Dairy Council of California, a leader in nutrition education and advocacy, has awarded a $5,000 community grant to North Valley Military Institute in Los Angeles to support the development of a cooking program titled, Cooking With Families: A Creative Twist on Familiar Foods. This program is designed to support students and families to foster healthy eating while representing the culture and diversity of traditional foods. 

“North Valley Military Institute is overjoyed to have been selected as a recipient for funding to participate in the Cooking With Families: A Creative Twist on Familiar Foods video. This opportunity was such a rewarding, educational and engaging experience for our families. Through the funding received and our partnership with the Dairy Council of California, we will continue to promote healthy and sustainable eating habits to current and future students and their families and improve the health of our community,” states Yadira Sanchez, the institute’s Community Schools Manager.

The grants advance activation of Dairy Council of California’s Let’s Eat Healthy initiative, engaging Let’s Eat Healthy champions to support equitable access to science-based nutrition education, as well as food and agricultural literacy that encompasses the role of dairy in sustainable food systems. Funds also help make healthy, wholesome foods, including milk and dairy, more accessible for local California communities. 

Dairy Council of California CEO Amy DeLisio explains further: “The $5,000 Let’s Eat Healthy Community Grant is a wonderful tool for the North Valley Military Institute to continue to provide access and opportunities where children, families and communities can build positive and culturally diverse experiences, connections between nutrition and agriculture, and skills to support a foundation for lifelong health.” 

This year, the Let’s Eat Healthy Community Grant program has awarded a total of $20,000 to Let’s Eat Healthy partners to assist California school districts and community organizations to facilitate innovative and sustainable solutions to foster healthy eating through a myriad of strategies and partnerships to meet their local communities’ needs. 

About the Let’s Eat Healthy Initiative 

Launched by Dairy Council of California, Let’s Eat Healthy is an initiative that brings together community leaders and stakeholders with expertise in education, school foodservice, public health, health care and agriculture, inviting these change-makers to elevate the health of children and families through the pursuit of lifelong healthy eating habits. Through coordination and collaboration, Let’s Eat Healthy strives to provide sustainable solutions to champion community health and make healthy, wholesome foods accessible to all. The Let’s Eat Healthy initiative is driven to provide dynamic educational resources and tools, peer networking, amplification of best practices and the latest in nutrition information, uniting individuals and organizations through shared values. Join the initiative and make a difference at HealthyEating.org.