Back to scratch: hands‐on home cooking increases ethnic produce consumption among elementary school students from low‐income ethnically diverse families

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluated the effectiveness of a four month school intervention among K‐2 students.MethodsMixed methods of pre/post‐surveys and focus groups were used to evaluate the intervention. K‐2 students and their parents from four intervention and two control schools participated in the study. A total of 592 intervention students participated in classroom food demonstrations and tasting activities using seven locally grown food recipes primarily featuring Latino and Hmong cultures. Students received a food kit containing ingredients to take home for each recipe. Generalized estimating equations were used for survey data analysis. Data from parent focus groups were analyzed based on the principles of grounded theory.ResultsBoth quantitative and qualitative results revealed that intervention students increased familiarity, preference, and consumption of the featured vegetables, and significantly increased their involvement in food preparation at home. Qualitative results showed that children's involvement in food preparation resulted in an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption. In addition, the intervention helped parents further appreciate local and/or ethnic produce from different cultural groups.ConclusionsPromoting locally grown ethnic produce to K‐2 children is effective in increasing their involvement in food preparation and consuming a variety of vegetables at home.