by Kristine Hansen

Paid a small stipend and aligned with partner organizations, the first crop of FoodCorps service volunteers kicked off a one-year term on August 15, 2011.

Tasked with seeding and harvesting schoolyard gardens from scratch, a total of 50 volunteers serve 139 schools with one goal in mind: to not only teach kids how to garden and eat nutrition-packed meals, but to also make a serious dent in the country’s childhood-obesity epidemic.

Many of the projects serve public schools where half or more of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunches. “We’re focused on communities that may not have had access to programs like this before,” explains Program Director Cecily Upton, a co-founder of FoodCorps along with Curt Ellis (co-creator of the film King Corn) and Debra Eschmeyer (former director of outreach and communications at National Farm to School Network).

Read the entire article here.