Setting: Retail (Shop/Eat)

A Taste of African Heritage

A Taste of African Heritage (ATOAH) is a direct education cooking and nutrition curriculum designed to increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and spices and reduce salt; improve cooking skills and nutritional literacy; reduce diet-related health disparities in the African American community using heritage as a motivator for health; and reframe nutrition and culinary education in a way that is culturally relevant to participants and honors African American’s culture, traditions, and contributions. African Americans are too often told that the foods they grew up eating are unhealthy and that poor health is a part of their heritage. A Taste of African Heritage (ATOAH) flips the script by celebrating the culinary legacy and often-unsung cultural ownership of healthy eating for people of African descent. Consisting of six 2-hour sessions which feature healthy foods (like leafy greens, whole grains, and beans) from across the African diaspora, the accessible six-session format can be easily scaled into existing community health infrastructure, yet it is immersive enough to produce meaningful results. 

Please Note: If using this curriculum with SNAP-Ed audiences, MyPlate must also be introduced and discussed along with the curriculum.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating 

Intervention Type: Direct Education

PSE Readiness Assessment and Decision Instrument (PSE READI)

The PSE READI intervention was designed with guidance from SNAP-Ed and public health practitioners in Ohio to promote successful implementation of community nutrition Policy, System, and Environmental (PSE) programs as a broader strategy for obesity prevention. Practitioners can take the online PSE Readiness Assessment and Decision Instrument (READI) to assess their community’s readiness and capacity to implement community nutrition PSE changes. The PSE READI can be completed by an individual or the practitioner can invite community members to share their input in a team assessment. The four different PSE READIs currently available include: Farmers’ Markets, Healthy Food Retail, Farm to School, and Healthy Eating Policies in Childcare, with current plans to add two new areas to the tool in 2022: Food Pantries and K-12 Schools. After completion of your PSE READI, a report will be generated with three recommendations. These recommendations will help practitioners and teams plan next steps and guide community nutrition PSE implementation tailored to local community readiness and capacity. The PSE READI website includes a curated resource library with over 1,000 toolkits, guides, and other evidence-based PSE resources that provide guidance to help end-users put into action their community nutrition PSE implementation.  

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating  
Intervention Type: PSE Change 

Families Eating Smart and Moving More (FESMM)

Families Eating Smart, Moving More (FESMM) is a direct education intervention designed to improve dietary intake, increase daily physical activity, and improve home food safety practices, food resource management, and food security. FESMM is a curriculum package that is evidence-based and hands-on.The intervention provides interactive nutrition education sessions that were developed based on a community needs assessment of existing data showing diet and physical activity behaviors, food resource management skills, food safety practices, and food security practices among low-income, low-resource adults living in NC. The lessons in the curriculum include recipes along with physical activities that help participants learn simple solutions to eat smart and be active every day. FESMM addresses key behaviors linked to obesity by helping families learn how to increase fruit and vegetable intake, eat together as a family, reduce screen/sedentary time, control portion sizes, and limit consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. 

 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time  
Intervention Type: Direct Education 

Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating and Exercise (CHILE) Plus

The Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating and Exercise (CHILE) Plus is a multi-component nutrition and physical activity education program for preschool age children and their families. CHILE Plus is the dissemination project of CHILE, a randomized control trial conducted by the University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center (UNM PRC). CHILE Plus is based on the socioecological model and includes 6 components that fit into this model: the classroom curriculum, staff professional development, food service, family engagement, grocery store collaboration, and partnership with local health care providers and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program providers.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change

Heart Smarts

Heart Smarts is a direct education, PSE change, and social marketing intervention that combines healthy food access, nutrition education, and health and social services for individuals to improve their health and reduce their risk of diet-related disease. The program offers nine lessons for use in retail environments covering topics like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, sodium, sugar-sweetened beverages and making healthy choices along with nutrition-focused tip sheets. Each lesson includes taste tests, recipes, healthy food incentive coupons* and health screenings* (for blood pressure, weight checks, and healthy lifestyle counseling and referrals). Technical assistance and training is provided to site staff and storeowners to support PSE changes including healthier stores, businesses and communities.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing, PSE Change

*These Heart Smarts components (health screenings, including blood pressure and BMI; counseling and referrals; and healthy food incentive coupons help participants choose heart-healthy items at the site) are not allowable by SNAP-Ed. Heart Smarts lessons and food tastings can be used without these additional components. Screenings and coupons can be funded by grants or partnered organizations.

