Our Mission
Midwest Food Connection inspires young people to deepen their relationship with food in ways that benefit their bodies, their communities, and the earth.
For more than 25 years, Midwest Food Connection has been in the classroom, bringing engaging food education to students in grades K-8. Through hands-on activities like cooking, gardening, and art, children learn about fresh foods and get excited about making healthy food choices.
Exciting
youth about healthy eating and developing a love for wholesome, locally grown foods
Inspiring
youth to take care of the earth by becoming good stewards of the environment.
Preparing
youth with life skills like cooking, gardening, shopping wisely, and thinking critically about food systems.
What We Do
Classroom Lessons
In the classroom, students discover a range of healthy, diverse, and locally-grown foods. Students get the opportunity to prepare healthy recipes, taste new foods, and create art about what they learned.
Community Food Educator Program
Our Community Food Educator (CFE) program aims to deepen our relationships with our students and the communities we serve. By teaching students multiple years in a row and connecting with them through community partnerships, they build deeper relationships with our educators and healthy food.
Culturally-Relevant Food Curriculum
We are always working to expand the cultural relevancy of our programs, to better connect with our students and expand their knowledge about cultures different from their own. We are currently learning about Hmong and Indigenous cultures through grants, partnering with local leaders to expand our knowledge of diverse cultural food traditions and incorporate this information into our curriculum.
Donate
Help us build healthy relationships to food
We are grateful to the land and waters of Mni Sota Makoce for the nourishment and abundance that they provide for us. We respect the earth and all its creatures that walk and crawl and fly and swim. We honor our ancestors, whose shoulders we stand upon, acknowledging both the gifts and transgressions they have passed down to us. We are conscious of the fact that we live on lands that were taken violently from the Dakota people and that despite genocidal actions taken to eradicate them from this state, they and other native tribes continue to live in dignity, to struggle, and to thrive, on these lands today. By offering this land acknowledgement Midwest Food Connection moves forward to enact its mission.
WHERE WE TEACH
Our culturally relevant curriculum annually reaches about 4,000 children at 40 schools throughout the Twin Cities.
HOW WE TEACH
Recently, the role of our food educators has expanded. Through classroom teaching, our Community Food Educators not only have a direct link to neighborhood families but are able to connect the broader community with earth’s bounty.
Throughout the school year, community food educators address specific food topics. Through sight, smell, taste, and touch, our educational programming introduces a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. By emphasizing the use of less-processed foods, families discover how purchasing and preparing healthier items is not only nutritious but can save them money as well.
In addition, we collaborate with school district nutrition programs, after-school care, school community liaisons, and local food shelves, to reach families and deepen the community’s understanding of the connection between food and health.
