Michigan Harvest to Table

MiHarvest™ is a  supplemental nutrition education resource for communities, schools, retail/grocery stores, farmers markets, and food banks and pantries.   Settings: Schools, Community-wide, Retail, Gardens (Schools/Community) Age/Population Group: Elementary School, Middle School, High School, Parents/Caregivers, Adults, Older Adults, Unhoused  Race: All Ethnicity: All

MiHarvest™ includes site-specific supplemental resources with components tailored for the audience's needs. Marketing, training, and technical assistance are coordinated and supported statewide by the Michigan Fitness Foundation and are available virtually. Trainees include teachers participating in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) who are implementing MiHarvest™ activities and its resources throughout classrooms and cafeterias in an effort to coordinate the delivery of FFVP snacks with nutrition education to increase fruit and vegetable intake among children. Examples of MiHarvest™ materials used in school-based settings and point-of-access-based sites include: School-Based Programming: Educator Newsletter Family Newsletter to reinforce messages with families Botanical Image Worksheet for nutrition lessons Nutrition Facts Worksheet for nutrition lessons Family Approved: Recipes from Michigan Harvest of the Month - a 43 recipe cookbook featuring 21 different produce items to help families prepare and consume more fruits and vegetables Standardized recipe cards Community Based Programs: Pop-up counter for tasting demonstrations Standardized recipe cards Poster to promote food demonstrations Grocery store shelf tags Signage with handout rack for displaying core message and take-away resources Activity sheet featuring produce and MyPlate

An online library of Michigan Harvest to Table™ (MiHarvest) materials (activities, recipes, family newsletters, community newsletters and digital media components ) is currently expanding and is available by subscription.

Parents of children who participated in the original version of Michigan Harvest of the Month interventions (vs. control group) reported their children were significantly more likely than children who did not receive the intervention to eat more fruits and vegetables, choose fruits as snacks, ask parents to buy fruits and vegetables, and prepare new recipes with vegetables.  Among teachers who responded to a survey about the materials, 78% said they want to use them again, 70% found ease of materials to be very high or high, and 75% said they would recommend this resource to other teachers. Evidence of Michigan Harvest of the Month's efficacy in retail point-of-access settings is referenced in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (Scott, MK, Rahrig, J, Cullen, SR, McConaughy, P, MkNelly, B, Sugarman, S, Khaira, K.  Grocer-added SNAP-Ed Social marketing campaign to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. JNEB. 2014; 46(4S): S156 at  https://www.jneb.org/article/S1499-4046(14)00332-7/abstract ); and in the Michigan Fitness Foundation's USDA SNAP-Ed Final Reports, FFY 2013 and 2014 which includes evaluation reports conducted by CA Public Health Institute. Evidence Base: Practice-tested

Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.   Readiness and Capacity - Short Term (ST) Changes - Medium Term (MT) Effectiveness and Maintenance - Long Term (LT) Population Results (R) Individual ST1 MT1     Environmental Settings   MT5   Sectors of Influence

Website: The Michigan Harvest to Table™ website ( www.michiganharvesttotable.org ) includes a program overview and samples of a featured vegetable newsletter. Contact Person: Teresa Zwemer Director of Resources and Training Email: resources@michiganfitness.org Phone: 1-800-434-8642     *Updated as of October 2, 2023