Food eTalk

Food eTalk is direct education intervention designed to increase participant’s daily intake of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products; decrease daily intake of sodium; improve food resource management, food safety practices, and physical activity. The 6 interactive eLearning modules are self-paced and the mobile-nature of many Internet accessing devices (i.e., smartphones) encourages learning at the point-of-decision making, such as engaging in quick Food eTalk video-based lessons in a supermarket or restaurant. Additionally, the asynchronous “anytime, anyplace” lessons aim to mitigate traditional barriers to attending in-person classes, such as issues with transportation, variable work schedules, and child-care limitations. Food eTalk includes 6 interactive lessons, 6 accompanying cooking demonstration videos, and 4 “just in time” education videos with focus on meal preparation, food shopping, and food safety in the home.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Healthy Choices for Every Body Adult Nutrition Education Curriculum

The Healthy Choices for Every Body (HCEB) is a direct education intervention designed to improve diet quality, physical activity, and food safety practices, as well as enhance food security and food resource management skills. HCEB incorporates lessons and activities that recognize participants’ experiences, skills, and knowledge; explains why, what, and how the nutrition education concepts presented relate to real-life situations; and includes active learning activities, hands-on practice, and demonstrations to help participants understand and apply content.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance, Other: Food resource management skills, food safety practices

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Teen Battle Chef (TBC)

Teen Battle Chef (TBC) is a direct education and PSE change intervention designed to develop skills in nutrition, cooking, and leadership for participants and their families through cooking lessons, a PSE campaign, ongoing nutrition education, development of youth leaders, and supporting a culture of wellness in partner organizations. TBC includes eight sessions in which participants learn plant-focused recipes and cooking skills to compete in cooking battles. After eight weeks of skill development, the Teen Chefs choose one of four tracts to impact PSE change. The four tracts are bundled with the curriculum license and include School Food Ambassadors (for collaborating with schools’ food service), Special Event Headliners (for ensuring healthy options at School Events), CHEFS 4 Change (program for youth collaboration with local bodegas to support healthy ‘grab n’ go’ options), and Culinary Coaches (teaching other students healthy meal/snack strategies). The Teen Battle Chef LIVE online version allows for online instruction using an online delivery platform, such as Zoom or Google Meet.

TBC School Food Ambassadors have been effectively utilized as partners with school food service to co-develop new school menu items and promote them with demos and sampling. This active collaborative creates peer-driven motivation for more students to participate in school lunch and breakfast, which is easily measured through school food service participation rates.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change

Eat Smart to Play Hard

Eat Smart to Play Hard (ESPH) is a six-week social marketing campaign in which the community collaborates to engage students, parents, teachers, school staff, and other stakeholders in a common goal to “Eat Smart” in order to “Play Hard.” This obesity prevention campaign specifically focuses on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among 8–11-year-olds in both rural and urban schools. During the campaign, students receive an activity booklet “Fun Book” that guides them through healthy eating and physical activities at home with their families. They return their Fun Book to school each week to receive a stamp from their teacher for every completed activity in order to earn incentives and a medal.  ESPH coordinators hang promotional materials throughout the school and community to support the desired behavior. At the end of the six weeks, the campaign culminates in a fun day event where students and teachers celebrate their success while enjoying healthy eating and fun physical activity.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time

Intervention Type: Social Marketing, PSE Change

One Healthy Breakfast Program

The One Healthy Breakfast Program (OHBP) is a direct education, social marketing, and PSE change intervention designed to improve home, community, and school food environments to ensure that every student starts their day with a healthy breakfast. Direct education is delivered by classroom teachers utilizing the Breakfast Learning Activities for Students and Teachers (BLAST) curriculum, an interactive lesson series that encourages students in grades 4-8 to learn behavior-changing skills through analyzing and evaluating foods and their food choices. Social marketing campaigns take place through branded promotional materials for use in schools and the community, monthly newsletters to families, and corner store social marketing to encourage students to choose healthy breakfast items. PSE change occurs through promotion of breakfast after the bell options in schools. These components are combined with community engagement to provide students and their families the tools needed to choose healthier options in the morning regardless of whether they eat at home, school, or at the corner store.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing, PSE Change

VeggieBook, a mobile app for Android and iOS smartphones (VB)

VeggieBook is a social marketing and direct education intervention app that is designed to help users choose customized recipes and healthy eating tips which ultimately lead to increased vegetable-based preparation for meals at home. The app invites a user to create a new VeggieBook or SecretsBook. VeggieBooks are sets of recipes, each set built around 1 of 10 vegetables. A series of questions posed by the app helps users select recipes and food preparation tips of interest. Recipes use simple ingredients most households have and have been tested for user-appeal. SecretsBooks are 5 sets of illustrated ideas about food use and acquisition–Secrets to Better Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Shopping. The app’s emphasis on users’ choices promotes just-in-time learning.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing

