Des Moines Public Schools has educated the students of Iowa’s capital city for more than a century. Today, the district is the largest provider of public education in Iowa, with more than 30,000 students and nearly 5,000 teachers and staff at work in more than 60 schools throughout the community. DMPS has the largest variety of educational programs in Iowa, including the only public Montessori schools. Students can begin enrolling at Central Academy – one of the nation’s top college prep academies – in 7th grade to focus on advanced learning. Central Campus is Iowa’s high school career and technical education epicenter drawing students from around the region to study in eight different academies offering everything from aviation to marine biology to welding and more. Virtual Campus high school gives access to curriculum online to make education more accessible for all. The District’s goal for food education is to see an expansion in nutrition and farm to school education at more schools. They would like to graduate service members out of buildings after fostering sustainable change, in order to continue to develop all of the schools in the district with sustainable food education plans. The district would also like to bolster participation in school gardens and school pantries. 

Members will serve in elementary schools that qualify for the Community Eligibility Program. The service members will assist in implementing the Pick a Better Snack (PABS) curriculum developed by the Iowa Department of Public Health to increase fruit and vegetable consumption with Kindergarten through third grade students. Each FoodCorps member will build upon and support school wellness teams, school pantries and gardens, after-school and summer garden/nutrition programs for students and the community. FoodCorps members will be able to help with the district Wellness policy team and Farm to School efforts. Through these efforts, service members build strong relationships with school communities, which allow them to facilitate conversations around successes and challenges from food education programming. This feedback can then be passed to the district, to learn how best to support schools in their programming. In addition, as the district moves back towards scratch cooking, service members could play an important role in encouraging students to try the menu items.

FoodCorps members in Iowa are part of a cohort that includes 3 corps members in the Des Moines community in the state. Momentum for farm to school is growing, with over two-dozen active chapters, and state initiatives like Iowa Department of Public Health’s Pick a Better Snack program. FoodCorps members will have opportunities to engage with students, farmers, teachers, and community leaders to help build capacity to sustain programs for years to come. In Iowa we serve with heart to make lasting change within our food system.