They say it takes a village to raise a child. Lucky for us Chicagoans we have a village, and a darn good one at that, who really cares about the children.

Sunday I had the pleasure of meeting the good people who dedicate their time, energy and resources to making sure young Chicagoans eat delicious, wholesome food; learn about nutrition, sustainability, and seasonality; and engage in environmental stewardship.

Melissa Graham and Purple Asparagus spearheaded (pun intended) this Chicago Sustainable/Educational Meet & Greet held at the Logan Square Kitchen.

After being introduced to all of the organisations and individuals making a difference in our community, Chartwells served up the winning winning school lunch from Healthy Schools Campaign’s 2009 Cooking Up Change event, seen below:

This meal cost less than a dollar per person to produce and comprises a chicken and veggie jambalaya, spicy cornbread and a cucumber and tomato salad. None of the school lunches in my high school looked like this!

Before you follow the links below to get acquainted with the organisations feeding and educating our kids, chew on this: In Chicago around 85% of children are eligible for free and reduced lunches, which is 35 percentage points higher than the national average (50%). Thus meals provided to students must be nutritious and delicious, and cost less than $1 per meal, per kid, per day.

Sound ridiculous? It is.

The system is woefully underfunded and I think we can do better for our kids. The Child Nutrition Act, which helps create legislation that promotes access to healthy food for all children, is being reauthorised as you read this and it is so, so important that you make a call to your Congressperson and tell them how important it is that this programme be properly funded.

As we discussed at the Meet & Greet the economy is tough, and money is sometimes the #1 reason why people with great organisations and fabulous intentions cannot get their projects off the ground. With this in mine I encourage you to get involved with any of the orgs. below. Please click on the links and learn more about the people who are keeping Chicago kids healthy for life.

Education, gardening, composting and cooking resources:

  1. Seven Generations Ahead
  2. After School Matters/Growing School Gardens
  3. Chicago Botanic Garden
  4. Cardamom Kitchen
  5. Chartwells
  6. City of Chicago Department of Community Development
  7. Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC)
  8. Common Threads
  9. Fooditude
  10. Food Ateliers
  11. Fresh Connections
  12. The Good Food Project
  13. GourmetGorilla
  14. Green City Market
  15. Growing Power, Inc.
  16. Healthy Schools Campaign
  17. Jane Addams Hull House Association
  18. NURTURE
  19. Purple Asparagus
  20. Organic School Project
  21. Slow Food
  22. School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education
  23. The Kids’ Table
  24. OrganicLife
  25. Urban Worm Girl
  26. We Farm
  27. Green Sugar Press

Dev xx