FNV

The FNV Campaign is a social marketing and PSE change intervention that aims to present fruits and vegetables in a way that is both fun and cool, ultimately shifting attitudes, behavior and social norms relative to healthy eating. The objectives of the FNV Campaign are to create positive attitudes toward fruits and vegetables and to drive increased consumption of fruits and vegetables in targeted communities amongst SNAP eligible audiences. Targeted at millennials, the FNV campaign uses humor and the power of local and/or national celebrity to voluntarily shift consumer behavior toward healthier dietary choices. The campaign’s recommended approach includes surround sound marketing through billboards, retail, and transit media placements and in advertising buys on social and digital media, but it can be customized and tailored based on individual campaign needs.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Social Marketing, PSE Change

The Early Childhood Program Wellness Policy Workbook

The Early Childhood Program Wellness Policy Workbook is designed to promote the adoption of wellness policies and implementation of best practices at the center level to create cultures of health within child care facilities, which positively impact early childhood providers’ knowledge and skills about healthy eating and physical activity (PA), provide tools and resources for child care facilities to help parents and families increase healthy eating and PA, and expose children to healthy foods and PA at a young age. It helps centers learn how to approach these issues and embed best practices into their ongoing activities to create a culture of health and wellness within their environments.

Target Behavior: Breastfeeding, Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Other: staff wellness

Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change

Healthy Nutrition Guidelines for LA County

The Healthy Food Procurement Initiative in Los Angeles County is a PSE Change intervention designed to improve the quality of food purchased and offered in food service contracts through the implementation of nutrition standards. In 2011, the County of Los Angeles (“County”) Board of Supervisors adopted Healthy Food Promotion in Los Angeles County Food Service Contracts, a motion aimed at County departmental food procurement policies and practices as they relate to nutrition. The motion established a process for the County’s Department of Public Health (DPH) to develop nutrition standards and/or healthy food procurement practices in new and renewing Requests for Proposals (RFP) for food service and vending contracts across County departments.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: PSE Change

Food Hero

Food Hero is a multi-channel social marketing campaign designed to change family and community behaviors.  Food Hero includes an extensive evaluation process. The program is designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income Oregonians, and components of the campaign have been used widely in other states and countries. 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change, Social Marketing

EatFresh

EatFresh.org is mobile-friendly website that was created for the SNAP-Ed population and the organizations that serve them. It provides practical resources and encouragement for individuals with varying levels of digital literacy, internet access, health awareness and culinary skills. EatFresh.org is a stand-alone indirect education resource, an extender for direct education interventions, and a useful tool for a variety of PSE strategies. Partners throughout California use EatFresh.org as a tool to direct their participants to healthy recipes during nutrition workshops, to look up preparation and storage tips for food received at food banks, and to apply for SNAP/Calfresh.  They promote the website by distributing recipe cards at health fairs and other indirect events and refer clients to the EatFresh.org Mini Course as a flexible direct education resource. The EatFresh.org Mini Course is a free online direct education course that features 15 SNAP-Ed self-paced topics that can be completed in any order. 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change

Cooking Matters at the Store

Cooking Matters at the Store is a free program that works with families to stretch their food budgets so their children get healthy meals at home. Cooking Matters at the Store is conversation about skills that helps adults learners get the most nutrition for their food dollars.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Health Bucks

The Health Bucks program is a PSE change intervention that distributes $2 coupons redeemable for fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables at New York City (NYC) farmers markets. Health Bucks increase purchasing power and help New Yorkers with low incomes access fresh fruits and vegetables. Health Bucks are distributed several ways, including to customers at farmers markets paying with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The Health Bucks SNAP incentive increases markets’ SNAP sales and makes markets more profitable(1). This makes it financially possible for local farmers to participate in markets in areas that historically have been less profitable and affects the physical environment by increasing access to and availability of fresh produce. Health Bucks affects a neighborhood’s social environment by incentivizing to shop at local farmers markets.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: PSE Change

Latino Campaign

The Latino Campaign is a social marketing intervention designed to empower low-income Latino adults and their families to consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, drink water instead of sugary drinks, and enjoy physical activity every day via social media and point-of-sale materials in retail locations. The Latino Campaign works with communities throughout California to create environments where healthy behaviors are socially supported and accessible. The fruit, vegetable and physical activity objectives are designed to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, especially cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity

