ST. LOUIS — A national food justice organization wants to expand its footprint in St. Louis.
Since 2010, FoodCorps has positioned itself at the intersection of food and education systems.
Some of its work includes implementing lessons, taste tests, and collaborating with school nutritionists to get a variety of fresh, local foods on cafeteria menus from local farmers and vendors. The non-profit also assists schools in applying for food grants.
So far, they have impacted 540,000 students in 280-plus schools and districts around the United States.
A new mindset around food is what St. Louis native and FoodCorps Service Member Xena Wiley brings to students' tables at Gateway Elementary and other schools across the Bi-state.
Wiley goes from classroom to classroom each week, teaching lessons on where food comes from and how it can benefit students and their families.
"This was like a brand new experience and somewhere I learned a lot. A lot about my community. What they need. What we can bring to the table. And then what the kids enjoy," Wiley said.
As she walked through a courtyard where she helps students nurture crops on campus, Wiley reflected on her upbringing in a St. Louis neighborhood that has always been considered "a food desert" and that was something she thought about in her impact working with students.
Leah Grant, a 3rd-grade teacher at Gateway, spoke highly about the partnership with FoodCorps and Wiley's interactions with her kids.
"One of the things that I really liked the students had to do. They could not give their opinion. Right? They had to at least try it first before they could decide whether they liked it or didn't like it."
Grant added that students often come to class hungry preventing them from performing at their best.
"Having a garden and having a food service program gives us an opportunity to make sure they have their basic needs met," she said.
According to the St. Louis Area Foodbank, 117,120 children in the bi-state region are food insecure, which is equivalent to the number of students in several school districts combined.
Beyond educating students, FoodCorps has continued to push for policy change. They advocate for more funding in food education, locally sourced scratch-cooked school meals, and meals that do not cost families anything. The organization has a $250 million goal to ensure all 50 million students in the United States learn about food and have access to nourishing, free meals in school by 2030.
"Students spend so much of their time at school. Many of them get two to three of their major meals here so we want to start that education where all the other education is taking place," said Jessiree Jenkins, a St. Louis native serving as the Midwestern regional director.
"So they learn about different foods here. Other nourishing options. They take that home. Take it to the family, and we hope to enrich the family experience," Jenkins added.
FoodCorps invites SLPS and other districts to contact them about implementing their programming and looks for donors to support their mission in St. Louis.