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News
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Oregon welcomes first class of FoodCorps members
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8/24/2011
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Article Content Suggested lead
As kids in Oregon soon head back to school, so will the first class of FoodCorps members who hope to link youngsters up with healthy food:
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Audio 01
FoodCorps is a new national service program that's actually in the pilot phase. Oregon is one of ten sites nationally to give it a try:
RATCLIFFE: "FoodCorps members will focus specifically on farm to school and school garden related things. They are going to build and tend gardens, they are going to teach kids about nutrition and agriculture, and they are going to help schools source more local agricultural products." :16
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Audio 02
Michelle Ratcliffe manages the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Farm to School Program. ODA successfully competed for the right to bring FoodCorps to Oregon. Four FoodCorps members will spend the next year hoping to make a difference:
RATCLIFFE: "A FoodCorps member will likely engage between ten and fifty community volunteers in the school garden, and agriculture and food education." :08
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In Oregon, the four FoodCorps members will serve in the Salem-Keizer School District, Corvallis, Lane County, Tillamook, and Multnomah County. The overall goal is to reverse childhood obesity by connecting kids to healthy, local foods. If successful, the program could expand to other states and other Oregon communities next year. In Salem, I'm Bruce Pokarney.
Additional audio: Audio 03
RATCLIFFE provides an example of what could be a typical week for a FoodCorps member in Oregon:
"Teaching third, fifth, and ninth graders in the garden for an hour Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Tuesday, they would be seeking donations to run the school garden program. And Thursday, they would be training adult volunteers in the garden on how to maintain the garden over the summer." :17
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Additional audio: Audio 04
RATCLIFFE says FoodCorps will help farm to school and school garden efforts already well underway in Oregon:
"It is a very big tool that our state agencies now have to address both the need and the desire of Oregon communities to engage kids in agriculture and food, and really teach kids about where food comes from, really teach them about healthy food, and really push schools to purchase local agricultural products." :19
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Full story
http://oregon.gov/ODA/news/110824foodcorps.shtml |
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