FoodCorps Recruiting First Class of Service Members

Contact:

Debra Eschmeyer / Colleen Matts

debra@foodcorps.org, w: 419.753.3412, c: 419.905.8612 / matts@msu.edu, 517.432.0310

FoodCorps Recruiting First Class of Service Members

C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University Seeking Ten FoodCorps Members

NEW YORK CITY – (February 10, 2011) — Earlier this week, FoodCorps, a brand new and much anticipated national service program, opened applications for its first class of service members. Those selected will dedicate one year of full-time public service in school food systems – sourcing healthful local food for school cafeterias, expanding nutrition education programs, and building and tending school gardens.

FoodCorps is a scalable solution to the national obesity epidemic. Since 1980, the percentage of American children who are overweight or obese has doubled. With one in four U.S. children struggling with hunger and one in three obese or overweight, FoodCorps addresses a major cause of both: access to healthy food.

“We’re on the lookout for hard-working young leaders who believe healthy food should be available to every child,” said Executive Director Curt Ellis. “Being part of FoodCorps is a chance to make that vision a reality for kids in this country—and to have fun in the process.”

FoodCorps seeks up to 80 young men and women with a passion for serving their country by building healthy communities. Beginning in August 2011, service members will get their hands dirty in one of 10 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina or Oregon.

Ten FoodCorps members will be placed in Michigan. “These service members will jumpstart shovel-ready farm to school, school garden and nutrition education projects at K-12 schools, and benefit from meaningful food systems work experience with vulnerable children in communities that are struggling economically,” said Colleen Matts of the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University.

“We’ve heard from young people around the country interested in developing knowledge and skills in farming, food systems and public health,” said Cecily Upton, FoodCorps Program Director for Sites and Service. “FoodCorps will connect these young leaders with hands-on experience and the opportunity to change our food system for the better.”

Applications and more information can be found at www.foodcorps.org. The FoodCorps recruitment video, created by Peabody-winning filmmaker Ian Cheney (King Corn) can be viewed and embedded from the site as well.

ABOUT:

The C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University engages communities in applied research and outreach to promote sustainable food systems with a goal to improve the access and availability of locally-produced food. www.mottgroup.msu.edu

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 cadre of 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 engaged thousands of stakeholders from around the country. www.foodcorps.org

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Farm to School and Farmer Meet and Greet

This Meet & Greet event will give Michigan farmers a chance to meet school food service directors from the Macomb County area who are interested in purchasing local foods for school meals.

Schools can provide new, stable steady markets for Michigan farmers.

Join us for this event to get your questions answered!

Participating school food service directors will discuss:

• Products of interest for schools
• Competitive bidding procedures
• Delivery, packaging and payment arrangements
• And much more!

Where: Chippewa Valley School Administration Bldg.

19120 Cass Ave

Clinton Township, MI 48038

When: Thursday, March 3^rd, 2011

3:00 – 5:00 pm

Please RSVP to Kathy Hale at halek@anr.msu.edu or 586-469-6088 by Monday, February 28^th.

This Meet & Greet is free of charge

Refreshments will be provided

FW: Register for the Fourth Child Nutrition Reauthorization Webinar "What You Need to Know to Make the Most of the New School Nutrit

FYI!

 

From: Food Research and Action Center [mailto:bedwards@frac.org]
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 3:20 PM
To: Matts, Colleen
Subject: Register for the Fourth Child Nutrition Reauthorization Webinar "What You Need to Know to Make the Most of the New School Nutrit

 

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Putting the Act into Action

"What You Need to Know to Make the Most of the New School Nutrition and Wellness Improvements"

Thursday, February 10, 2011
1 – 2 p.m. EST

Click here to register


Join us for a webinar focused on the improvements the new law makes to the school nutrition environment including stronger competitive foods rules and wellness policies, USDA's proposed new school meals nutrition standards, the additional six cents incentive funding, nutrition environment report cards and farm to school resources. Speakers from FRAC, USDA and Action for Healthy Kids will provide details on the key new provisions, next steps, and implementation plans.

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About "Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Putting the Act into Action"
FRAC is hosting a series of Webinars that examine the provisions of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act that the President recently signed and steps to make the provisions of the Act a success. Click here to see and hear the previous Webinars in our series.

