The Policy Brief, March/April 2024: WIC is Fully Funded
FoodCorps provides lessons on healthy eating
by Laraine Weschler, Republican-American NAUGATUCK — Healthy choices are on the menu at Hop Brook Elementary School as a new program this year aims to convince students to fall in love with healthy food and eat it every day. Amy Swanson, an AmeriCorps volunteer from Oregon, is launching a FoodCorps program at the school. Swanson chatted with … Continued
How FoodCorps uses nature to nurture schoolkids’ skills
There is no typical day, nor typical week, for FoodCorps service members in metro Atlanta. You might find one in a school garden helping students plant kale, sugar snap peas or carrots. Another might be in a classroom making a layered bean dip and talking about the similarities between those layers and the layers in a garden. Or one could be teaching a lesson on the importance of compost or playing a game that helps bring home what it means to have limited access to food.
Stronger Together: A FoodCorps Member Reflects on Her Service Year
By Cara Plott for Bronx Health REACH I began my year of service as a FoodCorps service member at the Family School not really knowing what to expect. Would I be able to find mentors to help me figure out the needs of the school? Would the school administrators be supportive and excited about expanding … Continued
Shared Stories Build Collective Power for Service Members of Color
The collective power generated in the room through the sharing of stories was palpable. That day, silences were broken. Issues were identified and examined. And a group of emerging leaders claimed their agency as the telling of stories segued into a brainstorming of solutions and actions.
Meet this year’s Alumni Council
Each year we invite new members to join our Alumni Council to bring fresh perspectives and passions to the group. They are here to support all alumni in launching initiatives they’d like to start, in lifting their voices to FoodCorps’ National team, and in advancing their career goals post-FoodCorps. Meet the Council members below and … Continued
FoodCorps Expands the Food World for Michigan Kids
It’s not always easy to change the way school-aged children think about what they eat, and how it links up to their health and to their communities. But FoodCorps is creating awareness and change, one school at a time. Daniel Marbury, the FoodCorps Central and Southern Regions Program Manager says, “Our goal in Michigan, like in the other states where we work, is to help kids grow up healthy and to help them build a relationship with healthy food.”
5 Years as a FoodCorps Alum: in 5 Photos
My name is Rachel Spencer, and I’m honored receive the inaugural FoodCorps Alumni Service Leadership Award. I currently work for the USDA in our Office of Community Food Systems farm to school team, where I help child nutrition program operators incorporate local foods in the National School Lunch Program and other federal nutrition programs.
Oregon Legislature Votes Unanimously to Preserve Farm to School and School Garden Funding
A bill supporting Farm to School and School Garden grant funding in Oregon was passed unanimously by Oregon’s legislature Thursday, preserving the $4.5 million program available to schools state-wide.
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Rethinking Alumni Programs for Greater Impact
Based on our experience at FoodCorps, the national service organization that brought us together as a funder (Davidson) and social entrepreneur (Ellis), here’s a look at the five common weaknesses built into many alumni programs and what the organizations running them can do better. By FoodCorps CEO Curt Ellis and funder Stuart Davidson.
Growing Plants to Eat on the Tohono O’odham Nation
My name is Jerome Marquez, and I live on the Tohono O’odham Nation and am indigenous to southern Arizona. I am a FoodCorps service member with the Native American Advancement Foundation (NAAF) and serve the students in my community at the San Simon School on the Tohono O’odham Nation. My service supports the very large … Continued