Intervention Type: Social Marketing

Cooking Matters

Cooking Matters is helping end childhood hunger by inspiring families to make healthy, affordable food choices. Cooking Matters by Share Our Strength teaches participants to shop smarter, use nutrition information to make healthier choices and cook delicious, affordable meals. Cooking Matters provides professional-level curricula and instructional materials, training, evaluation and national leadership support to approved partners, while local program partners provide hands-on, grassroots-level resources, program customizations and relationships that are best addressed on the local level.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Baltimore Healthy Stores (BHS)

Baltimore Healthy Stores (BHS) is a PSE change and social marketing intervention designed to change the local food environment by directly influencing the availability of healthier food options in stores and increasing awareness and skills of patrons to select and prepare healthier foods through point-of-purchase promotions. Exposure to this intervention has the potential to increase patrons’ knowledge and self-efficacy and to improve their behavioral intentions to select, prepare, and consume healthier foods. A complementary component is directed at small store owners, and provides guidance on how best to select healthy and affordable food options for their stores.

BHS has five phases, each phase lasting about two months. The phases have different themes: healthy breakfast, cooking at home, healthy snacks, carry-out foods (e.g., prepared foods offered at store delis), and healthy beverages. Each phase includes theme-specific behavioral objectives, promoted foods, and health communication (point-of-purchase marketing and nutrition education) strategies.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing, PSE Change

Retail Program

The Retail Program is a partnership between the Department of Public Health, local community health agencies, and neighborhood stores in California. This partnership aims to increase the availability, quality, affordability, and consumption of fruits and vegetables in low-income Californian communities. The Retail Program provides small-store retailers statewide with a unique variety of tools, resources, and outreach activities to inspire healthy change among their customer base. The program also provides retailers opportunities to increase fruit and vegetable sales, therefore improving their bottom line.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: PSE Change, Social Marketing

Healthy Retail Recognition Pilot

The Healthy Retail Recognition Pilot is a PSE change intervention designed to motivate and enable SNAP-Ed retail stores in low-income areas to identify and achieve environmental changes that increase access to healthy food. The Healthy Retail Recognition Pilot links qualifying retail establishments in California to Local Health Departments with tools and resources to work with supermarkets, small chain, and independent markets statewide.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: PSE Change

Harvest of the Month (HOTM)

Harvest of the Month (HOTM) is a social marketing intervention designed to raise awareness of the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and being active every day in a variety of settings including schools, daycare, and after-school programs; retail food stores and farmers markets; health clinics; food banks; and worksites. HOTM provides materials for students, families, and the community to engage in hands-on opportunities to explore, taste, and learn about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables and being active every day. Resources provide the opportunity for collaboration among many partners and stakeholders, including educators, school nutrition staff, school administrators, students, parents, farmers, retail outlets, worksites, SNAP offices, after-school programs, and more.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity

Intervention Type: PSE Change, Social Marketing

Stock Healthy, Shop Healthy

Stock Healthy, Shop Healthy is a PSE and social marketing intervention designed to increase consumer demand for healthy foods in communities and to increase amount of healthy foods sold by urban corner stores and rural small food retailers. Stock Healthy, Shop Healthy is a comprehensive, multi-component, community-based initiative that allows communities to improve access to healthy, affordable foods by working with small food retailers. Through toolkits, resources, and webinars, Stock Healthy, Shop Healthy will guide any community through a unique approach to increasing access to healthy foods that involves engaging small food retailers and community members, and thus addresses supply and demand at the same time.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Social Marketing, PSE Change

Pick it! Try it! Like it! (PTL)

Pick it! Try it! Like it! (PTL) is a direct education and social marketing intervention which aims to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables by providing consumer information on selecting and preparing fresh produce. PTL materials are filled with tips for selecting, exploring, and cooking a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Factual information complements simple, healthy, and tested recipes. Integrated lessons with food preparation activities assists with increasing knowledge and skills for all ages. Colorful fact sheets, recipe cards, and educational videos provide educators and families with fun, engaging tools to enhance any dietary curriculum in a variety of settings.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing 

Michigan Harvest of the Month (MiHOTM)

Michigan Harvest of the Month™ (HOTM) is a multi-level intervention designed to increase consumption of and access to fruits and vegetables; link child-focused nutrition education in schools with adult-focused supports in community-based food access settings; increase consumption of locally grown produce by connecting growers to their communities in school, child care, worksite, retail, farmers market, health care, and emergency food settings. HOTM features ready-to-go supplemental nutrition education materials that can easily be integrated into the core curriculum and are aligned on the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing, PSE Change