Project Summary: Got veggies? Research: The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 made fruits and vegetables a mandatory addition to each student’s school meal. While Anoka-Hennepin Schools offers students as many fruits and vegetables as they care to eat, when it became mandatory, the Anoka-Hennepin Schools child nutrition department saw more fruits and vegetables on trays, but also significantly more that went uneaten – which provided no nutritional value.
The percentage of children with obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC); and children consume up to 50 percent of their daily calories and nutrients at school (Alliance for a Healthier Generation). The Anoka-Hennepin Schools child nutrition department began meeting with the school district wellness coordinator and the communications team to brainstorm ways to engage students in the school cafeterias, and inspire them to make healthy choices at an early age to instill healthy habits for life. Analysis: Our schools are an excellent place to teach our students about health and wellness. Students learn more than just academics in school. They also learn about health, wellness and how food fuels their bodies to help them learn and grow. Students don’t just learn this through lesson plans – but also through role modeling and observing what is served every day for breakfast, snack and at lunch.
The school district wellness coordinator and the communications team conducted focus groups with student leaders involved in athletics, theater, debate and extracurricular activities at one of the district high schools to better understand how to reach their peers and younger students in the school district. The communications team learned that in order to reach our students, we needed to find a way to speak to them in a way that they wanted to be spoken to. Younger students look up to and aspire to be the student leaders they see in their school communities. Communication: The communications team developed a “got veggies?” educational wellness campaign with the help of the school district wellness coordinator and high school students. Through the work conducted in the focus groups, high school students helped staff draft catchy phrases and posed for photos to be used on posters reminiscent of the famous “got milk?” ad campaign launched in the 90s. Those student leaders became the stars of a new poster campaign, unique to AnokaHennepin Schools: “got veggies?” The posters were hung in the cafeterias of the high school and the six elementary and middle schools that “feed” into that high school.
The school district wellness coordinator pitched the role modeling idea to the Hennepin County Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP), and grant dollars through the program brought the “got veggies?” campaign to life. The campaign was comprised of ten poster designs. Each participating school received one set of posters. The day that the posters were unveiled in school cafeterias, the same high school student leaders who helped develop the campaign served up vegetables to elementary and middle school students in the cafeteria lunch line while sporting “got veggies?” t-shirts. The high school students also sat with their younger peers during lunch for conversation about whether or not they “got veggies?” on their plate, which vegetables were their favorite to eat, and the importance of making healthy choices. In addition, high school students passed out samples of a new broccoli salad for elementary and middle school students to taste test. The poster graphics have been posted on participating school Facebook pages since the campaign launch, with the intention of inspiring the conversation to continue at home and in our school communities. Evaluation: “Got veggies?” was a pilot program launched in one-fifth of the schools in the school district in the fall of 2016. Child nutrition staff have struggled to find a way to measure the consumption of vegetables, but school principals and the child nutrition staff in each school have reported that they are witnessing more enthusiasm from students in regard to menu choices and wanting to make healthy choices during lunch. The response from school staff and students was so positive that two other high schools have requested to roll out their own school-specific campaign, featuring their own student leaders. The communications team is currently working with high school students at those schools and plan to roll those campaigns out in fall 2017.
MEDIA ADVISORY October 12, 2016 MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Peters Communications Coordinator Phone: 763-506-1269 Email: heather.peters@anoka.k12.mn.us
The question asked around the school lunch table: “got veggies?”
