Current Food and Nutrition Initiative
- Food and Nutrition
Awareness Education - FIFNC Overview
- FIFNC Food and Nutrition Initiatives
- Download Resource Materials
Eat Better for Le$$
The Florida Interagency Food and Nutrition Committee (FIFNC) is underway with a new nutrition education campaign titled Eat Better for Le$$ – this campaign will focus on healthy food shopping, label reading and purchasing nutrient dense foods.
Previous Food and Nutrition Initiatives
Wake Up To Breakfast! (2008)
The 2008 Florida Interagency Food and Nutrition Committee (FIFNC) nutrition education campaign was Wake Up to Breakfast. The campaign emphasized the importance of eating breakfast and consumption of whole grains. The campaign kit contains one of the 12 preschool lesson plans, The Whole Grain Choo Choo Train, developed to be used in conjunction with the children's book of the same name developed by the Florida WIC Program.
Super Foods Create Super Heroes
Let us introduce you to the Florida Breakfast Super Heroes! The Office of Food and Nutrition Management (FNM) in conjunction with the Dairy Council of Florida and the Florida School Nutrition Association celebrated the 2nd Annual Florida School Breakfast Week September 15-19, 2008. The theme for the campaign was "Super Foods Create Super Heroes".
The focus included the Super Nutrient Heroes for vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, fiber and protein and tied into the overall theme of "Excellence Begins with Breakfast". By consuming a good breakfast each morning students can become their own super hero. Side panels for milk and juice cartons included these characters.
A themed menu focusing on heroes was created for schools to use to honor local heroes such as soldiers, law enforcement, firefighters, family and health care professionals. Schools may order posters, promotional items and the FNM storybook, James Wakes Up to School Breakfast, at www.fldoe.org/FNM/resource. The 2008 Breakfast Toolkit can be viewed and printed at www.fldoe.org/FNM/breakfast.
In partnership with the Dairy Council of Florida, students in grades K-12 had an opportunity to learn more about breakfast by artistically depicting how "Super Foods Create Super Heroes". Original artwork was selected from each of three grade groups, K-3; Grades 4-8; Grades 9-12. All participants received a certificate of participation, and the first through third place winners received wellness prize packages.
Florida is committed to providing quality nutrition programs that support the growth and development of Florida's children, and look forward to the state becoming the national leader in promoting the health, academic, and physical benefits received from eating breakfast at school.
The following are promotional items associated with the "Super Foods Create Super Heroes" campaign:
Wake Up To Breakfast resource manual
Power Up with Breakfast brochure
Breakfast Super Foods - Vitamin C poster
Breakfast Super Foods - Fiber poster
Breakfast Super Foods - Protein poster
Breakfast Super Foods - Vitamin A poster
Breakfast Super Foods - Calcium poster
Excellence Begins with School Breakfast Menu
Florida School Breakfast Week - Color Ad
State of Florida Resolution for Florida School Breakfast Week
Basics at a Glance poster
Promotional Ideas (Word)
Fruits & Veggies—More Matters® Resource Manual (2007)
This resource manual was developed by the Florida Interagency Food and Nutrition Committee (FIFNC) as one component of its 2007 nutrition education campaign, which promoted the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. This manual complements and promotes the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters® public health initiative developed by the Produce for Better Health Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Resource Manual (which is posted in three PDF sections) has a variety of valuable lesson plans with handouts and activity sheets, as well as consumer handouts developed by CDC. Please refer to the Table of Contents on page 1 for a complete listing of the useful and practical resources that are contained in the Resource Manual.
Fruits & Veggies—More Matters®
On March 28, 2007, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson hosted a kick off event to unveil a new health initiative designed to get Floridians to eat more fruits and vegetables. The event was held at the Capitol Plaza, was free and open to the public. Lt. Governor Kottkamp, Commissioner Bronson and Secretary of Health Viamonte Ros touted the nationally-sponsored "Fruits and Veggies - More Matters" campaign and told those in attendance that eating Florida produce is one of the easiest ways to improve one's health.
"The message is very simple – most people benefit from eating a variety of fruits and vegetables," Bronson said. "And we're truly blessed in Florida as we grow more than 280 commercial crops that feed Floridians, consumers throughout the country and citizens around the world."
