Welcome! Here you will find all the materials needed to conduct a Nurture Family Program. Nurture does not assume any liability for programs conducted via the use of this material. Participating individuals should always ask their physician for his or her recommendation before starting any new health-related activity. Please enjoy these materials and credit Nurture when using them.
Program Overview
The Nurture Family Program is a series of four nutrition, fitness, and cooking classes designed to help low-income families easily prepare delicious, healthy, low-cost meals.
The Family Program includes adult and child curricula which are integrated but can be taught separately. Each adult class includes exercise and nutrition lessons plus two or more recipes for tasting. Adults’ topics include Fruits & Vegetables, Whole Grains, Lean Protein, Sodium, Portion Control, Breakfast and Home Cooking Strategies. Each Children’s class includes a nutrition lesson, exercise, active games and two recipes they make. Children topics include USDA’s MyPlate, Go & Slow Foods, Beverages and Breakfast.
Each family receives a slow cooker, meat thermometer and workbook. The workbook includes healthy recipes, exercise routines and cooking, nutrition and fitness information. After each class, families receive a small bag of groceries containing affordable, nutrient dense ingredients, such as beans, lentils, brown rice, oatmeal, and fresh fruits and vegetables, so they can immediately try new recipes at home.
The Nurture Family Program has proven to be extremely effective in changing behavior, including reducing consumption of fast food; increasing consumption of produce, whole grains, bean and lentils; and increasing confidence in creating home cooked meals. These are behaviors highly correlated with reduced incidence of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other nutrition related diseases.
If your budget or circumstances make it challenging to use the program as designed, feel free to use the components of the program that fit your needs.
Training and Program Management Materials
- Introduction Letter: overview of the program, wording that can be used for grant applications, and basic information that is helpful for everyone involved in providing the Nurture Family Program.
- Is This Program Right for You: factors that influence whether your organization will be successful with program implementation.
- Program Manager Training Guide: step by step instructions on how to organize and implement a Nurture Family Program.
- Coach and Cook Training Guide: guidelines on teaching nutrition, teaching the Recipe Framework©, teaching to adults and children, food sanitation and safety, how to use a slow cooker and how to use a rice cooker. English Spanish
- Recipe Selection and Giveaways: guidance on recipe selection, grocery giveaways and food sanitation.
- Teaching and Program Implementation Kit
- Waivers:templates that your organization can use. Please consult with your lawyers to see if they are sufficient for your organization.
________o Waiver for Adults PDF: English Spanish Word: English Spanish
________o Photo and Video Release PDF: English Spanish Word: English Spanish
________o Waiver for Children PDF: English Spanish Word: English Spanish
- Budget Template
- Participant Sign-In Sheets
- Template for Analyzing Evaluation Data
- Evaluation Forms
- Fruit, Veggies & Portion Control PDF: English Spanish
- Word: English Spanish
- Lean Protein & Slow Cooker PDF: English Spanish
- Word: English Spanish
- Whole Grains & Sodium PDF: English Spanish
- Word: English Spanish
- Home Cooking & Breakfast PDF: English Spanish
- Word: English Spanish
- Children's Evaluation Form: PDF Word
- Template for Reporting Program Impact
- Adult Lesson Materials
| Adult Classes | Lesson | Visuals | Evaluation Form | |
| Fruits and Vegetables & Portion Control | English | |||
| Lean Protein & Slow Cookers | English | MyPlate MiPlato | ||
| Whole Grains & Sodium | English | English & Spanish | ||
| Breakfast & Home Cooking Strategies | English | MyPlate MiPlato | ||
| Adult Workbook Section 1 | English | Spanish |
| Adult Workbook Section 2 | English | Spanish |
| Adult Workbook Section 3 | English | Spanish |
- Children Lesson Materials
________o Children’s Evaluation Form: PDF Word
| Children Classes | Lesson | Visuals |
| MyPlate | Lesson | English Spanish |
| Food for Fuel: Go or Slow | Lesson | English Spanish |
| Beverages | Lesson | Sample Beverages |
| Breakfast | Lesson | English Spanish |
