NewsPod Special Series: BDOG #2 Yolo Farm to Fork's Salvador Ramirez Explains Health Equity in Nutrition.

Sal Ramirez, Executive Director of Yolo Farm to Fork, joins me on this newspod as he shares his dedication to promoting health equity in child development. Listen as Sal unpacks the vital work being done to ensure that every child, regardless of their socioeconomic background, has access to fresh, healthy food. He passionately discusses the challenges faced by children in lower-income communities, where food insecurity can severely impact academic success and long-term well-being. Sal brings to light the irony of agricultural-rich Yolo County struggling with food insecurity and emphasizes the importance of supporting local farmers to build a sustainable, health-focused food system.

We also explore the essential role of flexible funding for nonprofits striving for health equity. Sal highlights how unrestricted contributions, particularly from events like the Big Day of Giving, empower organizations to tackle challenges more efficiently and sustainably. The episode underscores the value of community-driven support, featuring initiatives like the Sacramento Region Community Foundation's Impact Fund and the Keller Family Pathway Fund, which are making a significant difference. Through this conversation, learn how education about nutrition and food origins can shape future generations and why such community-focused solutions are key to advancing health equity.

To contribute to BDOG visit BIGDAYOFGIVING.

To learn more about the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, visit the website HERE.

Hear Barry Keller's story of support for the Impact Fund HERE.

Learn more about Yolo Farm To Fork HERE.

Thank you so much for listening! We appreciate you. Please visit the website to sign up for our email updates. https://www.nonprofpod.com/ And if you like, leave me a voicemail to comment on the program, leave a question for us to ask in the future or a message for me, Jeff Holden. I may even use your voice mail message in a future episode. https://www.nonprofpod.com/voicemail. Thanks again for your support in listening, commenting and sharing the great work our local nonprofits are accomplishing.

Transcript

00:10 - Jeff Holden (Host)
This nonprofit news pod is part of a special four-part series being brought to you by the Keller Family Pathway Fund. Each of the four episodes will feature a topic of interest relative to the Sacramento Region Community Foundation's Big Day of Giving coming up on May 1st Soon, soon, soon. My guest this episode is Salvatore Ramirez, Executive Director of YOLO Farm to Fork. Sal, welcome to the program. Thank you for having me Excited to have you here, Sal. Before we get into the topic, which is health equity, give us a brief overview of your organization, YOLO Farm to Fork. 

00:44 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Absolutely. Yolo Farm to Fork is dedicated to improving children's health and nutrition and also educating them about the fresh, nutritious food through school gardens that we provide and farm-to-school programs. Our goal is to ensure that every child, regardless of their background, has access to fresh, healthy food and the knowledge to make informed food choices. 

01:11 - Jeff Holden (Host)
And what age range is it or what class range is it that you? 

01:14 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
deal with. So we work primarily with elementary school-aged kids and that goes from kindergarten all the way to right before middle school, so fifth to sixth. 

01:26 - Jeff Holden (Host)
Okay, Now, before we can address how you're addressing health equity. What is it? How would you explain health equity? 

01:36 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Sure, great question. So health equity means to me that everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status or background, has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible, but in reality, that's just not the case. Many children in our region don't have access to fresh food, nutrition, education or even safe outdoor space to play and learn. Food, we know, is the foundation of health, and when kids start off with unhealthy diets due to limited access to fresh food, it impacts their development, their academic success and long-term well-being. That's why our work at Yolo Farm to Fork is so critical. It's about breaking down those barriers to ensure all children have access to nutritious food and the education they need to make healthy choices. 

02:30 - Jeff Holden (Host)
So, in the situation of health equity as it relates to the organization and to the community, whether it be Yolo County or Sacramento County or El Dorado or whatever, the underserved kids tend to not know the best practices fruits, vegetables and proper eating as a result of the programs that you do and providing that health equity it allows that student. Then, if you think about it, a kid sitting in a classroom who's hungry isn't going to really focus well, or a kid who has a bad diet isn't going to focus well. Therefore, that health equity is really instrumental in allowing them to learn properly, to function properly in the classroom, to function properly outside the classroom. In the grand scheme of things, things, is there anything else that you see? From a standpoint of that student's growth cycle between first and sixth grade, let's say that health equity provides as they grow into the next phase of their education. 

