Ep.39 - Improving Farm-to-School Accessibility for K-12 w/ FoodCorps' Jillian Dy

On this episode of Decisions That Matter, hosts Alex Stonehouse and Bernadette Launi sat down with Jillian Dy to discuss her work at FoodCorps as the Director of Supply Chain Engagement. FoodCorps' mission involves bringing together local communities to connect kids to healthy food in school. Throughout this episode Jillian does a great job of covering everything from the high-level policy topics that drive a lot of rules and outcomes, to the on-the-ground supply chain challenges involved in feeding and educating kids in school districts across the country.

This topic is important to all of us, both as individuals as a nation, because the choices being made every day have a tremendous impact on the next generation of kids. The habits that define their future are being made now, and we have the ability to improve their lives through improvements to supply chain processes, procurement policies, and communication between schools and local farms and businesses.

The topic of school food may seem like a niche topic, but this discussion is full of fascinating information from Jillian that is relevant to a wide range of people, including procurement and supply chain professionals, a food service workers, teachers, school administrators, and parents in general.

Below is a list of resources that Jillian was generous enough to provide to support the information she shared during the episode in case you want more in-depth information:

Reimagining School Cafeterias Report

Full report on Creating Healthy School Environments and Key Takeaways from the FoodCorps and Tisch Center for Food, Policy, and Education Partnership

FoodCorps Policy Vision

reWorking Lunch report

"Why are you still packing lunch for your kids?" was published in the New York Times just over a year ago by Jennifer Gaddisin.

Click here to sign up for news and policy alerts from FoodCorps and stay up to speed on the great work they are doing, or follow FoodCorps at their @foodcorps handle on all major social media channels, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and more.

And as always, this podcast is brought to you by Procurated, where you can instantly access thousands of peer-reviewed suppliers to make make complex buying decisions much easier.