FoodCorps
Model & Strategy
FoodCorps is a national service organization that provides a scalable response to America’s painful and costly epidemic of childhood obesity. Working under the direction of high-impact local partners, FoodCorps Service Members invest a year of full-time public service delivering nutrition education, cultivating school gardens and sourcing farm-fresh school meals for K-12 students in communities of need across the country.
FoodCorps offers a means for training a new generation of leaders in the fields of food, education and health, and a mechanism for building connections and capacity among the diverse organizations that advocate for a more just, healthful and sustainable food system. 1 in 5 FoodCorps alumni are hired by their school or service site for a long-term position.
Curt Ellis began working with the five other founders of FoodCorps in 2009. With colleagues Debra Eschmeyer, Cecily Upton, Crissie McMullan, Jerusha Klemperer and Ian Cheney, Curt led an 18-month planning process that engaged more than 10,000 stakeholders in developing the FoodCorps model. Rather than being designed from the top down, their school food solution emerged from the grassroots up: a national organization that local voices shaped according to their needs.
Curt’s passion for food and agriculture is rooted in his childhood in Oregon. He developed his interest at The Mountain School and Yale and then moved to Iowa to investigate the role of subsidized commodities in the American obesity epidemic. The film he co-created there, King Corn, won a George Foster Peabody Award, helped bring national press attention to the Farm Bill, and reached an audience of millions in theatres and on PBS. Curt also produced The Greening of Southie (Sundance Channel, 2008) and used his Food and Community Fellowship to launch the mobile school garden project, Truck Farm, and direct the sequel to King Corn, Big River (Discovery, 2010).
IMPACT
In the last school year, FoodCorps’ 225 corps members reached 158,578 children, led 42,951 hands-on lessons and 3,386 taste tests (more than double the previous year), supported 471 school gardens, and activated 6,685 community volunteers in improving school food environments.
External evaluation by Columbia University showed that students who get more of FoodCorps’ hands-on learning eat triple the fruits and vegetables compared with peers in low-implementation schools.
9 in 10 FoodCorps’ alumni are in careers of impact—such as education, school food services, and policy and advocacy—that advance FoodCorps’ goal of nurturing a nation of healthy children; 100% of FoodCorps alumni say service gave them confidence as leaders; one in five alumni are hired by their school or site after service, often in jobs created for them.
In an external evaluation by Spark Policy Institute, 98% of school leaders described FoodCorps as “highly valued.”
FoodCorps News
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FoodCorps Featured in Fast Company for Their Success in Winning Over KidsFoodCorps was featured in Fast Company for their work winning over a pretty tough crowd, kids. FoodCorps sends young service members into schools in disadvantaged…Mar 2016 -
FoodCorps' Debra Eschmeyer Selected to Lead First Lady Michelle Obama's Food WorkDebra “Deb” Eschmeyer, a leading nutrition and local food advocate, has replaced Sam Kass as executive director of Let’s Move! and senior policy advisor for…Jan 2015
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We are SO excited! 💚It’s opening day at sweetgreen’s newest location at @pikeandrose, and 100% of today’s proceeds… https://t.co/M8JYYCvqrH
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RT @DrChastityShipp: March Madness is not just for basketball. Here @FPCSWoodridge we call it MARCH SNACKNESS! Our students are self select…
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RT @tischfoodcenter: Meet superstar food & nutrition educator Hannah Joseph! "At [PS] 311X, she started parent-led after school cooking les…
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FoodCorps service member applications are due tonight at 6pm PT/9pm ET. Add those finishing touches and submit by t… https://t.co/Y7M6DF6n1I
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A year of service with #AmeriCorps helped these three #FoodCorpsalums find exciting and meaningful careers post-ser… https://t.co/tfpWBs9Ldt
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RT @FoodCorpsMI: AmeriCorps Week Spotlight - FoodCorps Michigan Service Member Elena Mosher Elena shares, "The most gratifying part of my…
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Do you believe that healthy food should be a fundamental right, and not a privilege? Submit your application to… https://t.co/M1j1zxFPpW
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RT @FoodCorpsMI: AmeriCorps Week Spotlight – Food Corps Service Member Erin Wenk Erin tells us, "I enjoy serving with FoodCorps because I…
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RT @WholeKidsFnd: We need more healthy food in our schools! If you agree, please RT this amazing opportunity: @FoodCorps is accepting appli…
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RT @TriplePundit: Corporate philanthropy is branching out from its roots in the traditional gift-giving model. This partnership between the…
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RT @Voices4Service: For the 3rd year in a row, the @WhiteHouse called for eliminating @NationalService, including @AmeriCorps & @SeniorCorp…
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"Through the initiative, @sweetgreen has pledged $1 million over the next two years for the development of 'a scala… https://t.co/vvqt7Uwb3z
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It’s official: FoodCorps + sweetgreen = 💚 Thanks to major support from @sweetgreen, we are Reimagining School Cafet… https://t.co/baWUhn4KSP
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We’re kicking off #AmeriCorpsWeek with a huge shoutout to all of our FoodCorps #AmeriCorps service members who are… https://t.co/lc8JHT57Qa
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RT @TriplePundit: For 5 years, @FoodCorps has been working with the Walmart Foundation to accelerate nutrition programs in schools. Read @T…
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"More low-income children across the country are getting the nutrition they need to learn and thrive through the Sc… https://t.co/JZGTYN7fDI
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RT @theWELLcampaign: Students who eat school breakfast are more likely to be more alert and maintain a healthy weight! #schoolbreakfastny #…
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RT @sweetgreen: To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re recognizing the #WomenOfRealFood trailblazing the future of real food. Head to IG…