A Message from the President | University of Colorado

Healthy Kids, Healthy Scores supports educational nutrition model at DPS

Children's natural curiosity can be an ally in getting them to eat healthier foods.

"When kids have the opportunity to learn and see where their food comes from, they are more likely to try healthy, fresh food. In addition to providing fresh food directly to the cafeteria, school-based urban farms offer hands-on, learning opportunities that actively engage kids and offer additional resources to surrounding communities," said Kelly Dunkin, vice president for philanthropy at the Colorado Health Foundation.

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Scores project, based at CU Denver's College of Architecture and Planning (CAP), is striving to do precisely that. The project aims to determine whether Denver Public Schools (DPS) can implement and sustain a replicable, economically viable urban agriculture model that would supply fruits and vegetables to DPS's cafeterias. By doing so, the project could help more children–particularly the underserved–eat healthy meals at school and mitigate an epidemic in childhood obesity (of which Colorado's rate is second in the nation).

This novel idea has caught the eye of the Colorado Health Foundation, which has made a grant to fund a feasibility study in this area. The project, headed by Lois Brink of CAP's Colorado Center for Community Development (CCCD), syncs with the foundation's vision of making Colorado the healthiest state in the nation, and CCCD's goal of connecting urban public spaces with healthy initiatives.

"We're excited to support efforts toward creating a sustainable infrastructure based on thorough research and planning, which is the fundamental goal of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Scores project," Dunkin said. "This is the first study of its kind, and we hope it will serve as the groundwork and catalyst for other school districts across Colorado."

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