Trauma and Nutrition Work Continues at Food Connects

Since she began working at Food Connects in the summer of 2018, Farm to School Coach Sheila Humphreys has been developing expertise on the rich topic of trauma and nutrition, including Trauma-Informed Cafeterias and Trauma Sensitive Farm to School programs. Sheila is a leader on this topic, presenting at statewide, regional, and national conferences and acting as a resource for educators and School Nutrition Professionals far and wide. 

Most recently, at the request of several Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU) principals, Sheila partnered with Brattleboro Area Food Service Director Ali West of Fresh Picks Cafe to record a 30-minute professional development session on the topic of Trauma-Informed Cafeterias to help support WSESU staff welcome new students from Afghanistan into the school district. The video is relevant to schools that recently welcomed new Afghan students and all schools interested in making trauma-informed changes to their school meal programs.

This professional development is free and available to all. To learn more:

1. Click here to watch the video

2. Click here to view the recommended practices for school communities

3. Click here to view the resource document for more information

This video and supporting materials are based on a full-day training that Sheila Humphreys developed with Vermont-based trauma-informed specialist Joelle Van Lent in the summer of 2019.

In addition, last month, Sheila led her first in-person Trauma and Nutrition Training for educators since the start of the pandemic. She presented to approximately 20 staff members at Winston Prouty’s Early Learning Center. “It felt great to connect with educators in person, get a sense of how the material was landing with people in real-time, and see their whole faces!” says Sheila. And the training was well received by the staff.

“I thought the training was great,” said Katrin Morgan, Child Care Referral and Food Program Specialist at Winston Prouty. “I think that the material was presented thoughtfully. And I appreciated that you shared at the beginning that there could be topics that could be triggering to some people and gave permission to step away or whatever to take care of themselves if needed. I think that this field we are in attracts compassionate and passionate people, and the fact that some people were tearing up and crying and continued to stay in the training showed that you created a safe space for such a hard topic to present.”

Want to know more about these powerful trainings offered by Food Connects? Click here to dig deeper.

The “Dream Team”—Trauma and Nutrition from Home to Cafeteria

In December, Farm to School (FTS) coach Sheila Humphreys teamed up with two other passionate presenters for a workshop hosted by Massachusetts Farm to School to discuss the topic of trauma and nutrition from home to cafeteria. 

The workshop covered how food and trauma are intertwined. Food can establish a strong sense of community, but can also be a point of stress and anxiety. The aim of the workshop was to "increase participant awareness of implicit biases about food, clearly articulate the connection between trauma and food, and provide tools for coordinating Farm to School and nutrition programs in their school through a Trauma-Sensitive lens. You can learn more about the workshop and watch it online.

This workshop wasn’t Sheila’s first rodeo—she has led or participated in other workshops on this topic that have been entirely school and cafeteria-focused. What was exciting and different about this discussion was that co-presenter Tracy Roth joined Sheila. Tracy is a certified nutrition coach based in Amherst, MA, who explored this rich topic through the lens of how families and individuals can address these issues at home. Tracy “is on a mission to end the diet industry because those quick-fix restrictive diets just make us feel bad about ourselves and mess with our relationship with food.” She shared her personal experience growing up with food insecurity and her work as an adult to heal her relationship with food and her body. She also provided practical suggestions to help shift our relationship to food, like mindful eating techniques, increasing food literacy, and honoring joy, culture, and connection through food. 

Diona Williams also joined the team. Diona is an early childhood education professor at the Tribal Community College on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Sells, AZ. Diona shared her personal experience as the adoptive mother of a child who previously experienced food insecurity. She discussed food hoarding and other challenging behaviors sometimes seen in children who have experienced food insecurity and how to approach these behaviors with compassion and understanding. Diona is passionate about early childhood mental health and shared inspiration from her many years of experience as an educator using the school garden as an outdoor classroom for special education preschoolers. 

Sheila knows the power and importance of weaving her own experience with food insecurity into her work. This opportunity to engage in a panel discussion with these two outstanding professionals who were willing to share their personal experiences as well as their professional expertise was a dream come true! They met several times before the presentation to prepare. They all felt a powerful synergy working together by the end of their presentation. They agree that they are a “dream team” and want to find more speaking opportunities together to move these essential conversations forward. If not for the virtual world we’re all living in now due to COVID-19, these three amazing women may never have had the opportunity to meet and collaborate, so that’s something to be grateful for!

Food Connects Hosts Trauma and Nutrition Training for WSESD

In late August, Food Connects hosted a Trauma and Nutrition training for 31 Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) wellness leaders, including school nurses, counselors, behavior specialists, and food service directors. This training, funded by a grant from the Thompson Trust, educated wellness leaders on the connection between trauma and nutrition with the expectation that participants bring the information back to their school communities.

