PORTLAND, Ore. – This Thursday, September 16, Whole Foods shoppers can help local school children by loading up on the week’s groceries, as well as bulk items such as potatoes, toilet paper, olive oil and cases of soup for the cold rainy days ahead. Five percent of the day’s net sales will go to Ecotrust’s Farm to School program, which helps schools feature healthy, regionally-sourced products in their cafeterias, incorporate nutrition-based curriculum in all academic disciplines, and provide students with experiential agriculture and food-based learning opportunities.
Each year, Whole Foods stages the Back-to-Farm-to-School Day as a benefit for thousands of metro-area school children. This year’s participating stores are the Fremont and Laurelhurst stores in Portland, the Mill Plain store in Vancouver, and the Bridgeport store in Tigard.
Two Ecotrust staffers or volunteers will be on hand at each store from 11:30am – 7:30pm to answer questions; the Back-to-Farm-to-School Day provides a great opportunity for people to learn more about regional school food initiatives while also taking direct action to benefit children. The benefit is timed with the back-to-school season and generated nearly $6,000 for students last year. Organizers hope to exceed that amount this year.
Store Locations
Portland
Whole Foods Market • Fremont 3535 NE 15th Ave., Portland, OR 97212
Whole Foods Market • Laurelhurst 2825 E Burnside St., Portland, OR 97214
Tigard
Whole Foods Market • Bridgeport 7380 SW Bridgeport Rd., Tigard, OR 97224
Vancouver
Whole Foods Market • Mill Plain 815 SE 160th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98683
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About Ecotrust’s Farm to School Program
Ecotrust’s mission is to inspire fresh thinking that creates social equity, economic opportunity, and environmental well-being. Ecotrust serves as the Lead Agency for the western region of the National Farm to School Network representing farm to school advocates and practitioners in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Ecotrust, in close collaboration with a diverse coalition of project partners, is working on a wide range of initiatives to promote “farm to school” programs, as they are termed, that increase the variety and availability of healthy, regionally sourced foods served at school, stabilize markets for regional food producers, and help give children a sense of where their food comes from. Our work focuses on projects at regional, state, and local levels that are upstream, innovative, and likely to have far-reaching and long-lasting impacts. Oregon is fortunate to be the only state in the nation with Farm to School positions in both its Departments of Education and Agriculture. More at: https://ecotrust.org/farmtoschool.
About Whole Foods Market
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com, NASDAQ: WFMI), is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America’s first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” by Health magazine. The company’s motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”™ captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to the company’s more than 55,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 13 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2009, the company had sales of $8 billion and currently has more than 280 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.