District child nutrition, wellness and communications programs team up with high school students to encourage peers, elementary/middle school students to make healthy meal choices. ANOKA, MINN. – Hennepin county school cafeterias at Anoka-Hennepin Schools will be shining the spotlight on an unsuspecting star starting Tues., Oct. 25: Vegetables. Student leaders from Champlin Park High School will be serving up vegetables in elementary school cafeterias and asking their younger peers if they “got veggies?” on their plate. Their presence and conversation at the lunch table is really just a taste of a new “got veggies?” educational wellness campaign, in which posters which will be on display at neighboring school cafeterias to inspire students to make healthy choices in the school lunch line, and at home. Child nutrition, wellness and communication teams at Anoka-Hennepin Schools worked with student leaders at Champlin Park High School to cook up the “got veggies?” campaign, launching October 2016. Grant dollars through the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) brought the campaign to life. “We have always offered a lot of fruits and vegetables in our schools, but we wanted to send a message that spoke directly to our students, that while fruits and vegetables may not be their favorite, they can be a fun and tasty part of their meal,” school district child nutrition director, Noah Atlas, explained. The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 made fruits and vegetables a mandatory addition to each student’s school meal. While Anoka-Hennepin Schools offers students as many fruits and vegetables as they care to eat, when it became mandatory we saw more fruits and vegetables on trays, but also significantly more that went uneaten – which provide no nutritional value. “We felt that with a program like this, we should find a way to speak to our students in a way that they wanted to be spoken to.” Atlas and Jen Gilbert, district wellness coordinator, knew that students learn more than just academics in school. They also learn about health, wellness and how food fuels their bodies to help them learn and grow. Students don’t just learn this through lesson plans – but also through role modeling and looking at what is served every day for breakfast, snack and at lunch. Gilbert pitched a role modeling idea to the Hennepin County SHIP office, and the “got veggies?” campaign seems to be a recipe for success. She conducted focus groups with student leaders involved in athletics, theater, debate and extracurricular activities at Champlin Park High School to brainstorm catchy phrases and pose for photos to be used on posters reminiscent of the famous “got milk?” ad campaign launched in the 90s. Those student leaders will now be the stars on posters hung in the cafeterias of Champlin-Brooklyn Park, Dayton, Evergreen Park, Oxbow Creek, and Monroe Elementary Schools; Jackson Middle School; and Champlin Park High School. “It’s a pilot program,” Gilbert said. “If the students are excited about it, we hope to continue working with student leaders to expand the ‘got veggies?’ effort to all of the schools in our district.” WHAT:
Anoka-Hennepin Schools will launch a “got veggies?” educational wellness campaign in Hennepin county school cafeterias. Reporters may visit the Oxbow Creek Elementary School to see high school student poster stars serving vegetables in
the school cafeteria and the unveiling of the posters. Noah Atlas, Anoka-Hennepin Schools child nutrition program director; Jen Gilbert, Anoka-Hennepin Schools wellness coordinator; and student leaders involved in the campaign will be available for interviews. Please RSVP to coordinate interview opportunities with Heather Peters, Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Communications Coordinator: 763-506-1269.
WHEN:
Tuesday, Oct. 25 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Oxbow Creek Elementary School 6505 109th Ave. N., Champlin, MN 55316
Sample campaign graphics:
###
Media coverage: Star Tribune: High school celebs launch Anoka-Hennpin’s ‘got veggies?’ campaign High school celebs launch Anoka-Hennepin's 'got veggies?' campaign | Beatrice Dupuy, Star Tribune Oxbow Creek Elementary School students smiled up in awe as a local volleyball star served them salad at lunch time. They eagerly waited their turns as 15-year-old Izzy Ashburn handed out sample cups of romaine lettuce, diced apples, chicken and quinoa. Sporting their “got veggies?” shirts, Champlin Park High School students seemed to have no trouble getting elementary students to eat their vegetables. “These are like rock stars to them,” said Noah Atlas, the district’s child nutrition program director. So when the Anoka-Hennepin district launched its campaign to get more elementary kids to choose healthful foods, the grown-ups got out of the way. As students filed into the lunch line Tuesday, the same high school students giving out the sample cups were pictured in posters on the cafeteria walls. In one poster, Champlin Park football player Bennett Otto grips a rutabaga like a football. The caption says, “When it comes to eating veggies, I never punt.” Otto held the sample tray and wove in and out of the cafeteria tables passing salad samples to students. The “got veggies?” campaign echoes the national “got milk?” ad campaign, which features celebrities sporting milk mustaches. AnokaHennepin wellness and nutrition specialists cast Champlin Park student leaders as their celebrities. Drama students, volleyball and football players and art students all took part. The campaign makes for a creative response to a government mandate. The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 made it mandatory for schools to offer students vegetables and fruits with their meals. The district used funding from the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) to kick-start the campaign. ‘Get the excitement out’ The district held a focus group of 30 students to decide on the campaign slogan and pictures, said Jen Gilbert, district wellness specialist and SHIP coordinator. “We needed a way to get the excitement out,” she said. “We are trying to expand their palates at a young age.” On Tuesday, the elementary school students ate grapes and greens along with their harvest salad sampler. Anoka-Hennepin students are accustomed to the district offering up samples to students to get them to try something new. The district has already had six taste tests at the school this year. “One thing we always try to do is increase vegetable variety and consumption,” Atlas said. “It is as much as they care to eat.” The district plans on rolling out the program to other schools as well.The campaign posters are up now at Dayton Elementary School, Evergreen Park World Cultures Community School and Monroe Elementary School. “It’s a great way to give back to a school that means so much to me,” Erin Magner, 18-year-old Champlin Park High School senior said. The samples were a hit on Tuesday, and some students went back for seconds, or more. Nine-year-old Rhett Simonson stacked up five cups that once held harvest salad samples. He scarfed them down before going through his packed lunch Tuesday. “It’s a nice mixture of everything,” he said. | Beatrice Dupuy • 612-673-1707
Media coverage, video: CTN Studios: School Poster Campaign Pushes Healthy Eating CTN Studios video story
CCX Media: High schoolers ask, “Got veggies?”