36: Anapuma Joshi

The Caylena Podcast (formerly Put a Fork In It)

About Anupama Joshi

Anupama Joshi is the former Executive Director & Co-Founder of the National Farm to School Network.

Ms. Joshi co-founded the organization in 2007, to serve as an information, advocacy, and networking hub for communities working to bring local food sourcing and food and agriculture education into school systems and early care and education sites.

Ms. Joshi is a recognized leader in the field of farm to school, food justice and local and regional food systems. She is co-author of Food Justice (MIT Press, 2010) and led the development of “Evaluation for Transformation” – a pioneering cross-sectoral framework for farm to school research and evaluation.

Ms. Joshi has been engaged with nutrition, agriculture and food systems issues in various countries around the world. She has worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the Pesticide Action Network; and consulted with various non-profit organizations in Asia. She is a Steering Committee member of the North Carolina Farm to School Coalition, an Advisor for the Blue Sky Funders Forum, USDA’s Farm to School Census and Comprehensive Review Group, and is a Mentor for the Food Systems Leadership Network. She has previously served on the board of directors for FoodCorps and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. She loves to travel, and cook, especially with her son.

About The National Farm to School Network

The National Farm to School Network is an information, advocacy and networking hub for communities working to bring local food sourcing, school gardens and food and agriculture education into schools and early care and education settings.

Farm to school empowers children and their families to make informed food choices while strengthening the local economy and contributing to vibrant communities. National Farm to School Network provides vision, leadership and support at the state, regional and national levels to connect and expand the farm to school movement, which has grown from a handful of schools in the late 1990s to approximately 42,000 schools in all 50 states as of 2014. Our network includes Core Partner and Supporting Partner organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. Territories, thousands of farm to school supporters, a national advisory board and staff. National Farm to School Network was launched in 2007 by a collaborative of more than 30 organizations seeking to shape the burgeoning farm to school movement. Initially led by staff from the Community Food Security Coalition and the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. National Farm to School Network is now a project of the Tides Center.

Learn more: Website

The Podcast

Our conversation ranges across topics, but always comes back to the farm-to-school movement and the importance of nutrition in our everyday lives. Starting even in pre-school, it's incredibly important to learn about proper nutrition. Anapuma Joshi is a huge part of the movement to bring better nutrition, and thereby education, to schools across America.

The topics are wide ranging, from Anupama's life growing up in India and traveling around the world doing various non-profit work, to starting this network to bring healthy, local and sustainable food to schools.

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