Our Process
Eight steps to Brighter Bites.
Step 1
Engage
Step 2
Select the
Select the
Week’s Variety
Step 3
Load Up!
Step 4
Bag the
Bag the
Produce
Step 5
Teach
Teach
Brighter Choices
Step 6
Sample
Sample
& Share
Step 7
Take Home
Take Home
the Fun
Step 8
Replicate
Engage
Select
Load
Bag
Teach
Sample
Take
Replicate
Step One
Engage
Communities
It all starts with the right relationships. We engage schools, communities, and partners and introduce them to our Brighter Bites model: produce distribution + nutrition education + a fun food experience.
From local farmers to leading university researchers, teachers to three-generation families, it takes teamwork to build a culture of health. Brighter Bites was built to scale, and we make it as easy as possible for communities.
A LITTLE HEART PLUS ONE MAGIC FORMULA
HEALTHY CHANGE: LOCALLY SOWN, NATIONALLY GROWN!
Step Two
Select the
Week’s Variety
Our produce suppliers donate fresh fruits and vegetables to our partnering food banks. Each week, our staff chooses 8 to 12 different types of produce from the huge warehouse coolers, and the food is specially tagged for Brighter Bites.
Working closely with leaders like Sysco not only helps us ensure that a wide variety of fruits and vegetables are available for Brighter Bites, but also that the food meets stringent standards of safety, quality, and traceable tastiness—no matter its shape or size!
WE CHOOSE OUR PRODUCE AS CAREFULLY AS WE CHOOSE OUR PARTNERS
WE EMBRACE THE FUNFAMILIAR, FROM SWISS CHARD TO STARFRUIT!
Step Three
Load Up!
Massive pallets teeming with bags and cases of fresh produce for Brighter Bites are loaded by warehouse staff into a large box truck. It is hard work: each truckload can feed hundreds of families.
Each pallet carries 1500 lbs of fresh produce
The truck can hold 8-10 pallets (enough to feed 400 families!)
Step Four
Bag the
Produce
Once the truck arrives at the site, it is typically unloaded into a gym or cafeteria. Unified in our bright red t-shirts, Brighter Bites staff, parents, and community volunteers work as an assembly line to unpack and divide the variety of produce into bags.
Each family and teacher receives two bags of fresh fruits and vegetables. Staples like potatoes, onions, carrots, and apples are typically included—along with unique seasonal picks that give families the chance to take home top crops like kale, kiwi, beets, plums, or rutabaga.
TWO BAGS OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES PER FAMILY
200-800 BAGS WILL BE LINED UP ONCE THE PROCESS IS COMPLETE!
Step Five
Teach
Brighter Choices
Also added into the bags are nutrition handbooks, tip sheets, and recipes that incorporate that week’s fresh produce. These bilingual materials are chock full of helpful info and advice, from kitchen safety to smarter snacking to making a healthier menu.
All educational materials are linked to children’s in-class nutrition lessons from CATCH and other evidence-based, coordinated school health programs that we help implement via our specially-trained staff.
Nearly 100 bilingual recipes exist in our database
CATCH IS BACKED BY NEARLY 25 YEARS OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
Step Six
Sample
& Share
Let the fun food experience begin! Our team prepares healthy, tasty “brighter bites” for families to sample, using one or more of the produce items being shared that week.
The recipe for that very demo also waits in the bags, ready to be taken home and tried out. Kids and their families taste new dips, soups, snacks, main dishes, and more—and they never leave without a stop at our happenin’ tattoo station.
OUR SIGNATURE SAMPLES ARE CONCOCTED BY IN-HOUSE NUTRITIONISTS
HULK SMOOTHIE, ANYONE?
Step Seven
Take Home
the Fun
When all is said and done, each family and teacher walks away with a pair of bags that contains approximately 50 servings of fresh, seasonal produce, plus tips and tools for how to use it.
For one week for a family of four, that’s two extra servings of fruits and vegetables a day—at no extra cost to our participating families.
Light fare, heavy load: one set of bags = 20-25 lbs!
2 extra servings of fruits & vegetables a day
At no extra cost
Step Eight
Replicate
This process repeats for 16 weeks during the school year and 8 weeks during the summer. Our scalable co-op model allows us to bring Brighter Bites to more schools and camps each season, creating a culture of health wherever we go.
DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR AND SUMMERS
WE’VE PASSED OUT OVER 15 MILLION POUNDS OF PRODUCE TO MORE THAN 40,000 FAMILIES
Another successful week of programming in the books for the 2020-2021 school year! Thank you to our schools for joining forces with us to build communities of health through fresh food!
