Changing the Way Our Children Eat

SAC 2012 Workshop – FoodCorps: A Tool for Growing Farm-to-School Capacity workshop

by Jacqueline Venner Senske, conference blogger

 

FoodCorps is amazing and totally inspiring. The morning session on Saturday was a little chaotic – or maybe kinetic is a better term for it – but the energy in the room was incredible. FoodCorps service members from around North Carolina didn’t just tell us about their incredible experiences teaching kids about food and how it grows; they showed us. They demonstrated how they get kids to eat the food (Telling a second grader, “I need you to put it in your mouth. And swallow.”), how they engage students about nutrition (One talented service member led the room in a song about the USDA’s new My Plate nutrition recommendations to the tune of “My Girl.”), and we even made food (Collard Wraps with hummus, red pepper, shredded carrots, and a dash of lemon juice. Fun to make, fun to eat, beautiful to look at, and totally easy for kids.)

 

So let’s back up a second. First, some basics about FoodCorps (pulled from FoodCorps.org):

FoodCorps is a nationwide team of leaders that connects kids to real food and helps them grow up healthy.

We do that by placing motivated leaders in limited-resource communities for a year of public service. Working under the direction of local partner organizations, we implement a three-ingredient recipe for healthy kids. Our Service Members:

Teach kids about what healthy food is and where it comes from

Build and tend school gardens

Bring high-quality local food into public school cafeterias

 

The organization coordinates at state and national levels but operates locally through various partner organizations. In North Carolina, NC 4H and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems host FoodCorps, led by Tes Thraves.

 

In North Carolina, there are six FoodCorps sites, each with unique partner organizations.

• New Hanover/Brunswick Counties, Feast Down East
• Gaston County, Gaston County Cooperative Extension
• Moore County, Communities in Schools
• Guilford County, Guilford County Cooperative Extension
• Warren County, Warren County Cooperative Extension, Working Landscapes & UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
• Wayne County, 4-H & CEFS

Each FoodCorps program in each school looks a little bit different because it develops according to the specific situation. This ability to implement the organization’s three pillars – Knowledge through Nutrition Education, Engagement through School Gardens, and Access through Farm to Cafeteria programs– in ways that work for individual schools seems like it’s a big part of the program’s success.

 

Another thing that is a huge contributor to the program’s success is the people. FoodCorps members are the kind of people you just want to be around. They have light. They shine. They have bottomless energy and provide constant inspiration. The mission of the organization is important, and founder Debra Eschmeyer is an amazing visionary and savvy leader, but the kids on the ground are its beating heart.

 

FoodCorps service members are making changes in these communities one kid at a time. And that’s the only way change will happen.

 

To learn more about getting or becoming a FoodCorps service member in North Carolina, contact Tes Thraves at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. Also visit FoodCorps.org.