Why is our work so important?

• 1 in 3 children are expected to get type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.  If you’re African American of Hispanic, it’s 1 in 2 children.

• Children born starting in the year 2000 are predicted to have a shorter life span than their parents

• The inclusive cost of our Food is Elementary Curriculum is $160 per student per year for 28 lessons.  The cost of treating the chronic diseases associated with Type 2 diabetes is estimated to be $12,000-$14,000 per year.

• Many Columbus inner city neighborhoods lack access to local, fresh food.  In contrast, corner stores selling mostly cigarettes and booze and fast food restaurants flourish in these same places

• Less than 1% of the food grown in Ohio is purchased in Ohio.  Ohioans purchase around $42 billion worth of food each year.  Increasing our purchase of locally grown foods by 10% could add $4 billion-$8 billion dollars per year to the Ohio economy