This past September, FoodCorps member Eileen Garcia was introduced to the Ansonia community. For those of you who missed the earlier story, FoodCorps is an Americorps-related program that puts service members in communities to teach kids about healthy food and where it comes from, help build school gardens, and work with schools to source food locally.
Since then, Eileen has been hard at work, establishing relationships with both students and administrators to bring more good food and nutrition into Ansonia Schools. Eileen has hosted numerous class field trips out at Massaro Community Farm, where students are planting garlic, pulling carrots out of the ground and seeing first hand where their food originates. Eileen is also making regular visits into various elementary level classes, engaging the kids in games and lessons that help them make healthy food choices.
Following Eileen's recent visit into a 6th grade classroom, the teacher commented, "The kids loved your lesson! They were so excited to talk about the vegetables, and I heard them saying they can’t wait to try tasting new things. I thought the lesson went so well – especially how you tied it in to grouping and classifying them. It was a great idea!"
Eileen has also initiated a sister school project, where a group of 2nd graders is exchange letters with another class in Mississippi. The kids wrote about what they'd learned with Eileen, and anxiously await response from the sister school
Eileen is now making plans for more hands-on student engagement out at the farm in 2014, and for innovative ways that local farm-fresh food can be incorporated into meals served to children through the schools.
Watch this inspirational video message by Let's Move Director Sam Kass about the work of FoodCorps service members across the country.
