teachers trained
High school students participated in a training to prepare them for their role as cross-age teachers in the Farm to School program which will begin in January. The high school age team teachers will facilitate Farm to School lessons with second grade students once a month using folios developed specifically for northeast Iowa. The folios feature a different local food each month and provide information for parents and students. (Read more)
Cross-age teachers trained
High school students participated in a training to prepare them for their role as cross-age teachers in the Farm to School program which will begin in January. The high school age team teachers will facilitate Farm to School lessons with second grade students once a month using folios developed specifically for northeast Iowa. The folios feature a different local food each month and provide information for parents and students. (Read more)
School Food Service Workers Complete ServSafe Training
School food service employees from five school districts participated in a day-long food safety in-service taught by Iowa State University Extension specialists Cindy Baumgartner and Jill Weber. The training was part of the Farm to School project in northeast Iowa. ServSafeŽ is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Participants learned about prevention, regulatory requirements, and how to improve food quality. (Read more)
School Food Service Workers Complete ServSafe Training
School food service employees from five school districts participated in a day-long food safety in-service taught by Iowa State University Extension specialists Cindy Baumgartner and Jill Weber. The training was part of the Farm to School project in northeast Iowa. ServSafeŽ is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Participants learned about prevention, regulatory requirements, and how to improve food quality. (Read more)
School Food Service Workers Complete ServSafe Training
School food service employees from five school districts participated in a day-long food safety in-service taught by Iowa State University Extension specialists Cindy Baumgartner and Jill Weber. The training was part of the Farm to School project in northeast Iowa. ServSafeŽ is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Participants learned about prevention, regulatory requirements, and how to improve food quality. (Read more)
School Food Service Workers Complete ServSafe Training
School food service employees from five school districts participated in a day-long food safety in-service taught by Iowa State University Extension specialists Cindy Baumgartner and Jill Weber. The training was part of the Farm to School project in northeast Iowa. ServSafeŽ is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Participants learned about prevention, regulatory requirements, and how to improve food quality. (Read more)
School Food Service Workers Complete ServSafe Training
School food service employees from five school districts participated in a day-long food safety in-service taught by Iowa State University Extension specialists Cindy Baumgartner and Jill Weber. The training was part of the Farm to School project in northeast Iowa. ServSafeŽ is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Participants learned about prevention, regulatory requirements, and how to improve food quality. (Read more)
