Food insecurity is an issue that hits close to home in indiana

According to an article from wibc news published july 27, 2021, "a national health ranking puts indy among the cities most hurt by so-called food deserts. The american college of sports medicine says more than one in six indianapolis residents lacks ready access to nutritious food, either because they can't afford IT or DON't have a nearby store offering more than snack food. That's the 10TH-worst in the group's rankings of the 100 largest U.S. Cities." at the core of the thriving schools challenge we seek to address food insecurity by assisting 20 schools in establishing and maintaining gardens by supplying grant funding, community support, assistance in climate science and nutrition curriculum implementation. In the process we will develop a proven, replicable model for this work. Food insecurity ISN't just happening in the city of indianapolis but the cities, towns and rural areas throughout the entire state.every year, TSC will offer 2 application periods for schools in urban, suburban and rural areas to become a part of the program.TSC will be intentional in selecting schools that are within historically underserved communities based on the percentage of students receiving free and reduced meal assistance, the demographics of the student body, median household income, proximity to groceries stores and more. Each school will need to show that they have a teacher or administrator that can be the head of the program, a school "champion." this teacher or administrator must be able to incorporate and implement climate science and nutrition based currillum with the assistance of our TSC curriculum advisor. Each school will also be required to have a group of students or a portion of the student body involved in planning, implementation and upkeep of the garden, referred to as the "green team." the green teams and champions will be able to share their progress with each other, throughmonthly virtual webinars called "let's talk: itsc" and by attending one of two yearly fairs. Youth demonstrating a strong passion for sustainability efforts will be paired with community organizations to receive training, mentorship and more. Areas of training will include circular economy, recycling, composting, policy, journalism and more. We are excited to also be piloting the youth master gardener program that will bring local farmers and urban gardeners into the network of support for the TSC program. Each school will not only be paired with a local food producer to assist with skill sharing. Youth seeking hands-on job experience will spend time at a local farm or urban garden, get training developed in partnership with various community youth centered organizations on the history of environmental justice, soil health, circular economy and more. This prepares these ymgs to take over school gardens in the summer as a means to tackle the biggest challenge with school gardens: what happens to the gardens during the summer when school is out of session. Without regular maintenance in the summer, school gardens become overrun with weeds and miss out on being utilized during the peak of the growing season. The youth master gardeners will become managers of the plots, providing support for teachers in curriculum implementation and creating more capacity for our champions, many of which may lack knowledge on growing food. The thriving schools challenge takes a youth centered and community focused approach to tackling issues that are rampant around our nation. We will not only be able to assist communities with ensuring there is a nearby source of fresh produce, we will also build a foundation of support for our schools that creates ripples from the soil to the statehouse. This program will plant the seeds to nourish bodies, encourage youth to become leaders in their own health and communities, create a network of support for our schools to enable them to become community hubs and develop a localized, food systems approach that reduces carbon emissions and the amount of waste heading into landfills.