October’s kale salad was a riotous affair, given that it was our first time doing the taste tests and the kids’ first time seeing the garden teacher in the cafeteria offering things to eat in little plastic cups. A few kids surprised me by spreading rumors that I was handing out seaweed. A small contingent were somehow convinced that I […]
Helping America’s Kids Eat Better: Corbin Lichtinger
Most of the students at Longleaf Elementary weren’t born in this country or even on this continent. Lewiston is home to one of the largest Somali and Sudanese immigrant communities in the U.S. Corbin Lichtinger faced a unique challenge when he arrived. “These kids have a very different relationship with food than most other Americans their age,” he says. “Where […]
A Rap About C-O-M-P-O-S-T
Earlier this year, we introduced you to FoodCorps service member Daniel Marbury. Today, Daniel is sharing a video he recently made with some students: This video is the finished product of some of my time this spring partnering with an awesome teacher and amazing class of 5th grade students at Platte River Elementary in Honor, Michigan. Through a collaboration with […]
The FoodCorps Chronicle: Kristi Silva
In some parts of rural New Mexico, the nearest store may be a 70-mile drive, one way. Service member Kristi Silva knows her efforts to educate children about the importance of good food can only go so far when parents can't easily buy the stuff. "We can say all day that kids should eat apples instead of French fries, but […]
The FoodCorps Chronicle: Erika VanDyke
In the war on unhealthy foods, FoodCorps member Erika VanDyke aims to win one battle at a time. "I try to get students to try just one bite of a new food. One bite can change their minds," she says. At the two elementary schools where she works, VanDyke serves as a lunch coach — a healthy-eating cheerleader of sorts. […]
A Report from the FoodCorps Field: Superheroes in the Lunch Line
FoodCorps service member Sarah Rubin, working with CitySprouts in Gloucester, Massachusetts, shares a first-hand report of what she and other service members are doing to help America's kids eat better. It was a cold February morning at Veterans’ Memorial Elementary, and I stood in the school kitchen with both my gloved hands submerged in a five-gallon bucket of cubed pickles. […]
The FoodCorps Chronicle: Daniel Marbury
In many ways, a recipe is a lot like a scientific query–if you follow step A, will be result? That's the idea behind FoodCorps volunteer Daniel Marbury's lesson planning, only instead of books, he uses fresh salsa. Together, Marbury and his students taste and analyze each ingredient in fresh salsa–jalapenos add heat, onions add crunch, and tomatoes, acidity. What would […]
The FoodCorps Chronicle: Jackie Billhymer
Middle school students are just beginning to sort themselves into social groups–jocks, artists, band kids. But in rural Arkansas, FoodCorps member Jackie Billhymer sees her school's chicken house as the great equalizer. "We needed to move the coop, so we sent students to catch chickens by their feet," Billhymer says. Under her watchful eye, kids corraled the birds. It wasn't […]
The FoodCorps Chronicle: Marlene Yanez
Brand-new FoodCorps volunteer Marlene Yanez was looking for an opening, a way to acquaint students at Loma Linda Elementary in Anthony, New Mexico, with the connection between the sun, the soil, and the food they eat. With FoodCorps only a few months old last fall, space for a schoolyard vegetable garden wasn't yet ready. But that didn't mean Yanez couldn't […]
