Seems like all the good food stories I find start with an amazingly dedicated person. Someone who decides to work on making things better, often as a volunteer. Someone with unusual passion and skill. The story I want to leave you with today probably started that way too, but I don’t know that for certain. What I do know is that three years into it, Grow Montana’s Food Corps has helped schools and colleges in Montana buy more local and Montana-grown food. They are helping revitalize the Montana food economy. And they provide an inspiration for what can be done at the state level.
The FoodCorps, staffed with 5 AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers, works with Montana farmers, ranchers, students, parents, teachers, and activists to change how children are fed at school. They develop farm-to-school programs in Montana schools and colleges. They organize farm tours, and plan and publicize events to promote locally grown foods. They are working to create long-term change, so projects are meant to be self-sustaining.
Over this last school year, Grow Montana estimates that over $1 million dollars was returned to the Montana agricultural economy due to FoodCorps projects. The project is continuing, and Grow Montana is hiring five new VISTA staff for the 2008-2009 year. If you are looking for some inspiration, or a great way to spend a year, take a look at this project!
Finally, the goodbye: I am signing off Eat.Drink.Better, and this is my last post. It has been a fun and educational experiment. I’ve decided I don’t have the time and energy to do all the other writing I want to do and be a blogger. Starting in July, I will be posting occasionally on the Huffington Post Green site. I hope you’ll look for me there. Happy summer, and Eat Well!
Carla Wise
Carla writes about food, agriculture, climate change, and other environmental topics from her home in Corvallis, Oregon. She lives with her husband, 8-year-old daughter, and 2-year-old Lab, Daisy. She is a biologist with a Ph.D. in plant conservation genetics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work experience includes: organic farming, environmental education, high school and college science teaching, natural resource policy analysis, environmental consulting, and rare plant scientific research. In 2004, after weathering the deaths of three loved-ones and being bitterly disappointed by the election results, Carla resolved to work more directly for the change she wants to see in the world. Currently she writes about the environment, and works on local food issues and climate change. She is especially interested in integrating good scientific information into her writing because she believes in the power of knowledge to save the world. When she isn't working, she is busy being a mom, keeping the house together, discovering local foods, and getting outside.
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