Nick Geer of Richmond accepted into FoodCorps

2013 Aug 1

Nick Geer a May graduate of James Madison University, has never minded getting his hands -- or his feet -- dirty, whether it's on a local farm as part of an internship, with environmental organizations at JMU or at home in the family garden in suburban Richmond.

Beginning in September, Geer will have the opportunity to combine his love for homegrown food and community service as a member of the FoodCorps. The 22-year-old will spend 11 months at the St. Mary's Nutrition Center in Lewiston, Maine, where he will be teaching local schoolchildren the value of good nutrition and how to build and tend school gardens, as well as partnering with area farmers to put high-quality food on school lunch menus.

FoodCorps is a nonprofit organization aimed at tackling what it sees as the root cause of child obesity in the United States: the need for a connection with healthy food. Founded in 2010 and based on the AmeriCorps service model, FoodCorps places bright young college graduates in limited-resource communities in the U.S. to effect positive change.

"They're trying to get agriculture in the classroom," Geer says. "They want to get the students outside and in the greenhouse, get their hands dirty and then have them reap the benefits from it by learning to cook with fresh ingredients from the garden."

For more information, visit http://www.jmu.edu/stories/2013/2013-07-19-nick-geer-profile.shtml.