Over the last few days, we’ve been sharing the winners of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ (USCM) 2015 Childhood Obesity Prevention Awards.  We are proud to support all of the winning cities and their programs – which use education and information to get communities to live a more balanced and active lifestyle.

Today, we wanted to highlight the 2nd place winner of the large city category  - Seattle, Wash.  Thanks to Mayor Ed Murray’s Seattle Farm-To-Table (F2T) Partnership, Seattle’s most at-risk children will now have increased access to fruits and vegetables through meals served at child care, preschool and before and after-school care sites.

F2T provides complimentary nutrition education for children, parents and staff which highlights the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.  F2T includes three primary components: encouraging child care, preschool and before- and after-school sites to purchase fresh food from local farmers;  providing nutrition education for children, staff and parents; and providing low-cost local produce for families so they can continue at home the healthy eating habits their children are developing at F2T sites.

The USCM grant will allow F2T to expand educational activities to additional family centers, childcare and before- and after-school programs.  Congratulations to the city of Seattle and Mayor Murray!  F2T is a great program that will arm Seattle communities with comprehensive tools to help combat childhood obesity through education and access to balanced meals.