Food Educators
Individuals interested in becoming certified as Food Educators, capable of teaching the Food is Elementary curriculum, are invited to contact Antonia Demas, Ph.D. through the Food Studies Institute administrative office.
Food Educator Certification includes three steps:
- Training by Dr. Demas
- A written test on the Food is Elementary curriculum
- An original contribution to food education which is approved by Dr. Demas to be made available to other certified food educators.
"As a middle school food educator implementing the Food is Elementary curriculum, I can tell you that this curriculum works wonders! I work with a population of students at high risk for diet related disease according to their socioeconomic status, race and the urban environment they call home. The majority of the families live off cheap, processed, high fat and sugar fast foods. It takes only a few weeks of fun, hands-on nutrition and cooking lessons before my students are trying each dish and loving every bite! I recommend the curriculum to parents and teachers alike. Don't settle for "my kid will never eat it." Share the life-long skill of cooking with that child and she will begin eating whole plant foods in no time at all. Just ask my 4th graders who prepared the African American Soul Stew and then munched down on okra, collards, corn and black-eye peas!
I look forward to continuing this work to make food education and nutritious school lunches a priority in Baltimore City and across the country. I love the fact that my highest priority in the classroom is ensuring a positive, pressure free environment where the students do all the work! My hat goes off to Dr. Antonia Demas and the Food Studies Institute. Thank you all!"
—Luke Seipp-Williams, Food Educator at the Stadium School, Baltimore, M.D.