There are 10 main projects to be offered in this Theme, with partnerships with the Nourish Project, KPR and PVNCC School Boards, Student Nutrition Programs, Investing in Quality Childcare Initiative, Municipalities and First Nations communities and their recreation departments, PRHC, YMCA, and GreenUP Ecology Park. We hope to make vegetables and fruit more accessible to kids and families in various settings. Also, providing parents and caregivers with tips and strategies for including more vegetables and fruits in meals and snacks. We want to get kids excited about this Theme and encourage fun ways to support the overall goal through involving kids in gardening and in the kitchen.
Contact the HKCC Peterborough Coordinator, Claire Townshend, to request additional information – , 705-743-1000 ext. 355.
Rooting for Healthy Kids, April – December
This comprehensive project will have a focus on ways to involve children in growing and cooking. Nourish staff will support childcare sites and other community sites to establish a garden and get children involved in growing. School gardens will also be supported. Opportunities in the summer and fall will focus on involving kids in the kitchen and preparing/cooking vegetables. A local vlogger will be contracted to communicate gardening and food prep experiences with her wide audience. Vegetable-focused recipes will be developed and scaled to large quantities to support child care and community programs. www.nourishproject.ca
Healthy halftime snacks in Minor Sports, May – July
Local minor soccer leagues will be approached to promote this “Challenge” that encourages parents to bring fruit and water as their halftime snack, focused on teams with children 8 or younger. Parents can post photos to HKCC social media as part of a contest, with more points awarded if photos are Shared on Facebook. Contact
You’re the Chef, May – November
Expanding this program by to address feedback from early 2017. Program manual will be revised and include more recipes, more trainings to be offered, chef mentorship to ensure confidence in delivering the series in child care sites, and developing low literacy recipes through photography and graphic design. Contact
Healthy options at recreation centre canteens, Fall 2017
Building out of the Water Does Wonders water station project, HKCC coordinator and registered dietician will work with a few recreation managers to pilot offering healthier options in their canteen. The project will include promotional days on site and a variety of supports to make changes.
Boosting veggies and fruit in student nutrition programs, Fall 2017
Student Nutrition Programs will receive a supplementary food box every 2 weeks that will include a greater variety of vegetables and fruit than possible in previous years. Programs will also be provided with equipment to support serving vegetables and fruit (e.g a good quality blender to make smoothies, or healthy vegetable dips), as well as other resources such as dip containers. Coordinators will be briefed on the project at their September coordinator meeting.
Community seminars led by Pediatric team at PRHC, Fall 2017
Building on other community-based HKCC projects that PRHC’s Pediatric Outpatient program has led, the team will offer community seminars in approximately 5 community locations throughout the Fall to discuss healthy eating habits for families and how to deal with some of the common eating challenges that families experience.
Collaborative exploration: Veggie promotion at Well Baby check-ups, Fall 2017
Local health practitioners such as nurse practitioners and pediatricians will be consulted to explore opportunities to include vegetable promotion in Well Baby visit(s) such as the 12-month visit. Determine key messages or key resource to share with families to encourage and support them to offer vegetables regularly.
Collaborative exploration: Healthy options in food businesses, Fall 2017
Food businesses such as grocery stores and convenience stores are a key setting for families and an opportunity to promote healthy eating options for families. We hope that we will be able to work with a few local food businesses to pilot some options such as offering children a free piece of fruit (instead of a cookie), offering fruit/veg in priority neighbourhood convenient stores, and/or healthy family checkout lanes.
Contribute to provincial project: Finalizing and translating a user-friendly nutrition resource for child care
In response to new requirements in the Child Care and Early Years Act, a technical document has been developed by a team of RDs to support centres to make changes. An even more user-friendly resource will be created, graphically designed, and translated to French at a provincial level. The resource will be shared and promoted locally when it is complete.
Farm to School promotion, Fall 2017
More information to be added in late-August