Food Education in the U.S. Food skills are one of the most valuable life skills you can ever learn and every child should learn about food, where it comes from and how it affects his or her body. This map highlights some food and nutrition education activities taking place in schools across the United States, from mandatory nutrition education to hands-on programs where kids can touch, feel, taste, and cook food. We know there are loads more programs in action, and we want to hear about them! Get in touch with us at foodday@cspinet.org and let us know about your food education program, class, or activity! Click here for the campaign landing page.
Campaign Announcement Press Release July 8, 2013 Ending Food Ignorance: Education Is Too Important to Leave to Big Food, Huffington Post Op-Ed July 8, 2013 |
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About the Campaign
Get Food Education in Every School is a national initiative created by Food Day and the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation to raise awareness about the critical importance of food education in schools across America.
It provides a chance to start talking about how food education should be an integrated part of the school curriculum, and that hands-on cooking and essential food skills should be taught to every child, at every school in the country.
If every child had the opportunity to learn about, grow and cook food and understand the implications of food waste on the wider community, we believe they’d have the knowledge and tools to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives. Studies show that:
What can we do to reverse these trends?
Schools, together with local communities and families, need to be at the heart of food education, to teach children about food, where it comes from and how it affects our bodies and therefore, to put the tools of prevention in the hands of children themselves.
Schools not only play an important role in helping to shape the next generation, they’re responsible for teaching essential skills and knowledge, such as reading, writing, computer literacy and mathematics. Cooking skills and food knowledge, however, are clearly not prioritized like these subjects, or even considered to be essential skills. Our campaign aims to reverse this trend.
We invite you and your organization to join us in the essential mission of reversing this trend and creating a food literate society – sign on to support and share your belief that food education should be available for every child, in every school in America.
Get Food Education in Every School started as an initiative to raise awareness about the importance of food education. Together we will build a broad base of support and decide on next steps to advance the issue in our nation's schools.
It provides a chance to start talking about how food education should be an integrated part of the school curriculum, and that hands-on cooking and essential food skills should be taught to every child, at every school in the country.
If every child had the opportunity to learn about, grow and cook food and understand the implications of food waste on the wider community, we believe they’d have the knowledge and tools to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives. Studies show that:
- The more children learn about food and nutrition, the more likely they are to eat fruit and vegetables.
- The more children cook and prepare fresh food from scratch, the more likely they are to appreciate healthier and more varied ingredients.
- The more children plant and harvest fruit and vegetables, the more motivated they’ll be to eat them also.
What can we do to reverse these trends?
Schools, together with local communities and families, need to be at the heart of food education, to teach children about food, where it comes from and how it affects our bodies and therefore, to put the tools of prevention in the hands of children themselves.
Schools not only play an important role in helping to shape the next generation, they’re responsible for teaching essential skills and knowledge, such as reading, writing, computer literacy and mathematics. Cooking skills and food knowledge, however, are clearly not prioritized like these subjects, or even considered to be essential skills. Our campaign aims to reverse this trend.
We invite you and your organization to join us in the essential mission of reversing this trend and creating a food literate society – sign on to support and share your belief that food education should be available for every child, in every school in America.
Get Food Education in Every School started as an initiative to raise awareness about the importance of food education. Together we will build a broad base of support and decide on next steps to advance the issue in our nation's schools.
Supporters
- The Abundance Project
- American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
- American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Akron Campus Chapter
- American College of Lifestyle Medicine
- American Medical Students Association
- Arizona Department of Health Services
- Beecher's Flagship Foundation
- Bolthouse Farms
- California Food Literacy Center
- Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
- Center for Ecoliteracy
- Central Coast Grown
- ChangeLab Solutions
- Columbia Midlands Dietetic Association
- Common Threads Farm
- Cooking with Kids, Inc.
- Create a Change Now
- The Creative Kitchen
- Culinary Ride
- The Donna Krech Companies
- Dunk the Junk
- Earthbox
- Eco-Schools US
- The Edible Schoolyard Project
- Elm City Market
- Energy Up!
- Fair Food Matters
- Family, Career and Community Leaders of America
- Family Cook Productions
- FEAST Asheville
- Fitness Solution 24/7
- Food Day
- Food Family Farming Foundation
- Food, Facts and Fads
- The Food Trust
- Growing Gardens
- Growing Great Schools
- Grow Pittsburgh
- Happy Family Brands
- Hazon
- HealthCorps
- Healthy Moves
- Healthy Kids Ideas Exchange
- Holistic Moms Network
- Jamie Oliver Food Foundation
- Journey Gym
- Kadi Fit
- The Kids Cook Monday!
- Kids Food Festival
- Kids Wealth Institute
- Lean and Green Kids
- Les Dames D'Escoffier, Green Tables Initiative
- Let's Move Pittsburgh
- Lima Allen County Neighborhoods in Partnership
- Lima Young Professionals
- Little People's Center
- Locally Delicious
- Mill Valley Children's Garden
- Montezuma School to Farm Project
- National Association of Nutrition Professionals
- National Black Child Development Institute
- National Farm to School Network
- Nourish
- Nurture
- Outgrowing Hunger
- Parks Elementary
- Real Food for Kids
- Real Food for Kids - Montgomery
- Recipe for Success Foundation
- Southern Obesity Prevention Strategy/Southern Obesity Summit
- Super Sprowtz
- Teachers College Columbia University, Program in Nutrition, Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education, & Policy
- TEAM Fit Magazine
- TERI, Inc.
- Thin&Healthy’s Total Solution
- Transition Lima
- The Tree of Life Sanctuary
- Veggiecation
- VEGGIE U
- Wellness in the Schools
- Willpower, LLC
- WorldLink/Nourish
Kate Adamick, Co-Founder, Cook for America
Isobel R. Contento, PhD, Teachers College Columbia University
Chef Ann Cooper, Director, Food Services Boulder Valley School District
Diane Hatz, Founder & Executive Director, Change Food; Organizer/Curator, TEDxManhattan
Pamela Koch, EdD, RD, Teachers College Columbia University
Robyn O'Brien, founder, AllergyKids
Bettina Elias Siegel, writer of The Lunch Tray
Walter Willett, MD, DrPH, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health
Resources
Promising practices in food education around the country range from interdisciplinary classroom and garden education to cooking classes. If you’re looking for a way to make a difference in the way your students eat and think about food, here are some resources to get you started.
Join the conversation online at #FoodEd, send us your food education stories to foodday@cspinet.org, and check out the Pinterest board for more.
Join the conversation online at #FoodEd, send us your food education stories to foodday@cspinet.org, and check out the Pinterest board for more.