Food Literacy Center Brings Veggie Education to Families Throughout the Summer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sacramento, Calif. – (July 29, 2020) – Programming from Food Literacy Center doesn’t stop when the final school bell rings. All summer long, Food Literacy Center is bringing Sacramento-area kids and families alike educational activities, veggie recipe kits, and more to continue the lettuce learning throughout the summer months.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Food Literacy Center has shifted lessons online to provide free STEM resources for families navigating distance learning, created online recipe videos, and distributed more than 13,000 pounds of fresh produce to families in need.
The following activities are highlights of Food Literacy Center summer programming.
Veggie Recipe Kits: Throughout the summer, Food Literacy Center has been distributing veggie recipe kits to the families they serve. During the school year, students learn how to cook healthy meals in cooking classes. Now, Food Literacy Center is sharing recipe kits with their students’ families so they can cook healthy meals at home together. While there are other programs where families can get a hot meal or groceries, these kits are designed to include all the ingredients to make a healthy meal for four. The Sacramento City United School District Nutrition Services Department purchases the food, while sponsors and donors like Whole Foods Market help fund the outreach and the time to get these kits to families. Food Literacy Center provides the kits one per family at elementary schools in South Sacramento during school lunch distribution. For some families lacking transportation, Food Literacy Center is also driving the kits to their homes. Food Literacy Center partners with principals and afterschool staff to communicate with parents, serving six school communities thus far.
Community Connections 95820: Dozens of families in Oak Park lack transportation to access traditional food distributions. When faced with this problem, a local school social worker sets up a community pantry at Ephraim Williams Family Life Center in partnership with Food Literacy Center, Root 64, Pro Youth and Families, and Alchemists CDC. As one of the nonprofits partnering on the project, Food Literacy Center’s role is to provide food safety oversight and training, food sourcing, budgeting and meal planning, evaluation design, and volunteer coordination for weekly food deliveries. Each week Community Connections 95820 drives groceries and recipes kits to 35 families in Oak Park (including 98 kids) who are food insecure and lack transportation to get to other food distributions.
Black Child Legacy Campaign: Last summer, Food Literacy Center partnered with Our Kids Community Breakfast Club to deliver the Food Literacy Academy to Black moms in Del Paso Heights to train local women how to cook healthier versions of their favorite recipes and to leverage their access to food bank resources for their greater community. This summer, Food Literacy Center is partnering with this group yet again to provide weekly veggie boxes from the food bank. To date, the Black Child Legacy Campaign has provided more than 450 produce boxes to the community.
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Donate now to help Food Literacy Center continue to provide fresh veggies and food literacy education to Sacramento students in low-income schools.
ABOUT FOOD LITERACY CENTER
Food Literacy Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) established in 2011 in Sacramento, California, with the mission of inspiring kids to eat their vegetables. The organization provides cooking and nutrition education to children in low-income elementary schools throughout the Sacramento City Unified School District to improve health, economy and the environment. For more information about Food Literacy Center, visit www.foodliteracycenter.org.
