FoodCorps Partners with African American Mayors (AAMA) to Build Movement for Food Justice
Serve Your Community, Grow Your Career
FoodsCorps Service Member Tessa Finkelstein leads a lesson in a school garden. (Bronx, NY)
Applications for 2024-25 open this fall. Sign up to be notified when the application is live!
Sign Up for UpdatesAs a FoodCorps service member, you’ll teach kids to grow, cook, and love the nourishing foods that celebrate their cultures and communities—and help schools serve more of those foods, too. FoodCorps recruits talented leaders into full-time, paid public service, where they grow healthy school food environments in diverse communities through hands-on, experiential food education. Service members commit for a year at a time, but for the greatest impact on kids and on your career, we encourage you to come back for a second year.
What Service Members Do
As a service member, you’ll teach kids about nourishing food and help schools become healthier places for them to learn and grow. Most of your time will be spent teaching in the classroom and garden; there are also opportunities to work with school nutrition directors in supporting districtwide food systems change. Most service corps members do the following:
Lead Hands-On Lessons
You’ll teach students to grow, cook, and taste new foods, building their knowledge of and enthusiasm for fruits and veggies. You’ll collaborate with teachers on integrating food into the curriculum, and you may help organize field trips to local farms or visits from chefs.
Influence Nourishing School Meals
You’ll cultivate a cafeteria experience that steers students towards fresh fruits and veggies, gets them excited to try new foods, and celebrates their culture and community. You’ll get kids to try samples during taste tests and brainstorm foods that make them feel strong and nourished. You may even work with food service directors and farmers to get local foods onto the lunch tray.
Build A Culture of Health
You’ll be an active, collaborative member of the school community, working to ensure that the whole school environment—from hallway to classroom to cafeteria—celebrates nourishing food. You may plan family cooking nights and organize food fundraisers, too.
Who We’re Looking For
You want to make a difference in the world. You understand that food in school is a driver for equity, justice, and lifelong healthy habits. You’re committed to learning, growing, and developing as a professional and as an active member of your community. You see food as a fundamental part of every kid’s education. And you want to work directly in schools, with students, to make food central to their classroom experience.
Eligibility
To be considered for a FoodCorps service member position, you must:
- Be 18 years or older by the start of service
- Be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or lawful permanent resident of the United States
- Hold a high school diploma, GED or equivalent
The ideal candidate has:
- Passion for building a healthier future for school children
- Demonstrated leadership aptitude
- Motivation and commitment to serve full-time directly in a community
- Self-determination in the face of challenges and creativity in finding solutions
- Respect for diversity of opinion, experience, and background
- Display a growth mindset by willing to grow through coaching and implementation of feedback
- Knowledge of the culture, history, and/or language of the communities we serve
- Desire to gain hands-on experience in food education
Benefits of Service
FoodCorps service members receive a stipend, health insurance, and other benefits. In addition, FoodCorps prepares alumni for lifelong careers of impact as food educators, school nutrition leaders, and policy influencers. Being part of the FoodCorps alumni network connects you to thousands of passionate professionals who can help you build a career at the intersection of food justice and education equity.
Key Application Dates
Application Timeline
This year, we accepted applications and made admissions decisions on a rolling basis.
Click “See the Application Timeline” to view more details.
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