03:39 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Good question. So everything you just said is exactly how I hope other people see this issue as well. So when the kids are starting off, you know, picture an engine and it has no oil. That's really what we're looking at here. The engine is not running because they don't have the sustenance to keep it going. And when, at this critical age, kids are not able to fire on all cylinders, they are just starting at a very young age all the way behind the line. And you know it's unfortunate because that leads into a tracking system that some schools still use to place kids far behind. 

04:26 - Jeff Holden (Host)
So when they? 

04:27 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
go into specific middle schools, when they go into specific high schools, it all starts with how they perform at those younger ages and it's really not fair to measure the success of those kids when we know they're not being given the right tools and the right meaningful and much-needed resources to play on an equal field with everyone else and we're talking about food meaning the most basic of things. 

04:59 - Jeff Holden (Host)
If we can't feed these children properly, they're doomed. It'll just cascade, you'll start to get behind, behind, behind, it'll just cascade, you'll start to get behind, behind, behind. Next thing you know you're being shoved into high school with a real disadvantage, which again then you get into identification issues and everything else that makes it really really tough of growing into a mature adult. Food insecurity, nutrition, systemic barriers they all play into this bigger topic. Tell us a little bit more about what you're seeing regarding these issues. 

05:30 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Absolutely so. We're seeing a real divide in food access In many of the schools we work with, especially in the lower income communities. Kids rely on school meals as their primary source of nutrition, but if those meals aren't fresh and nutritious, we're really setting them up for long-term health struggles and really beyond access. There's also an educational gap. Many children don't know where their food comes from or how to prepare healthy meals. That's why we focus on school gardens. When kids grow their own food, they're more likely to actually eat it. When kids grow their own food, they're more likely to actually eat it. We also see systemic barriers, like school districts struggling to source local food due to cost and logistical challenges. That's where we step in to support both schools and local farmers, really just trying to help create a more sustainable and health-focused food system. 

06:28 - Jeff Holden (Host)
Yes, Sal, in terms of where you are, you're in Yolo County. This is like the breadbasket of the Central Valley. You have so much in resource opportunity with food, yet in Yolo County we have one of the highest incidences of food insecurity. I mean, the very people who are in the field picking the food and planting the food are some of the families most challenged for health equity. We were talking a little bit before we started the recording about how that translates. Then I mean, if it's in your county, what about the rest of the counties? 

07:07 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Yeah, and that's a good point. We have in Yolo County an amazing plethora of nonprofits that are working in this food space to sort of ameliorate that problem you're talking about right there, with the people growing the food not even having access to it meaning the parents of the kids we serve and when that happens, bad choices for food ensue. So if the parents are choosing to spend the very small amount of money they have on a bag of chips, then the kids will also learn that that is an acceptable thing to do when you're hungry, and we don't want that to be the choices people feel pressured to make, as if that's their only choice when it comes to choosing the food they are putting into their body. And, just like you said, if Yolo County, where this food is grown, for so many other parts, you would think would have it worse, and so, that being the case, we just want to make sure that people know there are more choices than what you feel pressured to do. 

08:29 - Jeff Holden (Host)
Well, and not to mention we're talking about just our region, but think of communities and areas that have nothing around them, who don't have any farm or agriculture around them. The significance of health equity in those communities where literally there's nothing. 

08:44 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Yeah. 

08:45 - Jeff Holden (Host)
In LA County or some of the other cities, other states, just the significance of this health equity issue. This health equity issue, how does the process and the programs I should say that you work with get tracked? How do you know there's an impact in what you're doing? 

09:06 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Well, we've actually seen incredible results, I will say the kids who participate in our programs. They are more willing to try fresh fruits and vegetables, and schools that implement garden programs do report increased student engagement, and that's not just in nutrition, but also in science, math, environmental studies, other areas of other disciplines. One of the biggest indicators of success is behavioral change, so we actually track how students' attitudes toward fresh food shift over time. We've seen that when they grow their own food, they eat more vegetables and are more likely to encourage healthy eating at home. We also measure the number of school gardens that we maintain, the amount of fresh produce grown in those gardens and how many students participate in our programs. Right now, I'm proud to say that we support over 60 school gardens in Yolo County, reaching thousands of students each year. That impact is tangible. We're not just feeding kids for a day, we're helping shape lifelong healthy habits. 

