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The Veggie Project

The Veggie Project is a partnership effort that includes: Nashville Urban Harvest, Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee, Baptist Healing Trust, and the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services, together with Vanderbilt Children’s Health Improvement and Prevention Program.

2008 Schedule
Markets will run from June 10 through August 8, 2008
Tuesdays
Preston Taylor
915 38th Ave. N.
3:30-5:00 p.m.

Wednesdays
Vine Hill
601 Benton Ave.
3:30-5:30 p.m.

Thursdays
Thompson Lane
5050 Blue Hole Road
3:00-5:30 p.m.

Fridays
Andrew Jackson
916 16th Ave. N.
3:30-5:30 p.m.

For more Information please contact:
Anna Au
(615) 343-1277 or
Anna.R.Au@vanderbilt.edu
  • All proceeds support the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee

Several volunteers of NUH participated in the Veggie Project, procuring locally grown produce for the farmers’ market component of this new and successful initiative!

The Veggie Project aims to address issues of childhood obesity, family nutrition and food security issues in underserved communities. Specifically, five Boys and Girls Clubs in Nashville and their surrounding communities have participated and benefited from this program. The project, which was put into action this summer (2007), is comprised of two specific components: Nutrition Education and Farmers Markets.

Nutrition Education
Increasing awareness and educating communities on nutrition and health is one of the core components to The Veggie Project. Nutrition education classes are implemented to the children at the Boys and Girls Clubs in three clusters so that each of the nearly 600 youngsters has the opportunity to participate and receive nutrition information. The interactive classes strive to make health topics such as the food pyramid and proper serving sizes engaging for the children. This is accomplished through the use of games, music, dance and crafts that are all related to nutritional health. Additionally, a weekly newsletter is distributed. The newsletters provide information about health topics and a recipe focused on the fruits and vegetables in season.

Farmers Markets
Of the five Boys and Girls Clubs in Nashville, The Veggie Project was able to implement Farmers Markets in three of the locations in an effort to bring the healthiest, freshest, local produce to the communities each week. While the project works with local farmers to get the best products available, the children from the Boys and Girls Clubs are responsible for managing the markets. The children determine the volume of produce available at each market and set the prices for the fruits and vegetables. All profits from the markets go to the Boys and Girls Clubs and each Club is able to choose how they will to spend the money – one club, in particular, is creating a scholarship fund. Another benefit of The Veggie Project is that all food that comes into the community through the project, stays in the community. Any leftover food from the Farmers Markets is donated to local organizations and agencies such as homeless shelters, drug rehab centers, and elderly homes.

The Veggie Project in the News
Overall, The Veggie Project has provided a great opportunity for communities to come together. The children of the Boys and Girls Clubs have truly enjoyed having their Clubs becoming the “hub” of the community each week. Click on one of the following links for more information on the impact and successes of The Veggie Project in our Nashville communities: