Our Programs ~ eat and live green
Eating and living green is the only thing you can do in this life that
benefits everyone. —Jeffrey Smith, Founder/CEO
- Cooking Classes
- Parent / Teacher Education
- Healthy Schools & School Meals
- Organic Gardening Programs
- Physical Development
- Teaching Kitchens & Kitchen Design
- Organic Farmers’ Markets
- Young Artist Studios
Present Projects
San Francisco Middle School Solar-Powered Green Teaching Kitchen: FGTT is partnering with a San Francisco Middle School to renovate a storeroom into a green teaching kitchen. The kitchen will be solar powered and include green, sustainable building materials and equipment for teaching and training students, teachers, and families about healthy, organic cooking and making greener personal and environmental food, cleaning, and building choices.
For the students and families in this school community, green and sustainable are more than saving the environment; they are essential lifelines to better health. Low-income communities suffer a disproportionate incidence of asthma, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other health problems. Eighty percent of these problems are related to nutrition, inactivity, and the environment.
This FGTT project is designed to prevent health problems. We work to change the current system that too often promotes the status quo and sacrifices kids lives as collateral damage by delivering the same bottom-line food, building materials, and cleaning and grounds maintenance. The 500 students face the problems of low-income, inadequate nutrition, inactivity, and poor environmental quality. They deserve better! FGTT’s program founder and leads have first-hand knowledge of urban and low-income communities from growing up in Chicago and Detroit. They have seen both sides and they have learned from and built on their experiences and education. They understand the beliefs and preferences of children and families surrounded by fast food and food deserts, and the consequences of poor air quality and toxic cleaning products. They know the potential for change when new recipes and products are introduced to youth and families in a familiar way with support and positive encouragement. FGTT provides effective instruction and creates opportunities for youth and families to act on what they learn. FGTT’s approach to green and sustainable food, learning, and living environments benefits everybody.
This project is a first – we have the plans, green sustainable architects, and construction companies ready to renovate the existing storage space into a solar-powered green student and family teaching kitchen. The kitchen will be a learning center for students and families. We will teach primary prevention by bringing back the flavor and appreciation of fresh organic foods, shopping and cooking familiar traditional healthy meals, and teaching green non-toxic cleaning, building and repair, and environmental principles. The project will be a prototype for 25 other schools in San Francisco Unified School District and over 500 schools in the Bay Area, and thousands more schools throughout the state. Learn more