Valley Interfaith Child Care Center and Campus Kitchens

Collaborative Nutrition Project

Caroline Bowles, Melissa Chong, Benedicte Disamb, Mara Fiorio, Margaret Ifarraguerri,
Emily Rowe, Veronica Thomas
Abstract
Valley Interfaith Child Care Center (VICCC) and Campus
Kitchens target low-income families, adults, and elders within the
New River Valley (NRV). Of the many social determinants of
health, our target population is most heavily impacted by low
income and limited social support.1,2 These obstacles prevent easy
access to healthy food, and limit assistance from other community
members. This semester we were able to work with these
organizations and integrate healthier food options into their daily
menus. We provided meal options with more nutritious food
alternatives for VICCC and prepared unique, healthy dishes for
Campus Kitchens and Radford-Fairlawn Daily Bread. We were
also able to present nutrition education on healthy eating habits. A
proposed program that would provide healthy food in a
congregate, or group setting would be beneficial to our target
population. These meals would help facilitate the formation of
community relationships and support. In order to make this
program a reality, every other week a healthy meal made from
donated and funded foods could be served at Radford-Fairlawn
Daily Bread, a soup kitchen serviced by Campus Kitchens.
Educational flyers on nutritional foods and food assistance
programs, cooking demonstrations, and nutrition counseling
would also be provided.

Service Learning Sites

The Campus Kitchens Project was developed as a way to
alleviate hunger through partnership between VT Engage and
student volunteers. The project works by recovering leftover,
unused food from dining facilities and transforming it into meals
that can later be reheated for community members. Recipes are
developed by student volunteers to provide healthy, delicious meals
from the ingredients that were recovered that week. Dietetics
students enrolled in the Community Nutrition course ensured their
recipes were nutritious. Once these recipes have been developed,
they are carried out in the weekly cooking shifts. Strict Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) guidelines are followed
by all cooking members to ensure that recipients do not fall sick to
foodborne illness. Properly cooked and cooled foods are stored
overnight and delivered to Radford Fairlawn Daily Bread for
distribution to families and individuals in need in the NRV the
following morning.
VICCC is a non-profit daycare organization located in Blacksburg,
VA that provides quality, affordable daycare for low-income,
working parents. VICCC accepts children ranging from infancy to
the age of 12. As a non-profit early education center, it heavily
depends on many funding sources such as government grants,
fundraising efforts and donations. In order to become a licensed,
standardized child care facility, it complies with the USDA
guidelines and the Virginia Health Department regulations, which
influence how they run the facility. They are limited to what they
can teach the children, what materials they can use, and what
products they can purchase. When serving food in the facility, they
must meet USDA requirements in order to receive government
subsidies. As part of our community service learning project, we
focused on making small and feasible changes to their breakfast,
lunch and snack menus. We also provided nutrition education to
children between the age of 3 to 4 during their snack time.
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Social & Ethical Reflexivity

In order to design a successful program it is necessary to identify
the desired outcomes of the population. While working at VICCC,
this is what we were able to accomplish:
We modified the menu by substituting regular products with
reduced fat and low-fat alternatives.
We introduced more whole grain foods and reduced the amount
of foods with added sugar.
We modified the portion sizes of the menu items to make them
more appropriate for children.
We held a cooking demonstration for the children to allow them
to gain exposure to new foods and give them the opportunity for
hands-on preparation.

The Campus Kitchens Project is another service learning site in

which community dietetics students utilized their knowledge of
nutrition to come up with healthy meal recipes to be served to
community members. Leftover food from Virginia Tech dining
facilities was repurposed into meals that were delivered to families
in the New River Valley. The goal of this project was to provide
nutritious meals that community members enjoyed eating, as well
as alleviate hunger. We were able to accomplish this goal by:
Substituting healthy ingredients into everyday recipes, such as
switching out oil in cupcakes with melon puree to create a
healthier and still delicious alternative.
Participating in weekly cooking shifts that allowed us to engage
and interact with each other, expand our knowledge of cooking
and perform ServSafe practices.
Developing healthy recipes that were used in the cooking shifts
including carrot cake, chicken and vegetable casseroles, and
savory macaroni and cheese.
A lack of proper nutrition guidance will lead to poor eating habits
and foods choices.3 Taking that into consideration, we used our
knowledge to positively impact the community through meal
planning and nutrition education sessions.
Lessons Learned:
Forging bonds with each other and making valuable
connections to members of our community.
Learning that being active in the community and making
positive contributions to society allows for personal growth
and demonstrates how small efforts to help others can have a
great impact on the community as a whole.
Volunteering your time to help those in need allows for the
development of an appreciation of what you have, and
encourages you to share with those who are less fortunate.

