Fixing School Nutrition with FoodCorps

Interested in becoming part of the solution? FoodCorps, a division of AmeriCorps, is recruiting their first class of service members for school food systems. With the hope of expanding to all 50 states in the future, 10 states have been selected as inaugural host sites. Representing New England, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension will host volunteers working on school gardens and farm-to-school programs all over the state, while in Massachusetts,  The Food Project will put volunteers to work on multi-faceted programming, increasing children’s access to growing and eating real food.

The vision for FoodCorps is to place volunteers for a yearlong term of public service in school food systems. Service members will be assigned to school districts suffering disproportionate rates of childhood obesity and other diet-related diseases. FoodCorps members will build farm to school supply chains, expand food system and nutrition education programs, and build and tend on-campus food gardens. The ultimate goal of the project is to increase the health and prosperity of vulnerable children while investing in the next generation of farmers.

FoodCorps Recruiting First Class of Service Members for School Food Systems

 

This week FoodCorps, a brand-new and much-anticipated national service program, opens applications for its first class of service members. Those selected will dedicate one year of full-time public service in school food systems—sourcing healthful local food for school cafeterias, expanding nutrition education programs, and building and tending school gardens.

 

FoodCorps seeks up to 80 young men and women with a passion for serving their country by building healthy communities. Beginning in August 2011, service members will get their hands dirty in one of 10 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina or Oregon. Applications, more information, and the FoodCorps recruitment video, created by Peabody-winning filmmaker Ian Cheney, can be found at www.foodcorps.org.

 

FoodCorps is a new national service organization that seeks to reverse childhood obesity by increasing vulnerable children’s knowledge of, engagement with, and access to healthy food. FoodCorps was developed with funding from AmeriCorps and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in partnership with Occidental College, the National Farm to School Network, Slow Food USA, The National Center for Appropriate Technology and Wicked Delicate, as part of an open planning process that engaged thousands of stakeholders from around the country.

This entry was posted on February 16, 2011 at 8:17 pm and is filed under author: Debra. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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