10:15 - Jeff Holden (Host)
Do you see, class to class, since you start in first grade to third grade, to fourth, to fifth to sixth, some of the transitions? I'm sure you see the same kids growing up over the course of time. What does it look like? Do you have some understanding of? You were telling me there's children who come in and maybe don't even know an orange grows on a tree, and have you ever tasted an orange, much less know how it grows. By second, third, fourth grade they come back and you can now identify oranges. Man, yeah, they're eating oranges. 

10:50
They're growing tomatoes in the garden Tell me a little bit about what that looks like. 

10:54 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
So we actually have made a very concerted effort to stack our curriculum so that the more difficult curriculum comes toward the end of the time we have with those kids, because we know that kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, their knowledge is going to be varied and that's okay. We take them as they are. But then it's our job, as the years go by, and doing the garden, education in the schools with them, year by year, to increase their knowledge base and they know how to do, by age fifth grade I should say, the harder types, the more difficult types of growing that they would never be able to do in first grade or second grade. And so with time with us working with them and sort of injecting more vocabulary and more time in the garden, they build their knowledge. 

11:57 - Jeff Holden (Host)
Yeah, and understanding of that food and the value because they get to eat it and they say this is pretty good. Exactly, you know, whatever it may be, yeah, maybe not everything but at least they know it's good for them and they should right. Exactly. The Sacramento Region Community Foundation's Impact Fund is focused on health equity, and that's a big deal. As it's an unrestricted fund for the organizations doing work in this category, how do you think that might benefit an organization like yours? 

12:27 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Sure, unrestricted funding is a game changer. So often the grants and donations that we go after and receive are tied to specific programs, which is great, but it doesn't allow us to address emerging needs or scale our impact. For example, the impact fund gives us that flexibility to expand school garden programs, enhance our nutrition education efforts and support more schools that need resources. I'll give you an example If a school reaches out and wants to start a garden, unrestricted funds allow us to act quickly without waiting for a specific grant cycle. It also helps cover the behind-the-scenes costs that keep our programs running, everything from garden tools to staff who provide the hands-on education. This kind of support really is critical, not just for us but for any nonprofit tackling health equity. It ensures that we can be responsive, sustainable and continue making a difference for the communities that need us most. 

13:35 - Jeff Holden (Host)
And Big Day of Giving is also unrestricted funding. So whatever you get through Big Day of Giving also goes into this ability to choose where the opportunity presents itself right. 

13:48 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Absolutely yes, and Big Day of Giving is something that we, as a small nonprofit, have relied on, not just for spreading awareness of our mission, but also because of those unrestricted funds coming in annually when we do these. So we are huge proponents of Big Day of Giving. 

14:07 - Jeff Holden (Host)
Yeah, it's that flexibility that makes such a big difference for you guys. Yes absolutely for sharing a little bit about the value of health equity and how it translates into the education for our children, who are our future in a better understanding of the food that is not only consumed, but where it originates Absolutely. 

14:30 - Sal Ramirez (Guest)
Thank you for having me. 

14:32 - Jeff Holden (Host)
Big Day of Giving is only weeks away and we're happy to bring you these topical conversations related to the Community Foundation's Impact Fund focused on health equity. This program was supported by the Keller Family Pathway Fund. Barry and Linda Keller proudly support the Sacramento Region Community Foundation's Big Day of Giving through their Keller Family Pathway Fund. Why? They believe giving is an emotional experience, often making the choice of where to give a difficult one. With expertise, experience and deep understanding of the philanthropic environment, the Sacramento Region Community Foundation team is uniquely skilled in vetting organizations their greatest needs and helping local people and businesses give back most effectively. The Kellers trust the Sacramento Region Community Foundation and invest in its impact fund, ensuring their contributions will be used wisely. Thank you, barry and Linda, for your gracious support of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation's Big Day of giving.