• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Living a Sunshine Life

Discovering the Positive in Every Day

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • About Living a Sunshine Life
    • Terms of Service/Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure
  • Positive Inspiration
  • Recipes
  • For Bloggers

Making Healthy Choices with 4-H Food Smart Families

June 4, 2017 by Mary Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
0 Shares

This post was sponsored by the National 4-H Council as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Making Healthy Choices with 4-H Food Smart Families Ad

4-H has been a big part of our life for the past couple of years. I didn’t participate in 4-H when I was a kid so I was clueless to what was included. Coming from a small farming town I was under the impression it was all about farming and animals. I was wrong.

After we attended our first 4-H 101 meeting we were all hooked. The girls had a blast learning about food and nutrition while I was in the next room learning about all 4-H had to offer. Science, nutrition, photography, and more. It was at that time I decided our homeschooling circles needed a 4-H club and I would be the leader; letting the kids take the lead as much as possible, of course.

Making Healthy Choices with 4-H Food Smart Families

The girls were Clover Kids last year so we spent a lot of time on the basics. We did several of the contests such as Speech and the Rocket Launch, plus we signed up and received the incubator for the embryology program for a month to hatch chickens and learn about eggs. This year I noticed that in addition to their more academic interests and how to tie dye clothes, food was on their radar.

This year the girls want to take part in the Table Toppers contest, bake something to enter in the fair, and they were looking at maybe growing some produce to enter. This has definitely gotten the in the kitchen cooking with me more. They love experimenting with new recipes and trying new food.

Making Healthy Choices with 4-H Food Smart Families

I love everything 4-H has to offer our family. It really is about getting kids, and families even, out in the world learning how things work, giving them the skills and knowledge they need to keep making the world a better place.

4-H Food Smart Families

In addition to the clubs, programs, contests, and educational resources, 4-H also does a lot for the community. They provide opportunities and encourage kids to get out in the community to volunteer. Since 2011, one of the amazing program opportunities 4-H offers in partnership with United Healthcare is 4-H Food Smart Families.

Almost 16 million children live in households that are food insecure. This means they don’t have consistent access to food year round. The Food Smart Families program works with these families to educate them on how to plan, shop for and prepare healthy meals.

In the past six years 340,000 youth and their families in 14 states have benefitted from healthy living programs provided by the partnership between United Healthcare and 4-H.

Making Healthy Choices with 4-H Food Smart Families

Teens as Teachers

While I was learning more about becoming a leader in 4-H it was emphasised to me not to separate the kids out by age. This allowed the older kids/teens to practice leadership and being a role model while helping the younger kids work through the projects. It really does promote community and I have met some amazing teens during our time with 4-H.

This same idea is implemented in the Food Smart Families program with the Teens as Teachers model. More than 400 teens have been trained to teach families to shop better and cook smarter. They are empowering their parents and serving as role models to younger children while they educate others on life-long healthy habits.

The Food Smart Families program is engaging youth in healthy living skills at a critical age that they can carry with them into the future. Positive changes in youth behavior thanks to this program isn’t lacking. Check out some of these fantastic results:

  • 90% of youth participants now think being active is fun and good for fitness
  • 89% now encourage their families to eat meals together
  • 87% said their families have purchased healthier foods
  • 86% now eat fruit for a snack over unhealthier options

Watching my own kids make healthy choices and participate in our food planning and preparation has put a smile on my face. I didn’t even consider looking at food labels until I was an adult. Here they are at a young age paying attention to what’s in their food and getting excited about growing our own produce as well as cooking with it. I couldn’t be happier, and I’m thankful the Food Smart Families program is out there for other families to participate in.

Making Healthy Choices with 4-H Food Smart Families

How are you helping your family to make smarter food choices? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
0 Shares

Filed Under: Food & Recipes, Health & Wellness, Home & Family

Previous Post: « Relaxation Blog and Journal Prompts
Next Post: Respect Blog and Journal Prompts »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Mary (she/her). Positive inspiration lifestyle blogger living in Nebraska. Check out the blog, get to know us, and find a little inspiration along the way. Please comment on the blog posts or shoot me an email if you have anything to share. We'd love to get to know you too! You can send an email to Mary@livingasunshinelife.com

Affiliate Marketing Course Review

Check out our homeschooling blog!

Footer

About Us

About Living a Sunshine Life
Meet the Family
Terms of Service/Privacy Policy
Disclosure
VIP Facebook Group
Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT