March 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 55

adults and families. I think the
greatest successes have been seeing
how agencies have made Commit
to Health their own. Everything
from leading coalitions that bring
dollars into their community, nutritious meals at summer camp
and refreshed fitness trails in underserved areas, to smoothie bike
demonstrations, meaningful staff
wellness programs that engage seasonal and full-time staff, and even
healthy vending machine marketing! I love to see all the creativity
and passion for sustainability. "
In addition to building on meal
and physical activity programs, agencies have leveraged other existing
assets, capacity and infrastructure
to build stronger, more intentional
health and wellness opportunities for
youth and families. One of the more
popular strategies agencies have used
to encourage youth to try new, fresh
and healthy produce is by infusing
gardening into their OST programs.
In fact, according to the 2018 OST
survey of the park and recreation
field, 50 percent of agencies now offer gardening activities at their OST
sites. Through the city of Mobile, Alabama's Commit to Health pledge, a
community garden was built and is
open to all. The garden offers youth
learning opportunities, such as inviting local chefs in to teach them about
the nutritional content of and to
cook with food grown in the garden.
Gardens can be an effective way
to teach kids how to grow produce,
encourage them to try new foods
and educate them on creating
sustainable and environmentally
responsible food systems. Often,
this exposure to nature and healthy

food sparks a passion for gardening and an appetite for trying new
foods throughout life. A 2017 study
of Commit to Health agencies implementing nutrition education
and community gardening activities in summer camp programs
resulted in a 23 percent increase in
the number of children reporting
that they were growing fruits and
vegetables in a garden at home.

Fulfilling Our Role
Commit to Health challenged park
and recreation agencies not only
to embrace a health and wellness
mindset within their OST programming, but it also encouraged them
to address other community gaps
and public health threats related to
the social determinants of health
- education, jobs, healthcare,
community safety, etc. Park and
recreation agencies once again rose
to the challenge, building STEM,
arts and career-readiness training
into their healthy living curriculums; recruiting, engaging and
training youth ambassadors to be
health and wellness leaders; establishing programming in affordable

housing communities; and facilitating opportunities for intergenerational and multicultural programming. Agencies went above and
beyond healthy eating and physical
activity, tackling inequities in their
communities that create significant
health and economic disparities.
At-risk youth in the Atgeld Garden Chicago Housing Authority
community can engage in handson gardening and cooking programs at Carver Park. The Chicago
Park District partnered with local
nonprofit Growing Power, Inc.,
to employ teens and teach them
about sustainable urban farming,
culinary skills, healthy meal preparation and composting. In the summer months, more than 100 teens
spend their mornings working on
the farm and their afternoons enjoying the fruits and vegetables of
their labor by preparing healthy
meals under the supervision of a
chef. Through this partnership,
teens are learning lifelong culinary
skills and developing healthy habits that will follow them throughout their adult years. In addition,
the program offers youth employ-

Children participate in Colarado's Monte
Vista Kids Connection, an afterschool and
summer day camp program for San Luis
Valley youth.

W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G | M A R C H 2 0 1 9 |

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March 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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