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Food Literacy Center Planned for California Elementary School

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By Lisa Kopochinski

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—The Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) and the American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) recently recognized HMC Architects’ Floyd Farms at Leataata Floyd Elementary with an Award of Merit at the C.A.S.H./AIACC Leroy F. Greene Design and Planning Awards Ceremony on January 21.

Floyd Farms at Leataata Floyd Elementary will be home to a city-run community garden, Food Literacy Center’s cooking school and student gardens managed by the nonprofit’s program staff.

The $7 million future cooking school project is slated for completion by Spring 2021. Landmark Construction is the general contractor.

It will serve the 330 elementary school students enrolled at Leataata Floyd Elementary and their families, students throughout the Sacramento City Unified School District, and community members.

This ambitious and first-of-its-kind project is in partnership with the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), the City of Sacramento, The Mill at Broadway, which neighbors the school campus, and HMC Architects. Food Literacy Center currently operates out of a small, rented house which hasn’t allowed for the extensive community involvement they desire for their programming.

“As a young nonprofit, we haven’t had a ‘center’ where the community can come to us and cook,” said Amber Stott, founder and executive director of Food Literacy Center, in a statement.

The nonprofit currently delivers its hands-on cooking and nutrition classes to students and schools for free. The new state-of-the-art, green facility will include and support:

  • Cooking School – Students will learn to cook healthy meals.
  • Prep Kitchen – A place for Food Literacy Center staff and volunteers to prep for after school programs across the school district, focused on Title 1 schools.
  • Training Space – Food Literacy Center staff will train future instructors of the curriculum and manage the day-to-day operations of the 2.5-acre project that will reach students daily.
  • Community Programs – Including family cooking classes, school field trips, and more.

Said Assembly Member Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) in a statement, “I’m excited to see the Floyd Farms vision of bringing fresh produce to our local schools becoming a reality in Sacramento. This innovative model will increase children’s access to food literacy programs, which will build healthy eating habits that will benefit our students for years to come.”