Contact:  Victoria Holmes; [email protected] (202) 372-5415

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) today announced a partnership with FoodCorps, Inc., a nationwide team of AmeriCorps leaders who connect kids to real food and help them grow up healthy. This nationwide program is dedicated to teaching children about healthy food, how it grows, and where it comes from, and ensuring they have access to these foods every day.  The ongoing partnership will initially place 13 service members in District public schools and community-based organizations during the 2014-15 school year.

“Partnering with FoodCorps is an exciting step towards eradicating the obesity epidemic in DC,” said Deputy State Superintendent Sandra Schlicker. “With their support, there will be more meaningful hands-on nutrition education being taught in schools, and students will have more opportunities to engage with their food in school gardens and the cafeteria.”  

FoodCorps service members will work one-on-one with teachers to develop and facilitate farm to school and school garden based lessons and hands-on learning opportunities within cafeterias, classrooms, and school gardens; strengthen connections between school gardens and the cafeterias by working with food service personnel and classroom teachers; and identify best practices for nutrition education, such as taste tests and garden-based activities.

The new partnership will support various components of the D.C. Healthy Schools Act (HSA) of 2010 that aims to reduce obesity and improve the health, wellness, and nutritional status of the more than 80,000 public and public charter school students in the District through healthy school meals, physical activity, and nutrition education. School gardens and farm to school efforts are an important component of the HSA as they provide exposure to fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as an opportunity for students to connect to the sources of their food, which may help them to make healthier choices in the future.

"What we feed our children in school––and what we teach them about food there––shapes their health and success over a lifetime,” said Curt Ellis, FoodCorps co-founder and chief executive officer.

Now in its third year, FoodCorps has 125 service members connecting kids to healthy food in 15 states across the country.