EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University is helping launch a national program that will help serve vulnerable children, improve access to healthy, affordable food and train young leaders for careers in food and agriculture.
FoodCorps, a school garden and farm-to-school service program modeled after AmeriCorps, will start the initiative in 2011, and MSU’s C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems is one of 10 organizations supporting the nationwide launch.
FoodCorps will leverage federal funds to place young adults in high-need communities with the mission of improving children’s education about and access to healthy food. FoodCorps will build and tend school gardens, provide nutrition education and help develop local food purchasing (or farm-to-school) programs at school sites.
“We are excited for the opportunity to bring FoodCorps to Michigan and provide more people to valuable farm-to-school, school garden and nutrition education programs in high-need schools and communities,” said Colleen Matts, the Mott Group’s farm-to-institution specialist.
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