Grist: FoodCorps will teach kids, link farms and schools

by Tom Laskawy

One of the goals here at Grist is to inspire people to move beyond reading about problems and toward doing something about them. With that in mind, I thought I’d highlight a new anti-obesity initiative launching today designed to place young workers in communities to deliver nutrition education, build and tend school gardens, and implement farm-to-school programs: FoodCorps.

Cofounded by Grist contributor Deb Eschmeyer, an organic farmer and former communications director for National Farm to School Network, and Curt Ellis, codirector of the award-winning documentary King Corn, FoodCorps officially gets rolling today. The first cohort of 50 corps members is starting training in Milwaukee, Wis., where they’ll get a chance to learn from urban ag pioneer Will Allen at his Growing Power Community Food Center. The trainees will soon fan out to 10 states — Arkansas, Arizona, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oregon — to begin the work of bringing better nutrition and food choices to kids.

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