Food Matters

Food Matters is a holistic foods education program that addresses the urgent issues of childhood obesity and diabetes, and promotes health and wellness for Pre-K through second graders.

The 24-week curriculum gives children a language to talk about healthful foods, teaches them how to identify these same foods and them in the preparation of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and plant proteins like beans.

Food Matters is unique among healthy-food nutrition programs for children. Whereas a typical nutrition course might use a strictly intellectual approach for following the USDA MyPlate Food Guide and "eating your fruits and veggies" over a handful of lessons, our Food Matters program emphasizes the flavor, smell, texture, artistry, culture, and preparation of wholesome, healthful Ohio-grown foods. 

For 45 minutes every week, a team of two Local Matters' Food Educators teach children what it looks and tastes like to eat wholesome food. Our approach is hands on, with more than half of each lesson devoted to interactive food preparation and weekly connections to literature, music and movement.

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By the end of a Food Matters course, kids:

 Understand where their food comes from, how it grows and why growing food close to home is important.

 Understand the connection between the food they eat and their body's health

 Have developed food identification skills and related vocabulary and are able to talk about the relationship between food and body.

 Understand that foods can be classified into different categories, and which categories—fruits, vegetables, whole grains and plant proteins—are most beneficial for developing strong minds and bodies.

 Have learned about a variety of cultures as a way to understand different types of food around the world and the way that foods grow regionally and locally.

Are acquainted with the skills of preparing healthful, whole foods.