Federal Appropriations: What You Need to Know
Serve Your Community, Grow Your Career
Are You Eligible to Apply? Take the Quiz!
Applications for 2025-2026 open in December. Check your eligibility & we'll send you an email reminder.
Take the QuizAs 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.
Who You Are
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 QUIZ
Sound familiar? Take our eligibility quiz to see if it’s a fit.
Check eligibilityWhat you’ll do
As a corps member, you’ll teach kids about nourishing food and help schools become healthier places for them to learn and grow. Here’s how.
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.
Locations
FoodCorps has more than 200 school and district partners across 18 states and the District of Columbia. You can choose your location preferences. We prioritize applicants who want to be a FoodCorps AmeriCorps member in their local communities.
Benefits
FoodCorps 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.
After successfully completing your FoodCorps term of service, you’ll be eligible for a $7,395 Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. You can use the award to repay qualified student loans and to pay current educational expenses at eligible institutions of higher education and training programs.
Key Application Dates
The 2025-2026 application will open in early December 2024. Location preferences will become limited as slots are filled, so we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible! Take the quiz above to confirm your eligibility and we’ll send you a reminder email when it’s time to apply!
Dec
Application Open
March
Application Closes
August
FoodCorps Term Starts
July
FoodCorps Term Ends
Selection Process
Here’s an overview of the full selection process and what to expect:
Apply
This is just the start of us getting to know you! The early deadline is Jan. 5 and the final deadline is March 29.
Phone Screening
Tell us more about your interest in FoodCorps and where you’re interested in serving.
First Round Interview – State Level
You’ll meet the state teams where your application is being considered.
Second Round Interview – Site Matching
You’ll meet the schools and service sites that you could potentially serve.
Safety & Belonging
FoodCorps is committed to creating a just and equitable organization. We believe that all of our service members – inclusive of their race, ethnicity, gender, ability, or other personal characteristics – deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
As with any role, FoodCorps members may experience discrimination or other unwanted attention while serving, from subtle to overt. To support safety and belonging for everyone in our corps, we use the following strategies, which are rooted in a culture of accountability, efficacy, and humanity.
Regional Service Member Support Plans to proactively reduce harm and inequity that members may experience due to their intersectional identities. These plans include activities like DEI and conflicting management trainings, Restorative Justice Circles, and partnerships with local support and resource organizations.
Internal accountability process to address conflict or harm through mediation, training, and coaching. This restorative process is designed to repair harm that has been done and build stronger relationships.
Strong partnerships between FoodCorps state teams, regional directors, and human resources staff, ensuring a coordinated response to issues that arise and the best possible support for service members.
Clear systems for reporting incidents of inequity and/or harm. These systems make it easy for service members to come forward and share their experiences, and they ensure that their reports are taken seriously.
Training on diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism to help FoodCorps members understand the importance of our commitments and to give them tools for creating more inclusive environments.
A support fund to provide assistance to members facing acute financial challenges during their FoodCorps service term.
Additional support services included in our benefits package, including counseling and therapy.
Career Paths
Our model for change is about much more than your year of service. You’ll stay connected to FoodCorps and have access to professional development, trainings, and networking opportunities throughout your career.
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