Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wilmington, N.C. - Local food group Feast Down East and FoodCorps, a national AmeriCorps initiative, have teamed up with the New Hanover County Schools to build school gardens and develop a Farm to School Program. The community is invited to come ready to dig in the dirt with students at Snipes Academy during the ground breaking ceremony for the first FoodCorps supported school garden in New Hanover County at noon on Saturday, Oct. 29.

The percentage of overweight and obese American children has doubled in the last 30 years and childhood obesity continues to grow. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in three children born in the year 2000 is on track to develop Type II diabetes during their lifetime. Among children of color, the prediction worsens to one in two.

One way to reverse these statistics and protect the health of our future generations is to teach children where their food comes from, how to grow it and how to prepare healthy meals. The staff of Snipes Academy have welcomed a school garden and after school program to help children gain an appreciation for the natural wonder and goodness of fresh healthy foods.

FoodCorps service member Sara Quinn will work with teachers, child nutrition staff, parents and the community to develop an integrated farm to school program. She brings a commitment to community service from Oregon to foster a love of nature and gardening in students in New Hanover County.

Quinn said, "The look of disbelief when a child learns that a carrot is pulled up from the ground and that tomatoes are not grown on the shelves of a supermarket demonstrates the impact that school gardens can have on children. Hands-on education in a garden setting is a fantastic way not only to show kids where their food comes from, but to teach math, science, cultural history, geography, reading and writing, and all other disciplines."

Snipes principal Laura Jennings said, "Through this program, we are able to provide our students with an after-school program that offers them hands on learning experiences that may potentially impact the health and well-being of their lives forever. Our students will be able to enhance their knowledge and skill development in various content disciplines, which, in turn, will provide a direct correlation to what they are learning in the classroom. Our hope is to help our students come to the realization that the world is a classroom and our garden is a small example of how the world creates life-long learners."

The ultimate goal of FoodCorps is to increase the health and prosperity of vulnerable children while investing in the next generation of farmers. This philosophy is shared by Feast Down East, who will supervise the Southeastern N.C. Food Corps site. The University of North Carolina Wilmington is the lead agent for Feast Down East

Feast Down East program director Jane Steigerwald said the partnership is "an extension of and support for our work, to bring fresh healthy local food to our students and community."

Businesses interested in volunteering or donating materials for the garden should email Quinn at sara.quinn@foodcorps.org or Steigerwald at steigerwaldj@uncw.edu. Visit www.foodcorps.org or www.feastdowneast.org for more information.

Media contacts:

Joy Davis, UNCW media relations, 910.632.3903 or davisjc@uncw.edu

Jane Steigerwald, Feast Down East, 910.383.1916 or steigerwaldj@uncw.edu

###

Feast Down East, also known as the Southeastern North Carolina Food Systems Program (SENCFS), was established in 2007 to bring public and private agencies together to create a local and regional food system that supports local farmers, increases the sales of local farm products, educates consumers and the public on the importance of "buying local," and sustains and expands farm employment, profit, and ownership, particularly among limited resource farmers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FoodCorps is a new national service organization that seeks to reverse childhood obesity by increasing vulnerable children's knowledge of, engagement with and access to healthy food.

 

 

 

Service members build and tend school gardens, conduct nutrition education, and facilitate

 

 

 

Farm to School programming that brings healthy, affordable local food into public schools.

 

 

 

The program also trains a leaders for careers in food and agriculture. FoodCorps was developed with funding from AmeriCorps and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in partnership with

 

 

 

Occidental College, the National Farm to School Network, Slow Food USA, The National Center for

 

 

 

Appropriate Technology and Wicked Delicate, as part of an open planning process that engages thousands of stakeholders from around the country.