Buyer and Seller Meet & Greet - Feb 17th in Lansing

Buyer and Seller Meet & Greet Ever wonder who might be a future buyer of your food products? Or who local growers of food you seek to buy for your institution? You can connect names and faces of buyers and sellers in the Mid-Michigan area during a special event at the Growing Our Food Systems Conference in Lansing. Bring your business cards! WHEN: 4-6 pm on Thursday, February 17th, 2011 WHERE: South Washington Office Complex 2500 S Washington Lansing, MI This event is free for those who just attend the Meet & Greet. Registration for the day-long conference is $10. Go to http://www.greaterlansingfoodbank.org/ for more information.

FW: Low Interest Loans for Hoophouses

Farmers and non-profit organizations, please see the email below about this opportunity for low interest loans for hoophouses!

 

Colleen Matts

Farm to Institution Specialist

CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems

Michigan State University

303 Natural Resources Building

East Lansing, MI 48824-1222

517.432.0310

www.mifarmtoschool.msu.edu

 

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From: Novak, Terri (DELEG) [NOVAKT@michigan.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 4:37 PM
Subject: Low Interest Loans for Hoophouses

Please get the word out to potential interested parties!

 

Low-Interest Loans Available to Farms and Non-Profits to Install Agricultural Passive Solar Systems (Hoophouses)

The State of Michigan is offering low-interest loans between $5,000-$15,000 for family farms or non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations to install passive solar systems, also known as hoophouses.  A passive solar system is a structure which can extend the growing season to 10 to 12 months without additional supplemental heat or light. A recent on-farm research project by 12 private farms and Michigan State University has shown that passive solar systems can generate gross and net sales at a rate which would make a loan repayable in one to four years. "These loans are a great opportunity for farmers or non-profits to extend Michigan's growing season allowing them to grow more produce and more varieties," said DELEG Acting Director Andrew S. Levin. "It is not only a great way to feed Michigan families, but it also benefits our environment by reducing the use of fossil fuels in agricultural operations." The loans can only be used to cover materials, supplies and equipment costs. Interest on approved loans is fixed at 4 percent for a maximum of 6 years. Systems already installed are ineligible for the program.  Applicants can apply now through February 15, 2011. Applications and loan specifications are available at: <www.michiganadvantage.org/PSS>  Applications for funding will be reviewed by an advisory committee and awarded based on project merit and applicant creditworthiness. The loans are made possible by Public Act 242 of 2009, which established the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Revolving Loan Fund (Energy Revolving Loan Fund) Program to provide low-interest loans to public or private entities for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and partnerships with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Agriculture. For questions about application requirements, contact: David Binkley at (517) 373-7673 or email: binkleyd@michigan.gov. Questions about projects and technical issues should be directed to Adam Montri at (517)-355-5191 Ext. 1407 or email: admontri@msu.edu For an application, you can also go to: http://www.michigan.gov/dleg/0,1607,7-154-25676-217576--,00.html

 

More news on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

Hi all,

Here is some more news about the Child Nutrition Reauthorization, known as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which passed both the House and Senate and now awaits the President’s signature. The full post below from the House Committee on Education and Labor website lays out what the bill will do, including provide $40 million in mandatory funding for Farm to School. You can click here to link directly to this post and see a list of supporters of the bill. Click here for an article from the same House Committee released yesterday that summarizes the bill and  indicates that President Obama is expected to sign the bill in the very near future. The First Lady also released a statement about the Child Nutrition legislation; click here to check it out. If you care to read or review the 84 pages of text of the final, enrolled bill, click here.

 

Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010

By Kittredge, Betsy Miller on November 30, 2010 12:22 PM

For millions of families, the meals their children receive at school or in child care are their only chance at a healthy meal all day. In 2008, more than 16 million children lived in homes without access to enough nutritious food. America's children should not have to go hungry -- they should have access to healthy foods year round that will help them thrive physically and academically.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (S. 3307) will dramatically improve children?s access to nutritious meals, enhance the quality of meals children eat both in and out of school and in child care settings, implement new school food safety guidelines and, for the first time, establish nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools.  This legislation will answer President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama's call to reduce childhood hunger and support school and community efforts to reduce childhood obesity.

