Model Neighborhood Program

Filing Period

Jan 1, 2012 to Dec 31, 2012

Signed

Nov 15, 2013

Return Version

2012v2.0

Gross Receipts

$184,652

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

For Fresh Fruit On Fridays, the La Cienega Market manager chooses the choicest seasonal fruit or vegetable to feature that week and researches information that will include historical, nutritional, and cultural information, as well as a farmer bio and perhaps some interesting trivia to share with the students. On Friday the produce is cleaned and prepped at the school by volunteer parents and sometimes students. Prior to the children actually eating the produce, a teacher in the classroom, or the principal at a school-wide assembly, will read the information about the produce; Fresh Fruit On Fridays has become a valuable in-class opportunity for some teachers to incorporate the program into their nutrition or biology curriculum.After the lesson, the produce is served outdoors in the school lunch quad. This is the most important part of the program; when the students get to sample the produce it is done in a setting without the structure of the classroom, where they are free to experience it amongst their peers and in a setting where they may be more willing to try something new. This new experience happens on their terms, without parental pressures, and time and time again parents are surprised at what their children will eat on Fresh Fruit On Fridays and after.Without Fresh Fruit On Fridays, some children would never get the opportunity to try a pluot plum, or overcome their resistance to a vegetable by tasting the sweetness of an English peas, or learn that a kumquat is eaten whole and not peeled. They now have this wonderful opportunity to experience fruits and vegetables with flavors and freshness they may never have known before.

Activity 3

Super Salad Me is a program that provides a free healthy salad bar that will include items not normally seen on your average school menu and that are picked fresh by local farmers. Fresh organic spring mix baby lettuce, accompanied by an assortment of fresh fruits, sprouts and nuts, topped with fruity vinaigrette dressing are some examples of what may be offered. Students experience the full range of choices available to them when they eat healthy, and the difference that freshness can make to the quality and taste of food. Our intent is for our older students to think outside the normal limitations of school and cafeteria food and opt for the better tasting and higher nutritional level foods. Many teenagers are experiencing the results of bad eating habits, and like Fresh Fruit on Fridays, we want to offer them great tasting and healthy food alternatives, so that they too can make better food choices throughout their teen and adult lives.

Filer

EIN

95-4615739