We've partnered up with a stellar organization, Brighter Bites, to donate produce to local families in need.
We have partnered with national nonprofit Brighter Bites to provide two varieties of produce each week to the organization’s Southwest Florida program. We believe it's extremely important to get kids to try new foods and form healthy habits while they're young, so we are honored play a part in the mission to bring families access to produce they may not otherwise try.
"Southern Specialties [ ] helps ensure Brighter Bites gets to share a wide variety of produce with our families so they can try fruits and veggies they’ve never tasted before."-Brighter Bites press release
Brighter Bites tackles childhood obesity by providing low-income families with free fresh produce and nutrition education. Each week families and teachers participating in Brighter Bites receive two bags containing approximately 50 servings of eight to 12 different fresh produce items along with the nutrition education materials.
“Southern Specialties is very proud of our association with Brighter Bites. Together, we are moving the needle towards greater fruit and vegetable consumption among children and their families,” -Charlie Eagle, VP Business Development, Southern Specialties.
Since launching in 2012, Brighter Bites has distributed more than 18 million pounds of produce and hundreds of thousands of nutrition education materials to 265,000 individuals from more than 40,000 families through schools and summer camps in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Southwest Florida. Brighter Bites uses a simple formula for introducing healthy lifestyles to families: produce distribution, nutrition education, and a fun food experience that includes sampling a recipe of the week to see just how great produce can taste.
Brighter Bites measures the outcomes of its program to determine impact. Research shows the Brighter Bites model provides consistent opportunities for children and their families to practice healthier behaviors in school and at home:
98% of Brighter Bites parents report their children eating more fruits and vegetables while participating in the Brighter Bites program.
Of those, 74% said they maintained that increased level of consumption after Brighter Bites ended.
Children and parents participating in Brighter Bites reported a:
significant increase in the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed;
significant increase in serving more fruits and vegetables as snacks;
two-fold increase in cooking meals from scratch, and a significant increase in eating meals together and serving more produce as part of those meals;
two-fold increase in using nutrition labels to guide grocery purchases;
and a significant decrease in added sugars consumed among children.
We look forward to developing this partnership and seeing how big of an impact we can make together! Click here to learn more about Brighter Bites.