Food Bank for Monterey County

Our vision for the foodbank expansion plan is to broaden our mission from food security to ‘nutrition’ security. We will teach students in the Salinas Valley the value of nourishment, the benefits of food as medicine, and the power of a supportive community. Based on the work started by the gifted chef Alice Waters, author and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California, our new initiative is dedicated to transforming the health of children by designing hands-on educational experiences in the garden, kitchen, and cafeteria that connect children to food, nature, and to each other.

Our foodbank expansion plan places the child at the center of their learning and uses food to engage all aspects of the child’s education. Through growing, processing, cooking, eating, studying, talking, and thinking about food, students develop skills, knowledge, and behaviors that enrich their academic and non-academic lives, bolster their growth as individuals and in relationships, and cultivate meaningful engagement with their own health, the health of their communities, and the health of the planet.

Building resilience in our community is essential. By connecting the garden to the classroom through experiential education, we seek to inspire and transform the health of our most vulnerable students in the Salinas Valley.

Our great thanks to the award-winning, immensely talented Studio Schicketanz for their leadership and brilliant, sustainable architectural design expertise.

If you are interested in getting involved with this innovative project, please contact Melissa Kendrick at [email protected]