- Jews for New Orleans » Help New Orleans School Children Win Nation Contest for Food Justice

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This site is hosted by AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, which launched its New Orleans program in the fall of 2008. AVODAH engages young people in direct work on the causes and effects of poverty in the United States. This work partners Corps members with service providers and residents in low income communities and equips our Corps members and alumni to emerge as lifelong agents for social change, whose work for justice is rooted in and nourished by Jewish values.

Help New Orleans School Children Win Nation Contest for Food Justice

Feb 12th, 2009 by admin | 0
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The Rethinkers are a group of youth activists who are coming up with innovative solutions for New Orleans schools. Last summer the Rethinkers focused on Food Justice, asking why they were being served food that was often frozen and unidentifiable. They held a press conference where they made 12 recommendations based on extensive research and unprecedented creativity. 11 of their recommendations were accepted by the Recovery School District superintendent, Paul Vallas.

I had the opportunity to help the Rethinkers create a 3 minute video expressing their thoughts about why they should have healthy, local food at their schools. We entered the video into a YouTube contest sponsored by the Farm-to-Cafeteria Conference in Portland, Oregon. We found out today that the video made it to the finals! This means that the public gets to vote. Please consider watching the video and voting for it. Then, if you are inspired to do so, please forward it widely to family, friends and everyone else you know who cares about social justice. The stakes are high. The prize is a trip to the conference, where the Rethinkers will share their brilliance with a national community of food justice advocates, and where they will learn more about how to make their recommendations a reality in New Orleans.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Watch REAL FOOD NOW!

2.Go to http://www.farmtoschool.org/vote.php and vote for 1 video in each category (K-12 and College). REAL FOOD NOW! is in the K-12 category.

3. Spread the word to family, friends, colleagues, etc.

Voting ends on Saturday Feb. 14th


Thank you so much for supporting these inspiring young people.
-Rachel

Rachel Lee, an AVODAH Corps Member, works as a Program Director for Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools.

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