In Collaboration with the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, FoodCorps Announces $250 Million Nourishing Futures Initiative to Ensure All School Students Have Equitable Access to Food Education and Nourishing, Free Meals by 2030

Media Contact: foodcorps@sunshinesachs.com

Washington, D.C. (September 28, 2022) – FoodCorps, a national nonprofit that partners with schools and communities to nourish children’s health, education, and sense of belonging, today announced the Nourishing Futures initiative, a $250 million commitment grounded in equity that seeks to ensure all 50 million students learn about food and have access to nourishing, free meals in school by 2030. FoodCorps is proud to be involved in today’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and to announce this commitment in collaboration with this historic event. The commitment was highlighted today by the Conference, as the Biden Administration unveiled a national strategy to end hunger and increase access to healthy food.

FoodCorps’ Nourishing Futures initiative, with the initial support of philanthropic partners including MacKenzie Scott, Newman’s Own Foundation, Inclusive Capital Partners Foundation, and Walmart Foundation, among others, will accomplish its goal by:

• Partnering with schools and districts to advance their goals for food education and school nutrition, expanding FoodCorps programming to reach 500,000 students a year by 2030;
• Preparing 1,000 BIMPOC (Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, People of Color) emerging leaders for mission-driven careers in the fields of food education and school nutrition; and
• Mobilizing 1 million supporters for policies that expand free school meals; fund food educators; update garden, kitchen, and cafeteria infrastructure; strengthen local supply chains; and support the food education and school nutrition workforce.

At today’s Conference, children’s nutrition, health, and well-being are set to play an integral part of the strategy, with FoodCorps Co-Founder & CEO Curt Ellis and President Dr. Robert S. Harvey in attendance and FoodCorps site supervisor Donna Martin and former FoodCorps service member Phoebe Wong speaking on panels.

“The Biden Administration’s agenda for today’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health has made abundantly clear that providing our children with nourishing meals, food education, and culturally affirming experiences with food is crucial for their futures, and we are energized to launch this effort with such tremendous momentum,” said Curt Ellis, Co-Founder and CEO of FoodCorps. “By setting the goal to reach every student, especially children of color who face disproportionate inequities in health and education, we can ensure a future where the role of food in school meets critical needs for nourishment, and becomes a source of joy and power, too.”

“FoodCorps consistently elevates the notion that humanity is at its best when you care for children,” said Miriam E. Nelson, PhD, president and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation. “We applaud their commitment to ensuring that by 2030, all kids will have access to food education and nourishing food in schools. This is one of the best ways we know to keep kids learning and to prepare them for the future. It’s a radically good initiative that we are proud to support.”

“We are immensely grateful to the philanthropic partners who are stepping up to make this critical work possible. Already, $53 million of this $250M initiative has been committed, and more partners are joining us now. We also thank President Biden and the Congressional leaders who brought this conference to fruition after 50 years, and look forward to deepening our advocacy for our nation’s children in the weeks and months to come,” Ellis, who served on the independent, bipartisan Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health to inform the White House’s planning efforts around the conference, continued.

Initial philanthropic support of FoodCorps’ Nourishing Futures includes Inclusive Capital Partners Foundation; MacKenzie Scott; Mars Food; Melissa Williams; Newman’s Own Foundation; Olo, through the Olo for Good Fund at Tides Foundation; Orgain Clean Nutrition; The Rachael Ray Foundation; Susan and David Tunnell; Thrive Market; Walmart Foundation; W.K. Kellogg Foundation; The William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation.

Visit foodcorps.org/whitehouseconference to become one of our 1 million supporters for Nourishing Futures and help us ensure that all 50 million students have access to free and nourishing meals and food education.

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