Professional development for schools focused on trauma and resilience is increasing. Schools that are more trauma-sensitive increase the chances of all students to succeed. On the heels of WSESD’s trauma-informed training for educators earlier this summer, Food Connects hosted their training specifically for school wellness leaders. Food and trauma are uniquely intertwined—food traditions can establish a strong sense of community but food can also be a point of stress and anxiety, especially in a loud and overwhelming cafeteria environment, and for students experiencing food insecurity at home. A central question participants were asked to consider when making choices about how students interact with food was “how do we raise awareness about food and trauma and how do we understand how our actions impact others so that we aren’t unintentionally creating stress for our students?”

Joelle van Lent, a licensed psychologist, and Sheila Humphreys, Food Connects Farm to School Coordinator, led the training. The group of school professionals listened with eager ears to their words—learning the foundations of trauma and how to create trauma-sensitive environments. The group took time to consider their implicit biases around food by recording their initial reactions to images food like salads, Cheetos, and chocolate cake. This activity dug into how being trauma sensitive includes being neutral and curious as opposed to judgemental. “I think this was the most impactful part of the day,” said Ali West, Food Service Director for the Brattleboro Town Schools. “It was insightful to see that while I thought YUCK at the boxed macaroni and cheese others felt nostalgic towards it. It reminded me of what one third grader said to me when he asked for ketchup for his toast and I went YUCK, and his response was ‘Don't yuck my yum.’ This has become a mantra of mine whenever I work in one of my cafeterias.”

Another focal point was to exemplify that we, as adults, make assumptions about how students view school food based on our personal experience. The group read aloud quotations from Vermont students about their cafeteria experiences—“No snacks at home equals no snacks at school. I just pretended I didn’t want one.” “It is noticeable that I receive free lunch.” “Too many people crammed in one place. I will probably just not eat.” It is clear that cafeteria spaces are not always safe spaces for all students. “Kids might not know if food will be present at home. This creates a traumatic association with food that can carry over to the cafeteria,” says Joelle. “The question becomes, how can we make getting food easy, calm, and predictable for all students?”

As part of the training, school wellness leaders were asked to create action plans for the school year focused on improving school meals and farm and food education through a trauma sensitive lens. Goals created by wellness teams included:

• Train all school staff on the material presented

• Change school culture regarding the use of food as a reward

• Increase staff awareness about implicit bias regarding foods students eat at home

• Teach social skills during lunch

• Decrease the chaos at lunchtime

• Have staff sit with students at lunchtime in the cafeteria

Food Connects will provide ongoing coaching and support to wellness teams throughout the school year to make progress on these goals, which will help to create a healthy school food culture for all students in WSESD schools. By strengthening the school community and making school meals feel calm, predictable, and a place for positive connections with peers and staff, schools can play an important role in preventing the development of eating disorders and lifelong struggles with food for our students. Co-facilitator Sheila Humphreys says, “I am looking forward to coaching wellness leaders as they work together to create strong school communities to support our most vulnerable students, because research shows that children can withstand a considerable amount of adversity when they are connected to a strong community and have predictable calm routines.”

This training was immensely impactful. In the training pre-assessment 65% of the participants reported that they had an understanding of the connection between trauma and nutrition but no participants felt that their knowledge was strong enough to teach the material to others. “I really took so much away from the training,” said West, “at first I was completely overwhelmed and thought ‘what on earth am I doing here. This is all behavior stuff not food and then it all clicked and I realized yup, glad I'm here.’” In the post assessment, there was a 70% increase in the number of participants who felt like they could train others on the material. The ability to bring this information back to schools to share with their colleagues empowers wellness leaders to critically look at their programs and enact change.

“My experience with the Trauma and Nutrition Training was very useful,” said Jody Mattulke, Family Engagement & Education Coordinator at Academy School. “Trauma and the infinite connections and associations with food fostered greater awareness of how students may struggle. Students may struggle with memories stimulated by olfactory senses, have  strong emotions evoked by inconsistencies in quality and availability of food and lack the skills to navigate these emotions as well as have difficulty with social settings and the systems around food in the schools. The module on resiliency was invaluable—relationships are the great protective factors to support students as they improve their confidence & competency to feel they belong in the community.” 

In the words of participant Matt Bristol, Physical Education Teacher and Athletic Director for the Putney Central School, "My big takeaway was learning suggested practices and policies to put in place school wide to ensure food security and a positive culture around food.” Schools are uniquely positioned to improve and change students’ experiences with food. Taking these skills back to the schools is essential for creating trauma-sensitive spaces. Students need a place where curiosity and acceptance are the standard, leaving judgement at the door.

In other words, “Don’t yuck my yum.”

Celebrating Farm to Summer

Our Farm to School Team: Sheila & Kate

FRUITS OF OUR LABOR
With the school year wrapped up and summer in full swing, Food Connect’s (FC) Farm to School team is switching gears! Before jumping into summer programming, we reflected on what we accomplished during the school year. We continue to be inspired by the progress our member schools are making in their Farm to School efforts. In fact, this school year:

• 7 new schools created Farm to School action plans

• 75% of FC member schools report significant progress was made on their action plan 

• 77 educators participated in Farm to School professional development 

• 6 schools received new funding for farm to school programming 

• 89% of FC member schools were able to better integrate the “3 C’s of Farm to School” (classroom, cafeteria, community)

Farm to School programs are positively impacting the local economy by helping to reduce childhood hunger. 

