Humboldt County Office of Education: Nutrition Services

The Harvest of the Month program motivates and empowers students to increase consumption and enjoyment of fruits and vegetables. Each month during the school year we deliver a featured produce item and our ready to go curriculum to over 200 K-5^th grade classrooms across the county. Teachers use our materials to lead a tasting of the produce item with their students. We aim to source six to seven of our ten items from local farmers. During these months our materials include a farm video and farmer profile.

Our approach leverages the powerful influence that educators and a peer environment can have on a child by creating a positive experience for students to explore new foods with their friends during the school day. This opens the door for parents to join in the conversation about nutrition at home and support their child’s development of healthy eating habits.

We build on our classroom based Harvest of the Month (HOTM) activities in the afterschool setting by offering students the opportunity to cook with their friends. Once a month we provide 25 after school programs that are part of the Redwood After School Network (RAN) with a recipe featuring the current HOTM item and the ingredients necessary to prepare it at their sites. Later in the month, we distribute 150 recipe kits to families of afterschool and Eureka Community School students as part of our Taste Make Learn Program (TML). The kits contain a more substantial HOTM recipe and related ingredients for families to make at home.

We facilitate a network of school nutrition professionals who are valued for their critical role in the nourishment and education of our students. We provide resources, trainings, and one on one support to make sure individuals have the capacity and confidence to prepare high quality meals while meeting the challenges of budget, staffing, and regulatory demands.

Local procurement is an important piece of quality meals. After years of helping schools buy produce and beef directly from local farmers and ranchers, we are excited to partner with the North Coast Growers’ Association and their Harvest Hub to support Farm to School purchasing. The Harvest Hub food hub aggregates and distributes local produce and other products for schools and other buyers.

School gardens can play an important role in shaping healthy eating habits among students. Our Humboldt School Garden Collective offers technical support to educators who use gardens for education and enrichment. We offer training opportunities, peer networking, work days, and one on one TA when possible.