Summary of Our Work |
We are a community-driven network working to build food security for students and families in Portland, Maine. Phase 1 of our work included constructing and publishing the Food Fuels Learning Report in August 2018, followed by the publishing of instructional guides (such as our FFL Toolkit) in January 2019. Since 2019 we have implemented initiatives to address the findings of the PPS Needs Assessment / Food Fuels Learning Report from 2018.
Beginning in 2019, Food Fuels Learning entered Phase 2. At this stage, we created five separate action groups to address the challenges to food security in Portland Public Schools. These action groups include:
Federal Nutrition
This action group serves the purpose of attempting to directly increase participation in federal meal programs (such as school lunch and summer meals) by working directly with PPS Food Service Department in developing strategies to address this issue. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
Nutrition Education
This action group serves the purpose of supporting nutrition education programs existing in schools by providing the necessary facilitation materials. This also serves the purpose of encouraging creation of new nutrition education initiatives in PPS, with the assurance that Food Fuels Learning will support them by providing both labor and fiscal capacity. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
School Gardens
This action group serves the purpose of supporting school garden education programs, which are enough of a distinct facet of nutrition education (with distinct and greater infrastructure needs) that they necessitate a separate action group. This action group supports school gardens by advocating for the funding of staff to maintain these gardens, as well as directly providing labor and fiscal capacity to these initiatives in as many schools in the PPS system as possible. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
Charitable Food Programs
This action group serves the purpose of supporting PPS students indirectly by providing a network for local nonprofits to alleviate food insecurity in Portland, Maine, as a whole. The goal is that, by supporting the families of PPS students, we will be indirectly supporting the students themselves. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
Sustainable Practices
This action group serves the purpose of ensuring PPS maintains environmentally-friendly waste management practices. This action group was created with the assumption that greater meal participation, spurred by the actions of the other action groups, would result in increased waste. In anticipation of this, this action group works to ensure that does not happen. If Food Fuels Learning is supporting a brighter future by encouraging more effective educational environments (with children that have their dietary needs met), it should also support a brighter future by ensuring these children have a better environment to develop in. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
Federal Nutrition
This action group serves the purpose of attempting to directly increase participation in federal meal programs (such as school lunch and summer meals) by working directly with PPS Food Service Department in developing strategies to address this issue. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
Nutrition Education
This action group serves the purpose of supporting nutrition education programs existing in schools by providing the necessary facilitation materials. This also serves the purpose of encouraging creation of new nutrition education initiatives in PPS, with the assurance that Food Fuels Learning will support them by providing both labor and fiscal capacity. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
School Gardens
This action group serves the purpose of supporting school garden education programs, which are enough of a distinct facet of nutrition education (with distinct and greater infrastructure needs) that they necessitate a separate action group. This action group supports school gardens by advocating for the funding of staff to maintain these gardens, as well as directly providing labor and fiscal capacity to these initiatives in as many schools in the PPS system as possible. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
Charitable Food Programs
This action group serves the purpose of supporting PPS students indirectly by providing a network for local nonprofits to alleviate food insecurity in Portland, Maine, as a whole. The goal is that, by supporting the families of PPS students, we will be indirectly supporting the students themselves. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
Sustainable Practices
This action group serves the purpose of ensuring PPS maintains environmentally-friendly waste management practices. This action group was created with the assumption that greater meal participation, spurred by the actions of the other action groups, would result in increased waste. In anticipation of this, this action group works to ensure that does not happen. If Food Fuels Learning is supporting a brighter future by encouraging more effective educational environments (with children that have their dietary needs met), it should also support a brighter future by ensuring these children have a better environment to develop in. Learn more in the "Action Groups" section!
