National Nutrition Month Spotlight: Wilkes Community Partnership for Children Increases Access to Fresh Food
Early health and development support is critical towards ensuring children grow into healthy adults. In celebration of National Nutrition Month, Smart Start is celebrating the work of Local Partnerships in promoting healthy eating, increasing healthy behavior patterns, and advancing food security.
Food insecurity is a critical issue in North Carolina with one in six children facing hunger. To address this problem, four Smart Start Local Partnerships have partnered with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) as part of a 2022 grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture to explore local food procurement. The goal of the CEFS partnership is to strengthen the viability and resilience of regional food economies.
Explore what’s happening in Wilkes County because of the Wilkes Community Partnership for Children below:
In Wilkes County, the Wilkes Community Partnership for Children has worked alongside a Cooperative Extension Agent and the Wilkes Fresh mobile market to increase access to local fresh produce for child care centers. Partnership staff promoted the opportunity to families and participated in packaging and delivery. Because of this partnership, children in 5 child care centers now have increased access to healthy foods!
Wilkes Community Partnership for Children is also actively working with child care sites to prepare gardens for the growing seasons and working to create opportunities for children to pick produce at farms.
The work completed by Wilkes Community Partnership for Children is another step towards reducing childhood hunger in North Carolina!
