Food Access in Schools
According to Denver Public Health and Environment,
15%
of Denver residents are currently experiencing food insecurity
22%
Of those who are food insecure, 22% reported that their child did not eat for a day in the past 12 months because there was not enough money for food.
The tragedy of children experiencing food insecurity is very real: they’re more likely to develop developmental impairments, chronic illness, and mental health problems.
We’re addressing the urgent need of food access to kids by partnering with schools to distribute healthy food to families who could use some help.
We currently partner with eight schools and early learning centers to distribute fresh produce, meat, dairy and grains to low-income families with young children. We purchase and deliver a pallet of fresh food to each partner every other week, with enough food for about 25 families each time. Our school partners then coordinate the food to be distributed to families. We focus on purchasing fresh, whole foods that are culturally familiar to our community, buying from local farms and vendors when possible.
We also work with our school partners to provide nutrition education and SNAP benefits assistance to families.
This programming is made possible by a grant from Healthy Food for Denver’s Kids Initiative through the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment.
