Pilot Light Illuminates Food Education
Nonprofit integrates food into CPS curriculum and builds national standards
In This Issue
• Pilot Light: Setting Standard(s) in Food Education
• Correction: Englewood Village Market on Fridays
• Regenerate Illinois Webinar TOMORROW on Regenerative Ag Funding
Pilot Light: Setting Standard(s) in Food Education
Local Food Forum is committed to sharing information about issues related to our food system. One of those issues is food education and the need for everyone to learn about the food on their plates to drive informed decision-making and advocacy.
We are pleased that Pilot Light, an innovator in food education, is joining our lineup of publishing partners to share their achievements and illuminate the issues we face in instilling good food values in our youngest eaters. Pilot Light is a Chicago-based nonprofit working to make food education a part of everyday learning in K-12 classrooms.
Thanks to Alexandra DeSorbo-Quinn, Pilot Light’s executive director, for the following primer about the organization’s work. More stories about Pilot Light’s programs will follow soon.
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Pilot Light was founded in 2010 by chefs Jason Hammel (Lula Cafe), Paul Kahan (One Off Hospitality), Justin Large, and Matthias Merges (FolkArt Management). Our mission is to support students as they learn and advocate for informed choices, by connecting their classroom lessons to the foods on their lunch trays, at home and in their communities.
Our model makes food education accessible to all. Through Pilot LIght, teachers integrate food education into core subjects such as math and science. Effectively, students learn about food through food, which engages them more deeply in classroom content.
The program has grown from one Chicago school to more than 50, and has reached 15,000+ students, Pre-K through 12th grade, nationwide. Pilot Light’s vision is to create a more sustainable and equitable food future for us all — through food education — and our unique approach of partnering with teachers is highly scalable.
Our hands-on, experiential and standards-aligned lessons support teachers in their goals for students. For instance, students learning about how to write narratives in English Language Arts learn how pasta is made and write a story about a dish that reminds them of their loved ones.
The organization has three main initiatives designed to grow the field of classroom-based food education:
In 2017, we took the important step of developing the first Food Education Standards, which define “food education” holistically for teachers and students. Working with local and national leaders in education, child development, agriculture, culinary and nutrition, they framed seven standards for grades K-12.
Our Food Education Fellowship is a teacher leadership program that will provide 22 teachers in the 2021-22 school year with professional development and coaching to support weekly food education and making connections to school food and community-based partners.
The Food Education Center is Pilot Light’s free online repository of 150+ lessons and videos for classrooms, e-learning and home.
Next week, we’ll share more about how Pilot Light weathered the pandemic and why we believe food education is more important than ever.
Correction: Englewood Village Market on Fridays
We inadvertently missed the Englewood Village Market, which launched on July 9 and is open each Friday at 58th and Halsted from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. As a result, the reference in Sunday’s issue to no Friday markets within the city of Chicago is incorrect.
We regret the oversight and will include the Englewood Village Market (presented by Grow Greater Englewood) in our weekly listings for the remainder of the season. H/T to Stef Funk of Chicago Food Policy Action Council for the heads up.
Regenerate IL Webinar TOMORROW On Funding
Regenerate Illinois, a nonprofit organization, is producing a free webinar TOMORROW (Tuesday, August 10) at 3:30 p.m. on the topic of Funding Opportunities for Regenerative Ag. Margaret Krome of the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is the guest speaker. Click the button below to register.
Transparency notice: I am pleased to accept the invitation to participate on Regenerative Illinois’ Leadership Council.