INSPIRING KIDS TO EAT WELL

Midwest Food Connection is a leader in healthy youth development in the Twin Cities. We bring educational adventures in food, cooking, and gardening to children and their families.

HEALTH: We combat health problems at an early age by exciting youth about healthy eating. Through hands-on cooking, studying, and tasting fruits and vegetables, our students develop a love of real, whole, locally-grown foods.
ENVIRONMENT: We empower youth to take care of the earth. When growing their own food, learning about their choices’ impact on the environment, and visiting local farms, our students become good stewards of the environment.
LIFE SKILLS: We equip youth with skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives. From cooking to gardening to shopping wisely, our students learn self-sufficiency and develop healthy habits.

SUPPORT US

Over the years major support from foundations, school PTA’s, and natural food cooperatives have provided a strong funding base for Midwest Food Connection. However, we need to grow our individual donor base in order to reach more schools. If you would like to support us via in-kind donations or through volunteer work, please contact us. We welcome your assistance in reaching more children with our food education programs.

What we’re thankful for…

It’s that time of year! We at Midwest Food Connection incorporate thankfulness into our teaching whenever we can, asking students to think about the farmers who grew the food they’re about to taste and take a moment to silently give thanks. Today we’d like to take a...

Growing Good Caretakers

At Midwest Food Connection we inspire kids to eat well. On the surface that looks like preparing spring salads and wild rice in the classroom. Tasting global fruits and discovering new flavors. Hearing a story about grains around the world and learning about their...

2017-2018 by the Numbers and Photos

As we look forward to another year of teaching, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on our past year. During the 2017-2018 school year, we taught: 862 lessons in 54 schools in 7 school districts. We taught about 7,200 students in total, about half of whom we taught...

Connecting To Our Roots: Farm Trips with MFC

In early May, 71 kindergarteners from Christina Huddleston Elementary visited My MN Farmer, a family run farm in Montgomery, MN. This farm grows produce for CSA members and the Minneapolis Public Schools, raises chickens and bunnies and cows and sheep, and always has...

Our Top Five Tips for Gardening with Kids

As garden educators, we MFC staff have the opportunity to work with students in their school gardens every fall and spring. Here are some of our thoughts about getting kids involved in gardening! 1. Let them choose! Even as an adult, gardening is all about...

OUR PROGRAMS

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Fall 1

Winter

Middle School

Spring

Fall 2

WORKING WITH YOUR SCHOOL

Please contact us to find out how Midwest Food Connection can partner with your school to bring our food and gardening curriculum to your classroom. Click the link to learn more about our programs.

Our extensive curriculum covers topics from whole grains to local produce to immigrant cuisines. We have created elementary school lessons specifically for kindergarten, primary, and intermediate grades, and offer a new middle school curriculum as well. Each lesson has been carefully polished through frequent use in a variety of classroom settings.

Midwest Food Connection has partnered with schools in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota area since 1994. During the school year of 2016/7, we taught in 52 schools and taught over 750 individual lessons.