The legislation:

Improves Access

·         Increases the number of children enrolled in the school meals programs by using Medicaid data to directly certify eligible children. This provision will connect approximately new 115,000 students to the school meals program.

·         Enhances universal meal access for eligible children in high poverty communities by using census data to determine school wide income eligibility. 

·         Provides more meals for at-risk children nationwide by allowing Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) providers to be reimbursed for meals provided to low-income children after school. This provision will provide an additional 21 million meals annually. 

·         Provides funding for innovative state and local projects to address childhood hunger and promote food security for low-income children.  

Increases Focus on Nutrition Quality and Children's Health

·         Improves the nutritional quality of school meals by increasing the federal reimbursement rate for school lunches for districts who comply with federal nutrition standards. This additional 6 cents per meal will be the first real reimbursement rate increase in over 30 years.

·         Removes junk food from schools by applying nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools.

·         Promotes nutrition and wellness in child care settings by establishing nutrition requirements for CACFP.

·         Connects more children to healthy produce from local farms by helping communities establish farm to school networks, create school gardens and use more local foods in cafeterias with $40 million in mandatory funding. 

·         Strengthens local school wellness policies by updating existing requirements, increasing transparency, providing opportunities for community involvement, and compliance measurements.

·         Supports breastfeeding for low-income women by supporting data collection in WIC and permanently authorizing performance bonuses for exemplary breastfeeding practices at WIC clinics and agencies.

Improves Program Management & Program Integrity

·         Supports schools' food service budgets by ensuring charges to school foodservice accounts are only for allowable expenses.

·         Supports a skilled workforce by establishing professional standards and training opportunities for school food service providers. 

·         Streamlines program administration by giving CACFP providers greater flexibility with their administrative funds and eliminating duplicative paperwork requirements and wasteful monitoring practices. 

·         Increases efficiency and modernizes the WIC program by transitioning to an electronic benefit program.

·         Improves food safety requirements for school meals by improving recall procedures and extending existing HACCP requirements to all places where school meals are prepared or served.

Fully Paid For -- At No Cost to Taxpayers

·         Saves $1 billion over 10 years by extending a provision that allows the Secretary of Agriculture to count commodities purchased for market stabilization toward the required level of federal support (in the form of commodity foods) for the National School Lunch Program.

·         Saves approximately $1.3 billion over 10 years by restructuring nutrition education in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into a new grant program that distributes Federal funds by formula to the States. 

·         Saves approximately $2.2 billion over 10 years by eliminating a temporary SNAP benefit increase provided by The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).     

 

 

Colleen Matts

Farm to Institution Specialist

CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems

Michigan State University

303 Natural Resources Building

East Lansing, MI 48824-1222

517.432.0310

www.mifarmtoschool.msu.edu

 

 

FW: House Passes Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

FYI, from the Food Research and Action Center regarding the Child Nutrition Reauthorization!

 

Colleen

 

From: Food Research and Action Center [mailto:emelcher@frac.org]
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 3:49 PM
To: Colleen Matts
Subject: House Passes Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

 

Food Research and Action Center House Passes Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Today, the House passed The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S. 3307). The bill now heads to President Obama for signature, which he is expected to do quickly. The passage of this bill was accompanied by a strengthened commitment by President Obama, made during meetings with House Democrats prior to the vote, to fix the SNAP cut contained in the bill. A number of the speakers on behalf of the bill on the House floor referenced the need to restore the SNAP cut. With your help, we've accomplished the first goal. Now it's time to achieve the second. Call your Members of Congress and give them two messages: 1.  Thank them for voting in favor of the child nutrition bill. 2.  Urge them to act during the lame duck session to fix the SNAP cut. Click here to read FRAC's statement on passage of the Act and the need to fix the SNAP cut. Click here for a summary of the Act's provisions. In the days and weeks to come, FRAC will send you more information on what's in the bill, and strategies to implement its provisions. About Us: The Food Research and Action Center (www.frac.org) is the leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition. Visit our Web site (www.frac.org) to learn more. Click here to unsubscribe from this e-mail.