Louisiana Partners
Louisiana has a population of 805,495 or 17.4% school-aged children, and a rate of 35.9% are over-weight or obese which results in breathing difficulties, increased risk of broken bones, high blood pressure, early markers of heart disease, diabetes and psychological effects. F2S programming can help address Louisiana’s high childhood obesity rates by teaching children to make healthier choices.
As the Core Partner for Louisiana Farm to School, Market Umbrella aims to cultivate the field of public markets for public good. We seek to improve the food system in our state and region so that we can have enough product to meet the needs of consumers while supporting small to mid size farmers at a fair price.
We have observed that communities of both local food producers and consumers are in poor physical and financial health. Our focus of change is therefore on the producers and communities but also building the next generation of good eaters to sustain the demand for local products for years to come. One of our strategies is to create a demand for local food. Working with the National Farm to School Network as a Core Partner gives us the support we need to broaden the farm to school movement in Louisiana.