Teaching Health While Learning Healthy Habits
Photo courtesy of Ecomerge

From Ecomerge:

A healthier future for America is on the horizon, and one group is hard at work in investing in that future, starting with the nation’s students.

Connecting kids to healthy food in school to help them lead healthier lives and reach their full potential is the mission of FoodCorps, a nonprofit organization with Portland roots and national impact. Founded after the signing of the Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009, FoodCorps is a grantee program of the AmeriCorps service network. The organization engaged over 5,500 volunteers last year alone to impact the lives of more than 160,000 students. 

The organization, which is primarily headquartered in Portland, OR, sets forth to achieve their mission through three key activities:

  1. Hands on learning – through teaching, gardening and tasting. This allows students to participate in the growing of food, preparation, and of course enjoying the bounty of their labor.
  2. Healthy school meals – through school cafeteria relationships that help steer students in school lunchrooms towards healthier options. This helps get students excited about great food!
  3. Schoolwide culture of health – the school is a community and one that can celebrate healthy food!

To achieve their mission, FoodCorps has been able to build a funding network of private and public resources, but they are missing one key element — you! There are a variety of ways to get involved. From volunteering to helping garden to investing through monthly donations, you can make an impact.