FoodCorps wraps up service in Warren County, NC

By Luci Weldon, The Warren Record

Warren County FoodCorps wrapped up its services here with a celebration last Thursday after seven years of teaching students that locally-grown foods are not only delicious, but also fun to grow. Warrenton nonprofit Working Landscapes and Warren County Cooperative Extension will offer similar programming to build upon FoodCorps’ mission to provide students with access to healthy foods.

A national nonprofit organization, North Carolina FoodCorps was established in 2011 through the sponsorship of North Carolina 4H and the North Carolina State University Center for Environmental Farming Systems. The national program was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service and the national service agency AmeriCorps.

FoodCorps in Warren County has been hosted by Warrenton nonprofit Working Landscapes and Warren County Cooperative Extension. Since 2011, five FoodCorps service members have worked in the county: Celeste Frisbee, Caroline Stover, Rachel Head, Gigi Lytton and Rachel Earnhardt, who will complete her FoodCorps service on Friday.

Gabe Cumming, Working Landscapes’ associate director, said that FoodCorps has been an effective tool for the nonprofit and Warren County Cooperative Extension to reach local residents with a shared focus on locally-grown foods and healthy lifestyles.

“The programming has benefited every child in Warren County Schools,” he said.

FoodCorps has developed a reputation in the local area for helping schools to plant gardens to provide hands-on learning opportunities for students, conducting classroom lessons about healthy foods, and showing students what meals they can make using fresh produce.