Since 2010, we have supported Pre-K-12 students with Food Education that is part of teachers’ classrooms and fosters informed food choices.
See the Impact
The future of the food system begins here.
Your gift helps students across the country access the hands-on, culturally relevant Food Education they need to become the food system leaders of the future.
Last school year, we saw incredible growth and depth of understanding in our classrooms. All of this impact is only possible through your generosity.
Read our latest impact report to see the results of your support in action!
Your gift in any amount supports Food Education in classrooms and communities throughout the year.
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We are looking for individuals who are passionate about Food Education and creating impact through our programs to join our team!
Today, we are proud to share that Pilot Light`s very own Caitlin Arens, Food Education Fellowships Director, has been selected as a 2025 @cuechicago Chicago United for Equity (CUE) Fellow!
CUE is a network of racial justice advocates working across diverse types of civic power as organizers, researchers, artists, storytellers, policymakers, and lawyers to redesign Chicago’s civic institutions and transform Chicagoans’ relationship to power. CUE’s Fellowship is a year-long program and this year will have 20 Fellows and organizations who are committed to shifting power to communities by reimagining Chicago’s civic structures, policies, and practices through a racial equity lens to
build an equitable Chicago for everyone. CUE Fellows will collaborate in a powerful learning community designed to add tools to their toolbox through a curriculum that includes decolonizing research, racial equity impact assessments, principles of co-design, and more.
Learn more about CUE’s 2025 Fellowship cohort at www.chicagounitedforequity.org/fellows.
Our organization is dedicated to advancing racial equity in Chicago in partnership with CUE through our support of Caitlin`s work as we reflect on the approaches to our own work. Congratulations to Caitlin and the entire 2025 CUE Fellowship cohort!
#CUEChicago
#CUEFellows
#ChicagoUnitedForEquity
🌟Today`s Fellow Friday Spotlight is on: Mr. Brian Greene @ezbngreene!
🏫 Mr. Brian Greene is just finished his 32nd year in education. He has been a classroom teacher and a principal. For the last four years, he has given up a traditional classroom and now works in a greenhouse classroom! He was tasked with creating a middle school botany program and it has now turned into a botany / culinary arts program.
When he was 10, his family opened a fast food restaurant and his love for cooking began. Today, he combines his passion for teaching with his love for cooking. His students learn the entire process from seed to table (actually to stomach). They plan, plant, cultivate, harvest, cook and even eat the produce they grow at school. Currently there are over 25 different crops growing using aquaponics, aeroponics, raised beds and a student created food forest. Their personalized aprons proudly read: JUST COOK IT!
💚A Favorite Food Memory:
"The first project of the year is when students have to develop their own salsa. They work in teams and have to create their own recipe, their own brand name and their own marketing campaign. Their recipes must contain 75% of the things we grow at the school. Watching them go through the steps of researching ingredients, developing the recipes, doing the cooking and then working on marketing strategies is such a reward. In the end, they go head to head in a salsa contest judged by the teaching staff at the school. There is a great deal of pride for them to say they created the number 1 salsa at the school. Past students continuously ask about the winning salsa and often ask me if I think the new winning salsa was better than theirs!"
Appropriately, Mr. Greene and his class just planted an official Pilot Light raised bed Salsa Garden as part of their end-of-year festivities. We are so excited to see the garden flourish and provide hands-on Food Education memories for years to come! Mr. Greene and his classroom have been an energizing force in the Fellowship this year!
Thanks for being an important part of this year`s Fellowship, Mr. Greene! 👏
#teachershoutout #fellowfriday #pilotlightchefs #foodeducation #teacherspotlight