🏫🍎🥬🥦🌽🍓
#brighterbites #brighterbitesDC #freshproduce #fruits #vegetables #HaveaPlant #JoyofFresh #nonprofitorganization #nutritioneducation
For National Guacamole Day 🥑, we are sharing one of our favorite recipes- our Corn Guacamole! The addition of corn 🌽 to the guacamole adds a sweet pop of flavor💥 that we think will truly GUAC your world. 😎
We love guacamole as a snack with fresh veggies, as an appetizer with baked chips, or on top of tacos and quesadillas. How do you like your guacamole?
#brighterbites #BrighterBitesBrighterHomes #nationguacamoleday #guacamole #avocado #recipeoftheday #freshproduce #vegetables
It's National Linguini Day and we wanted to share our Pasta Primavera recipe, which we think is imPASTAble to resist! 🍝🍝🍝
INGREDIENTS
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 jar (32 oz) pasta sauce
• 1 lb uncooked whole wheat pasta
DIRECTIONS
In a large pot boil water and cook pasta according to package instructions. When ready, drain pasta and let sit. Sauté zucchini, bell pepper, onion and garlic in olive oil in a large pan over medium heat until vegetables are tender. Add the sauce and heat then serve over the cooked pasta. 🍝😋
#brighterbites #BrighterBitesBrighterHomes #nationallinguiniday #pasta #recipeoftheday #freshproduce #vegetables
We are thrilled to join forces with Amerigroup to expand our reach in the Washington, D.C. metro area! 💙🍎🥦🍅🍑🌽
“Together, we’re ensuring that families are not only able to put food on the table, but more importantly consume the right foods to keep them nourished and their immune systems strong.” -Northeast Regional Director of Brighter Bites, Melanie Button
#brighterbites #brighterbitesdc #freshproduce #nutritioneducation #nonprofitorganization
This might sound corny, but it has felt a-maize-ing 🌽 to be back in our communities and see all of our Brighter Bites families this week! 💛
That’s a wrap on our first week of fall programming in Houston, Dallas, Austin, and DC! 🎉📦🧅🥕🍎🥔🍋
#brighterbites #freshproduce #fruits #veggies #vegetables #nutritioneducation
Want to be a part of the Brighter Bites volunteer community?
We think we'd make a great PEAR! 🍐 🍐 Join us this year in distributing our boxes full of fresh produce to our families. We have opportunities available in all of our cities! 🍉🍌🥕🌽🍊🥬
Distribution Volunteer Duties may include:
• Distributing boxes into cars in the drive thru line or directly into the hand of families in walk up lines 🚙🚗📦
• Lifting and moving produce boxes or moving pallets 🥦💪
• Tracking and checking in families ✔️📋
• Directing drive-thru or walk up lines🚦🚧
• Set up and break down of tents/tables 🎪
• Adding handouts/materials/stickers to the boxes ⭐
Hungry to help? 🍎
Sign up online ➡️www.brighterbites.org/volunteer
Looking to squeeze in a little volunteering? 🍋 Our volunteers spots are open, and we are ready to GUAC-and-roll! 🥑 Today, we are highlighting our Produce Boxing opportunity located at the @houstonfoodbank ! It's all hands on deck to help package up all of the fruits and vegetables for our Brighter Bites families. 💚
During the boxing project, volunteers will help build produce orders for Brighter Bites schools at the Houston Food Bank. This includes sorting and boxing produce, then stacking the completed boxes of produce onto pallets. These pallets will then be delivered by the Houston Food Bank to Brighter Bites schools throughout the week.
Volunteer duties may include:
• Sorting a variety of fruits and vegetables into boxes 🥕🍓🍍🍊
• Lifting and stacking full produce boxes in order to build large pallets of packaged produce 📦
• Cleaning the work area by disposing of trash and recycling ♻️
Hungry to Help? 🍎 Sign up on our website ➡️ www.brighterbites.org/volunteer
Fall programming has started today in many of our cities! We are staying safe 😷 and practicing social distancing ↔️ while distributing produce to our families 🚗 🚙 📦. And although you can’t see them, we have BIG smiles 😁 underneath our masks! It feels great to be back in our communities!! 🎉🍎🥦🥕🍍🧅🍌🧅🍋🍅
#brighterbites #BrighterBitesBrighterHomes #freshproduce #eathealthy #foodismedicine #nutritioneducation #childnutrition #fruits #veggies #vegetables
This Wednesday, @fullymediterranean is hosting their next virtual cooking class and heading to Spain for tapas night! All of the proceeds from this class will benefit Brighter Bites, which we are so grateful for!
During class, we will cook three of our favorite Spanish tapas: gambas al ajillo, pan con tomate y jamon, blistered shishito peppers, and patatas bravas along with a wine pairings selected by Christian Varas, sommelier and Regional Wine Director of Domaine & Estates Division for Southern Glazer’s.
We hope you'll cook with us this Wednesday, August 12 @6pm CST. Link in the @fullymediterranean bio to purchase tickets!
