Tooty Fruity Vegie (TFV) project

How did the project come about?

In 1996 the Northern Rivers Area Health Service initiated a comprehensive consultation process. It involved the community, Area Health Service staff, general practitioners and other government and non-government organisations, who were asked to prioritise health issues for the Northern Rivers area of NSW. The group identified cardiovascular disease as one of six priority health issues. After much consideration, an expert working party identified a nutrition project aimed at getting primary school aged children to eat more fruit and vegetables.

Project overview

All primary schools in the Northern Rivers Area (government and non-government) were invited to take part. Each school was assisted in forming a Project Management Team with representation from parents, school canteen workers, teachers, students, Aboriginal Education Assistants and principals. Each team considered all the possible strategy options and selected those that best suited their school community. Each team would meet once a term to plan parent events and oversee the management of the project in their school. There were three main strategies:

1. Classroom activities, children’s cooking and gardening programs:

• Classroom resources and teacher training were provided to all teachers
• Volunteer parents were trained and provided with kits, cooking manuals, aprons and funds for ingredients and equipment for running the children’s cooking programs
• Parents, grandparents and teachers assisted children in their vegetable gardens. The TFV project provided gardening kits to all schools and arranged for seed companies to donate vegetable seeds to schools.

2. Promotions and resources aimed at parents and carers:

• Articles promoting fruit and vegetables were put in school newsletters, and flyers were distributed at schools
• Calendars were distributed for each home, with tips on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption
• Regular parent events such as tastings and demonstrations were held.

3. School canteens:

• State and national resources were made available to school canteens and the whole school community
• Support was given to undertake menu reviews, and vegetable and fruit promotions.

Additional resources and support

The TFV project works in partnership with the Department of Education and Training, Parents and Citizens committees, the horticultural industry, local government and the fruit and vegetable industry to achieve better health for the community.

Evaluation

A comprehensive, independent evaluation of ten schools in the pilot project has shown that the project was well implemented and very positively received by all target groups. The TFV project improved the children’s knowledge and attitudes about fruit and vegetables, their preparation skills and their access to fruits and vegetables at home and at school. The fruit intake of children involved in the project increased by 18%, while the fruit intake of children in a control group dropped by 14% over the two-year period. Similarly, the children’s vegetable intake increased by 14% while the control children’s intake dropped by 4%.

All ten interventions schools have continued various TFV activities (18 months after the initial two-year period) and some have introduced their own new strategies to promote fruit and vegetables after the two-year period finished.

Key lessons learned from the project

• Adequate training and support for TFV activities was essential in establishing the project in schools.
• Support from principals and the whole-of-school approach were important in enhancing the project’s implementation.
• Having school TFV Project Management Teams was important for coordinating and sustaining activities. Broad representation on the teams was important in maximising the range of TFV activities and minimising the burden on individual members.
• Providing teaching resources addressing curriculum outcome statements was important in addressing the issue of competition with other topics for limited curriculum space.
• Good communication and support (e.g. cooking equipment, teaching resources) from the TFV staff was important in achieving positive attitudes towards the project among teachers and principals.
• The fun and hands-on nature of many activities, such as the ‘Kids in the Kitchen’ cooking classes, food tastings and gardening, greatly added to the enjoyment and satisfaction of children, parents, volunteers and teachers involved with the project.
• Committed parent volunteers were an essential part of implementing many key TFV strategies.
• Fruit and vegetable tastings, cooking lessons, gardening and videos and visits to fruit and vegetable growers and markets were consistently considered the most successful activities for improving children’s fruit and vegetable knowledge, attitudes and skills, and for meeting teachers’ curriculum goals. Their fun and practical nature and parental involvement were viewed as key factors in these activities’ success.
• The children’s cooking manual, the Classroom Activities Teacher Resources folder and the gardening kit were the most useful classroom resources for the teachers.