National sponsors of the "Fruits & Veggies—More Matters" campaign includes Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The program is housed in the Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
The "Fruits & Veggies—More Matters" message is the next generation of PBH's 15-year-old "5 A Day for Better Health" program - a campaign encouraging consumers to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
For more information on the "Fruits & Veggies—More Matters" campaign, consumers are encouraged to visit the campaign's interactive website - www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. The site offers recipes, serving ideas, shopping advice and includes activities for getting children involved.
Photos from launch event
Mooove to Low Fat Dairy (2006)
The resource manual was created by FIFNC members as one component of a statewide nutrition education campaign, "Mooove to Low Fat Dairy", launched in 2006. This campaign encourages Floridians—2 years of age and older— to make the "mooove" and choose low fat (1%) or fat-free (skim) milk and other low fat dairy products, instead of dairy products that are made with whole milk or reduced fat (2%) milk, in an effort to help reduce the incidence of obesity and other chronic diseases in Florida.
Be Wise About Your Portion Size (2005)
The "Be Wise About Your Portion Size" campaign was designed to assist educators in helping their audiences make healthier food choices that promote healthy body weights and reduce health risks.
Since 1986, obesity rates among Florida adults have increased by 63%. Data from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) show that, based on self-reported height and weight, 14% of high school students are at risk for overweight, and 12.4% are overweight. Among youth, overweight has been linked to the development of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes (a disease once associated with older adults).
A healthier lifestyle can help decrease the risk for many of the diseases associated with poor nutrition and physical inactivity. The "Be Wise About Your Portion Size" campaign kit and resource materials can help individuals take the first step toward healthy eating, including learning to select portions that meet their nutritional needs without providing excess calories.
Snack Smart, Move More (2004)
This campaign, launched in 2004, encourages Florida's citizens to choose healthy snacks and to participate in regular physical activity, in an effort to help reduce the incidence of overweight and obesity. The campaign's message was promoted with agency-developed materials that were distributed to a wide variety of agencies and organizations, including WIC clinics, health departments, child care centers, juvenile homes, residential child care institutions, adult care centers, and Extension offices.
The Snack Smart, Move More resource manual was chosen by the Florida Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Network as the curriculum to be used for Project IMPACT. Project IMPACT is a summer program that trains interdisciplinary teams of health professionals and medical and public health students to deliver the Project's mission statewide to Florida's citizens in rural and medically underserved areas.
5 A Day the Florida Way! and Fresh-2-U! (2003)
Launched in 2003, these two campaigns promote to all Floridians the importance of eating five or more servings of vegetables and fruits every day. All FIFNC agencies promoted the 5-A-Day message; in addition, some of the agencies partnered to adopt different slogans and approaches in their promotion efforts. The Department of Health's theme was: 5 A Day the Florida Way! The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Department of Education partnered to promote the theme: Fresh-2-U!
Visit the website for the Fresh-2-U campaign at: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/fresh2u/.
A children's book and music CD were developed with the Give Me 5 A Day theme. The following website contains these items (under the "Nutrition Information" column): http://www.5aday.gov.
Mooove to Low Fat or Fat Free Milk (2002)
The goal of this campaign, launched in March 2002, is to encourage healthy adults and children two years and older to choose to drink lowfat (1%) or fat free milk, instead of whole or reduced fat milk. The campaign's message was promoted by means of agency-developed materials that were distributed to a wide variety of audiences at numerous community sites, including schools, WIC clinics, health departments, child care centers, adult care centers, senior centers, health fairs, Extension offices, and grocery stores.
The Mooove campaign was highlighted in the June 2004 report: "Innovative WIC Practices: Profiles of 20 Programs," prepared by Mathematica Policy Research! Inc., under a cooperative assistance agreement with USDA's Economic Research Service.
The following website contains complete information and materials related to the Mooove campaign: www.doh.state.fl.us/family/mooove/milk.html
EATT 1998 and EATT 2000 Symposiums
Other past projects that have been successfully produced and sponsored by FIFNC include two "EATT" (Everyone At The Table) Symposiums, which focused on hunger and food insecurity in Florida's communities, as well as nutrition issues. These two symposiums, conducted in June 1998 and June 2000, were attended by staff from food and nutrition organizations throughout Florida's local communities, whose programs assist individuals at risk for inadequate nutrition, food insecurity, or hunger. These symposiums identified and promoted local partnerships, and provided "tools" that were used by the attendees to develop customized action plans for addressing hunger and nutrition issues in their own communities.
