Food Fuels Learning Archive

Food Fuels Learning Model: Core Action Groups

Beginning in 2019, Food Fuels Learning created five separate action groups to address the challenges to food security in Portland Public Schools. These action groups include:

Federal Nutrition Action Group

Goal: Increase participation in federal meal programs (such as school lunch and summer meals) by working directly with PPS Food Service Department to cultivate a school culture of healthy and inclusive food practices.
Project examples:

Culturally Important Menu Development (read the report here!)
USDA Implementation Grant to increase local food procurement and create brand identity for PPS Food Service Department

Photo by Julia Forsyth Sienkiewicz, Courtesy of FoodCorps

Nutrition Education Action Group

Goal: Support existing nutrition education programs in schools and encourage the creation of new nutrition education initiatives in Portland, led by Portland Public Health Department
Project Example:

We supplied fully equipped mobile cooking carts to 8 schools and community youth programs. View our cooking cart toolkit here to create your own!

School Gardens Action Group

Goal: Assist every school in developing and maintaining a successful school garden program, led by Cultivating Community
Project Example:

Successfully advocated for the implementation of four Environmental Literacy / Outdoor Education Educators in Portland Schools

Charitable Foods Action Group

Goal: Ensure that all children at risk of food insecurity have access to adequate, culturally relevant, nutritious food both at school and to supplement their diet beyond school, led by the Locker Project
Project Example:

We created a map of food distributions around Portland in 2020 to serve as a functional resource for distribution agencies to identify gaps and overlaps in services. A report was created with data from the interactive map, as well as self-reported summary of each organization and their capacity for the duration of the summer.

Sustainable Practices Action Group

Goal: Support schools in creating procurement, waste management, and other practices that minimize their environmental impact.
Project Example:

As an instructional guide for Portland Public Schools, we created the Sustainable Practices "Best Practices Guide."

Past Project Highlight : Culturally Important Menu Development

The Portland Public Schools Food Service department, in partnership with local nonprofits and consultants, is working to introduce culturally important menu items to the school lunch options served at the district’s high schools. During the spring of 2022, students at Deering, Casco Bay, and Portland high schools taste tested three menu items adapted from traditional Central African cuisine: smashed kidney beans, spiced beef, and cabbage slaw; chicken and chickpeas in vegetable sauce over yellow rice; North African chicken and kale stew over rice, with a vegetarian alternative available. Students gave a resounding "I love it" for all three taste tests. All three menu items will be included in the high school lunch menu beginning in the fall of 2022.

This project was funded by Full Plates Full Potential, and led by Portland Public Schools Food Service and local food justice nonprofit Cultivating Community. It was implemented by several community partners that include FoodCorps, Cumberland County Food Security Council (CCFSC), Good Shepherd Food Bank, and the University of Southern Maine (USM). This initiative was a collaboration of the Food Fuels Learning Network, and was made possible due to the recipe development work done by Khadija Ahmed and Chef Samantha Cowens-Gasbarro with Westbrook Public Schools’ Nutrition Director Mary Emerson. To learn more about the initiative, read the full project report below.

CIMD project report

Chef Sam Gasbarro and Khadija Ahmed, photo by Kelsey Kobik

During the first month of trainings and taste tests, we partnered with Professor Jamie Picardy's "Food, Power, and Social Justice" class at University of Southern Maine to conduct more in depth research. Professor Picardy's students attended taste tests at all three Portland high schools, recorded data during a one-hour focus group with high school participants, and analyzed all quantitative and qualitative data from these events. To learn more about the project and our work with USM, read their full report below.

USM Project Report

Beginning in the Fall of 2022, PPS Food Services, FoodCorps, and Food Fuels Learning conducted taste tests of the Chicken and Kale Stew at all 8 mainland elementary schools to expose younger students to this meal and project. Students voted with stickers for: “I loved it,” “It was Okay,” or “Not for Me.” Over half the students loved it! Elementary school students were able to try the Chicken and Kale Stew on their school lunch menu again during the winter of 2022.

Past Project Highlight : USDA Farm to School Grant

In July of 2020, the Cumberland County Food Security Council in partnership with Portland Public Schools, was awarded a two-year USDA Farm to School Implementation Grant for its proposal, "Local Food Fuels Learning." The main objective of this proposal is to promote school food emphasizing local, fresh, and nutritious by building upon the strong foundation of work established through the Food Fuels Learning network and model. The values of this project are rooted in equity, community empowerment, and relationship building. You can learn more about this work and its broader context within Food Fuels Learning through our goals and accomplishments here or in this recording of a presentation we gave to the PPS School Board on October 5, 2021. The presentation begins at 46:30.

On October 26, 2021, the USDA FNS Regional Office featured the Council and our partners for our outstanding farm to school work. You can find this 'Thank You + Sharing Session' recording, which highlights the USDA's acknowledgment of our work and each of our grant partners talking about their accomplishments, here.