#brighterbites #fullymediterranean #cookingforacause #onlinecookingclass #healthycooking
We love zucchini in savory dishes, but have you ever tried it sweet preparations, like these muffins? Just wait til you try our Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins- they are sweet and tasty and sure to please the whole family! Your kids may not even notice that they are eating vegetables! #NationalZucchiniDay
#BrighterBites #freshproduce #eathealthy #foodismedicine #veggies #vegetables #JoyofFresh #HaveaPlant
August is #NationalPeachMonth and we are sharing some tips on how to enjoy this delicious summer fruit!
How do you like to eat peaches? On top of yogurt, tossed in a salad, or as a snack? Share your favorite recipe with us!
#BrighterBites #freshproduce #summerproduce #eatinseason #eathealthy #foodismedicine #fruit #summerfruit #JoyofFresh #HaveaPlant
We're so proud of Jennifer Boone and Ragen Doyle for participating in ReFED's Food Recovery Accelerator this year. The learnings from the program may now be found in this new ReFED report, which is an essential resource for everyone interested in scaling innovative food recovery and hunger relief efforts. Download it here: https://bit.ly/AccelReport!
Looking for an easy snack to enjoy in this summer heat? Our Frozen Fruit Pops are the perfect treat! In honor of #nationalwatermelonday we are sharing this tasty recipe. All you need is a ripe watermelon, a blender or food processor, and popsicle molds (or small plastic cups and toothpicks!). It's a tasty treat that has tons of flavor and nutrition without any added sugar!
Visit our website for the full recipe.
#BrighterBites #BrighterBitesBrighterHomes #freshproduce #eathealthy #foodismedicine #fruit #JoyofFresh #HaveaPlant
Today, we are celebrating all of the wonderful interns who have joined our team in creating communities of health through fresh food! 🎉 We are grateful for our interns and all of the passion, hard work, and energy they bring to our teams across the country. #nationalinternday
Brighter Bites offers unpaid internships to students and non-students interested in public health, nutrition, and nonprofit work. We invite you to join our program staff in the field or work behind the scenes building our brand and developing relationships. Our interns are exposed to all components of Brighter Bites to gain a well-rounded understanding of how a public health community nutrition nonprofit operates. #brighterbites #freshproduce #eathealthy #foodismedicine #fruits #veggies #vegetables
It's #NationalLasagnaDay, and we believe that nothing is imPASTAble! Our Veggie Lasagna uses thin slices of zucchini, yellow squash, and eggplant instead of pasta sheets. It is healthy, easy to make, and absolutely delicious!
#BrighterBites #BrighterBitesBrighterHomes #freshproduce #eathealthy #foodismedicine #veggies #vegetables #JoyofFresh #HaveaPlant
It takes two to MANGO! 🥭💃🕺
It's #NationalMangoDay and our Mango Tango Salsa is the perfect recipe to highlight this tasty fruit! Mango is not only sweet and delicious, but it is also high in vitamin A and a good source of vitamin C. For more recipes featuring mango, visit our website!
#BrighterBites #freshproduce #eathealthy #foodismedicine #fruits #veggies #vegetables #JoyofFresh #HaveaPlant
Because mac and cheese can be both delicious and nutritious! Our Crafty Mac 'n Cheese includes some hidden veggies in the creamy sauce. Can you guess what vegetables we use?
#nationalmacandcheeseday #macncheese #BrighterBites #freshproduce #eathealthy #foodismedicine #veggies #vegetables #JoyofFresh #HaveaPlant
It's National French Fry Day, and we are celebrating with some different kind of "fries"! 🍟 Can you guess what fruit or vegetable we used to make these tasty bites? 🥔🥕🍌🍠🍆🥦Put your guesses in the comments below!
*Our tip for making tasty and healthy fries? Bake them! Find all of our healthy French “fries” recipes on our website! #brighterbites #nationalfrenchfryday #eathealthy #fruits #veggies #vegetables #JoyofFresh #HaveaPlant
Today is Pick Blueberries Day! Did you know that blueberries are in season? When fruits and vegetables are in season they are the most flavorful, nutritious, and affordable! With blueberries at their peak this month, try our delicious Texas Corn & Blueberry Salad, which is sure to please the whole family! #brighterbites #nationalblueberrymonth #pickblueberriesday
Happy Fourth of July from the Brighter Bites team!
This weekend we hope you stay healthy and safe at home. To make the cooking part easy, we are sharing some of our favorite summertime recipes using red, white, and blue fruits and veggies!❤️🤍💙
•X-ray Vision Smoothie •Hulk Smoothie •Pasta Primavera •Homemade Spaghetti Sauce •Lean & Clean Pinto Beans •Carrot Salad •”Caul” It Rice Salad •Cauliflower Ceviche •Blue Smoothie •Just Peachy Parfait •Purple Smoothie •Texas Corn & Blueberry Salad
Visit our website for these recipes and more inspiration this holiday weekend! #brighterbites #brighterbitesbrighterhomes #happyfourthofjuly