“I am urging you to maintain your investment in this program that is so important to our family and school community.”

Dear Mayor Bowser and City Education Leaders,

On behalf of the community at Amidon-Bowen Elementary School, we support the city’s continued investment in FRESHFARM FoodPrints. I live in Ward 6 and am a DCPS parent of students in 3rd and 5th grades and I am urging you to maintain your investment in this program that is so important to our family and school community.

This program introduces our kids to healthy eating, cooking and gardening skills that they wouldn’t get anywhere else in our curriculum. The FoodPrints staff has been an invaluable part of our collaborative school team — at this point, their program and staff have been embedded as one of the consistent parts of our school program. It would feel like a tragedy and trauma to lose them after seeing other teachers/staff and programs leave due to funding and other issues over the years. More importantly, this is a fun activity that also gives students exposure to academic and life skills content that they wouldn’t get anywhere else.

FoodPrints has been valuable for my children specifically. My 5th grader has developed a strong sense of healthy eating. He often declines desert now, eats extra veggies and my husband and I say he has become the healthiest eater in our family. Marshall says: “FoodPrints teaches us skills that we will need later on in life, like cooking and growing crops. We also get to try delicious, homemade food, sometimes from around the world.”

My younger son has developed a love of cooking and over time has started making eggs independently. We also regularly cook FoodPrints recipes that they send home together as a family. It’s great for our family bonding! Ned shares: “In FoodPrints I learn about plants. I like it because we get to eat delicious food.”

FRESHFARM’s FoodPrints program is a joyful, sought-after program across DC. FoodPrints provides hands-on, real-world learning that helps meet academic and social-emotional learning goals, and it supports healthier communities through food education and community building. Please invest in FoodPrints in the FY2025 budget.

Sincerely,
Ava Millstone
Amidon-Bowen Parent and PTA co-President