During the 2023-2024 school year, 60 schools received a grant funded by NYC Public Schools and City Council. This grant allowed for schools to match up with Food and Nutrition Providers (FNPs) within New York City and launch curriculum aimed at countless initiatives across nutrition, cooking skills, gardening explorations, and food access.
To kick off this partnership, the Food Ed Hub at the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy hosted an inaugural event in October of 2023 during which school representatives met with providers to better understand how their educational offerings and curricula align with the goals and needs of the schools.
Once matched, Food and Nutrition Providers hit the ground running and implemented programming throughout the school year. We were lucky enough to observe some of this programming and found it absolutely thrilling to see young people across New York City’s diverse boroughs try new foods, learn about gardening techniques, prepare their own meals, and begin to develop an understanding of how their food choices can affect both their own health and the health of the planet.
As the year came to a close, the Tisch Food Center then hosted a Food Education Grant Showcase and Celebration in early June. This culminating event gave schools and providers a platform to share their wins and discuss ways to improve partnerships for the upcoming year.
To highlight some of the awesome work that Food and Nutrition Education Providers are doing across the city, we’ve included a few testimonials from various folks within the NYC Public School System!
"PS 328 was able to use our funds to incorporate a Hydroponics Classroom into our curriculum…The program was extremely successful. Our students were excited to learn about the hydroponics process but especially eager to eat the salads they made with the vegetables they grew on their own. There was something about knowing that they grew the food that made it taste that much better.” - Marie Joseph, teacher at P.S. 328 Phyllis Wheatley
“Having Fan4Kids as our partner as a result of the Food Education Grant was an awesome experience for our students. The parents as well were excited about the food experiences they participated in and the exercise/movement event they also experienced during our Parent Summit Saturday. Our students were especially excited and happy to be selected to be a part of the Jr. Chef Fan4Kids Event. Our students here at P.S. 157X were the winners and won the Golden Spatula Award. This event was held at the FIAF-LeSkyroom which is located at 22 E. 60th Street in Manhattan. Students were both impressed and excited and want to continue learning more about cooking.” - Dr. Ramona A. Duran, Principal at PS 157x - The Grove Hill School
"Children are noticing and buying less sugary products and looking more at things such as fruits and yogurts. The impact is great for all, teachers, students and families in general." - Dr. Ramona A. Duran, Principal at PS 157x - The Grove Hill School
“This year with the use of the Food Education Grant, we have been able to implement our initiative even more with collaborating with the Coalition for Healthy School Food and Allergic to Salad nutrition organizations. This has encompassed nutrition classes for our K to 5 students, our Cook Nights for families in addition to supporting school wide collaboration with our kitchen staff and the Office of School Food and Nutrition. Our nutrition classes allowed our students to explore healthy options in addition to aligning reading and vocabulary words within new recipes. Our family Cook Nights welcomed families to a family style cooking class with a professional chef. Our ZOOM family Cook Nights allowed us to provide our families with ingredients to later go onto zoom for a cooking class.” - Dr. Ruth Y. Stanislaus, Principal at P.S. 971 - School of Math, Science and Healthy Living
“Students are now able to understand where their food comes from, how to prepare it and how to dispose of the remains to create more food. It's a powerful chain of events that never existed before and we were so excited to embrace the opportunities that the Food Grant provided us with.” - Vincent Cangialosi, teacher at P.S. 207
"We successfully trained one teacher to operate, maintain, and integrate the school's hydroponic farm with their enrichment curricula across all grade levels...In turn, this increased involvement with the school's hydroponic farm across all grade levels will continue to build our school culture of sustainability, social justice, and civic engagement..." Jeanne Cirone, Assistant Principal at Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy VI
Bravo to all of the Food and Nutrition Education Providers for their outstanding work, for the students, teachers, principals, food champions, and food service staff for embracing this novel adventure, and a huge thank you to all at NYC Public Schools for this fantastic opportunity.
At the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food Education and Policy, we are so grateful to be a part of this ground-breaking initiative. We eagerly look forward to this upcoming school year and cannot wait to explore the multifaceted ways in which New York City’s Food and Nutrition Education providers help increase health in our city’s next generations!
To connect with food and nutrition providers in your area, use our Wellness Program Finder to search for programming to fit your specific needs!