• This year, local food purchasing by FC member schools increased by 43%! We know that for every dollar spent on local, 60 cents goes back to the local economy. 

• Nearly half of FC member schools saw an increase in breakfast and lunch participation by free and reduced students this year. Some of this can be attributed to new programming such as Breakfast After the Bell and Universal Meals. 

• Over 100 community organization and school staff received professional development to improve Farm to School programming.

NOURISHING OUR COMMUNITY

We are eager to stay connected to students and families throughout the summer when local farms are bursting with fresh produce. This summer, we will run two programs, including our Summer Garden Program and a new Local Food Taste Testing Program in collaboration with Retreat Farm. 

• The Summer Garden Program includes garden support for 5 local schools, ensuring that the gardens are healthy and ready to harvest come September. Tara Gordon, Green Street School Garden Coordinator, will lead summer programming at all 5 schools this year. 

• Local Food Taste Testing, led by Keene State College Dietetic Intern Carissa Brewton, will take place on Fridays throughout the summer at Retreat Farm, in conjunction with Summer Meals—free meals provided to students under the age of 18. Swing by the farm to sample fun foods and participate in Farm to School activities with your little ones. 

PLANTING NEW SEEDS

Our Farm to School team is looking forward to piloting some new and innovative projects this fall. Sheila Humphreys, Food Connect’s Farm to School Coordinator, will be exploring connections between the Farm to School and Trauma Informed approaches to education this fall with WSESU educators and other school-based staff. She will partner with VT Trauma Informed expert, Joelle Van Lent, to host a day-long training for school counselors, nurses, behavior specialists, and food service professionals. This project is funded by the Thomas Thompson Trust and will span three years. Year two of the project will focus on creating cafeteria settings that are comfortable, peaceful, and conducive to making good food choices and year three will include work around youth engagement in farm to school programming. 

This summer, Food Connects is preparing for its 5th Annual Farm to School Conference. With lots of new staff coming on board over the past two years, we took a break from organizing this event. But, this year WE ARE BACK! The conference will take place in April and will include an array of wonderful workshops on topics such as curriculum integration, marketing, cooking with kids, parent engagement, and more! Stay tuned for details. 

Much of this summer will be dedicated to planning for the next school year. We have lots of great information to digest from our spring stakeholder survey and plenty of qualitative feedback to keep us energized and inspired. One of our favorite quotes was, “Food Connects is awesome. You guys are all over the map with the ways you support our district’s Farm to School efforts, and as we have said before, the most important thing you give us is a sense of friendship and community - a bunch of absolutely great people all working on a little piece of this food system revolution”. Viva la revolution! 

Deepening our Work in the Brattleboro Schools

Food Connects was recently awarded two grants that will enable us to increase our commitment to building healthy families, thriving farms, and connected communities in Brattleboro.

Building Resiliency in Brattleboro Town Schools with help from the Thompson Trust

With the support of a $20,000 2-year grant from the Thompson Trust, Food Connects is excited to deepen our work in the Brattleboro Town Schools, strengthening nutrition and Farm to School programming as part of an effort to develop a Trauma-Informed approach to education in the Brattleboro Town Schools.

Trauma-Informed education provides support for students with high Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scores. The ACE study measures 10 types of childhood trauma, including abuse, neglect (including persistent food insecurity), domestic violence, separation or divorce, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration. As ACE scores increase, so does the risk of disease, social, and emotional problems. The traumatic stress experienced by children with ACE scores of 4 or more has been linked to risky health behaviors, chronic health conditions, low life potential, and early death. Brattleboro Town Schools are actively engaged in conversations about how to support these students to have better outcomes, and we are proud to partner with them in this important work.

The objectives of this grant are to improve faculty & staff understanding of the connection between nutrition and trauma, to increase schools' capacity for coordinating food and trauma education and activities, and to strengthen local food purchasing and promotion by school cafeterias.

Collaborating with the Vermont Department of Health to Bring Healthier Food to Brattleboro Schools

In partnership with the VT Department of Health, we've been awarded $4,900 in funding to increase food access and improve student nutrition in Brattleboro schools. We will provide additional support to the food service staff at BUHS, BAMS, and the Brattleboro Towns Schools. Key activities will include: 1) purchasing kitchen equipment that will aid in the processing of more whole, fresh ingredients 2) investing in school meal marketing materials to promote school meals to kids and families, and 3) technical assistance provided to food service professionals around menu planning, marketing, and related activities, and technical assistance provided to food service professionals around menu planning, marketing, and related activities.

We’re looking forward to digging deeper into the relationship between trauma and food and exploring how school gardens, community harvest celebrations, and healthier food choices in the cafeteria can nurture the most vulnerable students in our community and help them to grow and flourish!