This month, we celebrate our inaugural Food Literacy Academy class as they graduate and become Food Literacy Advocates! These men and women are our heroes for dedicating their time, talents, passion, and brainpower for the past 10 weeks learning and discussing how to teach food literacy.

Ranging from ages 24 to 69, these heroes come from a myriad of backgrounds including culinary, nutrition, non-profit, and business. Most of them are from Sacramento County but some of them commute all the way from Murphys, Garden Valley, and Coloma. We also have quite a few advocates who are fluent in more than one language including Spanish, Italian, Hindi, French, and Japanese!

“This inaugural class exceeded my expectations in so many ways,” says Amber Stott, executive director of California Food Literacy Center. “Many have already taken what they’ve learned into the community to bring food literacy to other nonprofits. The advocates have filled an entire summer’s worth of food literacy classes that will be presented at public libraries. And just this weekend, one of the advocates submitted an idea she developed through the course of the Food Literacy Academy, and won a prize through Hacker Lab!”

Another key distinction that makes these advocates stand out: teamwork. Over the course of the training, the 19 students came together as a team, comparing notes, brainstorming on community solutions, and sharing ideas. This is a giant step forward for a united food movement that will change the course of the way our region eats, grows, accesses and talks about food.

We’re excited for the many ways these advocates are changing their communities to teach food literacy to kids and adults. Broccoli cartwheels to an awesome group of Food Literacy Heroes!

Food Literacy Academy Inaugural Class of 2013

Dawnie Andrak, Center for Land-Based Learning

Kirat Bains, Nutrition Student

Erin Caldiero, Fresh Producers

Aimee Darville, Spanish Translations

Glenn Destatte, Food Activist

Payam Fardanesh, Silk Road Soda

Shelly Guerin, Food Activist

Arielle Guest, Chocolate Fish Coffee

Erin Houston, UC Davis Staff

Taylor Jaspar, Nutrition Student

Natalie Lanning, Breathe California

Liza Madigan, Caterer

Deborah Mason, Food Activist

Jerry Minamide, Chef

Jeanette Owens, Graphic Designer

Paul Poore, Feeding Crane Farms

K. Trent, Food Activist

Allyson Ujimori, Food Activist

Katie Valenzuela, Ubuntu Green