Food, Culture, Climate: A Classroom Movement

Summary

In 2025, Pilot Light committed to expanding its Food Education Fellowship and developing an Indigenous foodways curriculum to reach over 3,600 students and teachers across the U.S. by 2030. The Fellowship is a program that invests in 25 PreK-12 teachers and their students annually, building their capacity to integrate food education into core subjects and connect with their communities through professional learning and stipends. Fellows will pilot new lessons, lead food advocacy projects, and welcome chefs, farmers, and community leaders into their classrooms. Pilot Light will also partner with 14 teachers to co-develop regionally adaptable curricula on Indigenous foodways, leveraging partnerships established through intentional relationship-building. Pilot Light lessons and programs align with its Food Education Standards, which were published in 2018 and updated in 2025. The organization will share impact reports and leverage its digital platform to reach 10,000 teachers and 300,000 students by 2030.

Approach

Pilot Light commits to scaling its Food Education Standards (FES) through the leadership of 125 teachers participating in its Food Education Fellowship. These “teacher leaders” will implement the FES in classrooms across regional sites throughout the U.S., bringing food education to life for students through culturally relevant, locally grounded instruction.
Through the Food Education Fellowship (which was established in 2019 and counts 135 teachers nationwide as alums) , teachers receive comprehensive professional development, leadership training, and standards-aligned instructional resources to integrate food education into core subjects like math, science, and literacy. Their work directly advances the implementation of the FES, which was first published in 2018 and is being revised for republication in mid-2025 based on five years of teacher feedback.
As part of this effort, Pilot Light will partner with 14 teachers (Fellowship alums) to co-develop a regionally adaptable curriculum focused on Indigenous foodways. This curriculum will align with the FES and will explore themes such as health and wellness, cultural identity, and regenerative agriculture, helping students make connections between food, community, and the planet.
The regional sites for expansion will be established based on indicators of regional demand, including the presence of existing teacher leaders, the policy environment, and local partnerships. Each site will serve as a hub for food education programming, professional learning, peer-to-peer support, and community engagement.
This emphasis on teacher leadership, Indigenous foodways, and regional site/chapter development is part of Pilot Light’s broader commitment to reach 10,000 teachers and 300,000 students nationwide by 2030, ensuring every student can access food education that promotes a more sustainable and accessible food future.

Action Plan

In Summer 2025, Pilot Light will publish its revised Food Education Standards to support PreK-12 teachers with a blueprint for implementing integrated food education in their classrooms, connected to local food systems, health and wellness, and food justice.
Annually, Pilot Light will recruit, train, and support teacher leaders through Fellowship cohorts of at least 25 teachers each, focused in at least three targeted geographies by 2030. Recruitment will occur each spring. In the summer, Fellows will participate in a two-day professional development institute. Throughout the school year, they will implement weekly food education lessons, engage in monthly professional development, and collaborate with peers through communities of practice and local partnerships. In the spring, Fellows will welcome chefs, farmers, and community leaders into their classrooms and lead student-driven advocacy projects. Upon completing their Fellowship year, teachers will join the Fellowship Alumni Network to continue advancing food education in their communities.
Beginning in year two, Pilot Light will partner with 14 teachers (Fellowship alums) to co-develop a curriculum focused on Indigenous foodways. The curriculum will reflect the regional diversity of Indigenous food traditions and knowledge across the U.S., with resources designed to be relevant in different geographic contexts. It will also include a detailed case study of the development process to support replication and adaptation by teachers and organizations nationwide.
Each summer, Pilot Light will produce a report highlighting program outcomes, including qualitative and quantitative data, and case studies of teacher leadership. At least 10 new lessons on food systems, regenerative agriculture, and climate change will also be developed annually and published on the Food Education Center, Pilot Light’s free digital library.
A national report on the program’s five-year impact will be released in 2030.

Background

Despite the growing urgency of climate change and an increasing disconnection from the origins of food, food education remains largely absent from U.S. classrooms. Most students graduate without understanding how food systems impact their health, their communities, or the environment, thereby limiting their ability to make informed choices and participate in meaningful solutions.

Food systems are a significant contributor to climate change, accounting for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2022) . Many students lack exposure to foundational concepts such as agriculture, sustainability, and food justice, and are rarely introduced to Indigenous and Native foodways, which offer deep-rooted, place-based knowledge about living in balance with the land.

This absence has real consequences. Students miss opportunities to explore how food connects to science, history, culture, and civic responsibility. They are also less equipped to critically evaluate food marketing, navigate food access issues, or understand the social and environmental impacts of what ends up on their plates. In short, they miss a powerful chance to engage with one of the most universal and personal systems they encounter daily: their food system.

Educators often want to address these topics but often lack standards-aligned materials, professional development, or institutional support to do so effectively. When food education is offered, it is frequently siloed into extracurricular activities or isolated events, rather than being integrated into core academic instruction, leading many students to lack access to this important education. Integrating food education into daily classroom learning ensures that all students, regardless of background, gain the knowledge and tools to shape a healthier, more just, and sustainable future

Progress Update

Partnership Opportunities

Pilot Light seeks strategic partners to support implementation, expansion, and impact to complete and scale this commitment. Specifically, Pilot Light welcomes collaboration with school districts, nonprofits, and state/federal agencies to help recruit and support teacher leaders in new regions.

The organization also seeks content and research partners with expertise in regenerative agriculture, climate education, and culturally responsive teaching to enhance curricular offerings. In particular, local experts in key geographies throughout the United States can work with teachers to help bring learning to life for students.

To amplify the program and drive broader adoption, Pilot Light is looking for media and storytelling partners to help share teacher and student impact stories. Funding and evaluation partners are also needed to sustain program growth and support evaluation efforts.,Pilot Light offers expertise, teacher resources, and a national network to advance food education through its Food Education Standards and PreK-12 lessons linked to health, culture, and regenerative agriculture.
Through the Food Education Fellowship, teachers partner with chefs, farmers, and food leaders to bring food education into classrooms. As part of a new Indigenous foodways curriculum, Pilot Light is honored to collaborate with leaders like Jessica Walks First (Menominee) , who shares knowledge of medicinal foods and native planting; Kim McIver (Ojibwe) , a Minnesota-based teacher focused on traditional gardening and storytelling; and Regina S., a St. Paul teacher and Fellow who brings a Filipina perspective and emphasizes food as a form of truth-telling and representation.
The curriculum will be regionally adaptable and include a case study to support replication. Pilot Light also shares tools to align with farm-to-school and wellness initiatives, embedding food education into everyday learning.