What is the Youth Wellness Initiative?

The Youth Wellness Initiative is designed to educate and empower students and their families to embrace healthy lifestyles by understanding the robust connection between agriculture and our health and wellness. With a focus on nutrition, this initiative is threefold: it informs our Farm-to-Food Lab program, hosts monthly wellness fairs at schools, and offers online resources for ongoing support. In the Food Lab segment of our Farm-to-Food Lab third-grade program, students explore nutrition science, taste local crops, and learn about mindful eating and food waste. At Farm Fresh Wellness Fairs, students and their families receive local produce, seeds, nutrition resources, and food access information. Finally, our Superhealthyherokids website provides recipes, games, and wellness information to engage students and their families beyond the farm and classroom.

Available in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties!

Program Mission

To educate, inspire, and empower children and their families about food literacy, and the food supply system with an emphasis on addressing food access, and highlighting the nutritional value of local crops and agricultural products through experiential and holistic nutrition education, online resources, and community wellness fairs.

Initiative Overview

Farm Fresh Wellness Fairs

Our Wellness Initiative hosts monthly wellness fairs by partnering with schools interested in participating. These pop-up events can be integrated with ongoing school wellness fairs, school events, or collaborations, or they can stand alone.

Our fairs provide:

  • Donated local produce

  • Seeds or seedlings

  • Nutrition resources

  • Food access information

Our pop-up events last 1 - 3 hours and take place at participating schools & organizations.

Food Lab Presentation

Following our classroom introduction and farm field trip, the ‘Food Lab’ segment explores the final stage of our food supply chain—our bodies.

This segment includes:

  • Nutrition science

  • Taste testing and identifying local crops

  • Mindful eating

  • Conscious consumption and food waste

This presentation lasts 1 hour and takes place at school sites participating in our Farm-to-Food Lab program. This is the final part of our 3-segment program and we require that participating schools register and schedule all parts, in consecutive order.

Superhealthyherokids Website

Our Superhealthyherokids website extends our mission by focusing on the nutritional benefits of agricultural products and overall wellness practices. This site aims to engage students and their families by providing recipes, games, information, and opportunities to grow into their own healthy heroes.

Our site includes:

  • Nutrition Education and Resources

  • Locally Inspired Recipes

  • Wellness Blogs and Newsletters

  • Kids Corner with Games & Activities

Check out these at-home, in the classroom,

and post-presentation resources!