Companiesandme

Little was known about how food affected the body and the mind’s willingness and ability to learn when I was growing up. In 11th grade, I was allowed to have a coke in class to keep me awake and then fell asleep only to knock the coke on the floor.

Since starting 18 Rabbits, I've searched for ways to serve our community in more direct ways than just giving money to a cause. When I attended a Food Policy Meeting in the spring, I met Paul Ash, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Food Bank.
 
The San Francisco Food Bank started the Morning Snack Program to ensure kids get the food they need to focus in class instead of falling asleep like me or having a rumbling stomach detract from their learning.
 
We visited Bret Harte Elementary School to see the program in action and spoke to the teachers and students. Ms. Claudia, a 2nd grade teacher, shared with us that some children come to school without having had breakfast.
 
We will be visiting the schools to connect with the students and teachers to see what their needs are beyond the actual food.  I often wondered why baking wasn’t used in school to teach simple math lessons or why we don’t teach children to read and understand labels.  It’s one of the most prevalent media in their lives.  With the knowledge to understand that medium, the children will be empowered to make their own choices. Instead, advertising messages for junk food children bombard kids everyday and neighborhood corner stores filled with it.
 
We started with a 400 bar donation to one school and then a couple of months later gave 11,200 bars to kick off the 2009 school year. The image above is of the two pallets waiting on the San Francisco Food Bank shelves for the start of the 2009-2010 school year.
 
My mission is to share the value and health of pure food.  I believe that what children eat today shapes their choices for tomorrow. What are your thoughts on this program? How can all of us contribute to shaping children's lives?