Impact
The projects we completed allowed differing strengths of group
members to complement each other and aid with collaboration.
Each group members diverse personality and culture allowed for
a greater positive impact on the community.
This experience also gave us a better perspective on the
characteristics of different social groups such as their customs,
values, cultures, attitudes and behaviors and broadened our view
of society.
These service learning projects did not only aid the community,
but also helped us grow and recognize the importance of
characteristics such as accountability and punctuality.

Target Population: 1) Providing an additional free meal once every

other week could lessen the economic strain of participants
purchasing their own food, 2) Introducing healthy alternatives to
some of the foods they may have purchased otherwise, 3)
Increasing the bonds and social support between community
members may be extremely valuable for this population4 4)
Strengthening social support may lead to the sharing of resources
and knowledge.
Homebound Elders: struggle with decreased socialization,
inadequate nutrition, and increased disease risk.5 Congregate meals
offer opportunities for social engagement and nutrition education
which can help promote health and well-being.6 As a result, the risk
Proposed Program: Operation Friends and Food
and effect of adverse health conditions relating to poor nutrition
Goals: 1) Unite community members, 2) Supply valuable nutrition may be lessened by implementation of this program.
education and counseling, and 3) Provide a free, healthy meal.
Community Impact: 1) Through the educational component of the
Before participating, each family or individual will be asked to
program, health literacy and nutrition knowledge should increase
complete a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and Health Risk
within the community, 2) Increases in participation of other
Appraisal Survey to identify any common nutrient or food group
programs within the community including, but not limited to,
inadequacies and health conditions. Based on the data collected,
Micahs Backpack, free and reduced lunch, and WIC., 3) Increased
program planners can cater meals to better improve the participants awareness of the two service learning sites and raise participation
diets, and overall health. The meals can be prepared by VT Engage rates and community interest. And lastly, with successful
volunteers who have completed HACCP training using food
implementation of the program, it may lead to more community
donated from Virginia Tech dining facilities. One important
support of the organizations, 4) Increase the likelihood of public
component of the program is the induction of home-bound adults
donations, volunteering, and grant funding.
into the congregate meal setting to increase their socialization.
Transportation for these individuals would be provided by
volunteers. In addition to the free meal, a volunteer pool of Virginia
Acknowledgements
Tech and Radford dietetics students will help deliver nutrition
education and counseling during and after mealtime for the
We have received a lot of support and backing from numerous
participants. The nutrition education aspect of the program will
people within the community and at Virginia Tech. We want to
include cooking demonstrations, meal recipes, and flyers. The
thank Dr. Sarah Misyak for providing us with a great deal of
nutrition counseling will focus on increasing awareness of food
knowledge relating to community nutrition, and for giving us the
assistance programs locally and nationally, as well as answering
opportunity to participate in such a rewarding an educational
questions, addressing concerns, and providing participants with
experience. We also want to thank our service-learning site
budgeted shopping lists. To increase and improve participation for
directors, Joanne Amposta, Perry Martin, and Amanda Lemons.
the program, it will be advertised at VICCC, Radford-Fairlawn
They have been a pleasure to work with.
Daily Bread, and at various locations within the community. To
assess the programs success, the same FFQ will be provided after
References
one month to see if any dietary improvements have occurred. In
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and whole grain intake. Interviews will also be held to allow for
http://valleyinterfaithchildcarecenter.org/about/.
participant feedback. This information will be shared with key
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on
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Radford-Fairlawn
Daily
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Meals
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Radford-Fairlawn Daily Bread. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
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http://www.radfordfairlawndailybread.org/meals-on-wheels.
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