Resources: Washington, D.C. Region
Food Education & Training
Cooking Matters
Cooking Matters is helping end childhood hunger by inspiring families to make healthy, affordable food choices. Our programs teach parents and caregivers with limited food budgets to shop for and cook healthy meals.
Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education – CASE
CASE develops [agricultural] curriculum utilizing science inquiry for lesson foundation and concepts are taught using activity-, project-, and problem-base instructional strategies. In addition to the curriculum aspect of CASE, the project ensures quality teaching by providing extensive professional development for teachers that leads to certification.
DC School Garden Curriculum List— Office of the State Superintendent of Education
This is a curated list consisting of a wide variety of garden-based curricula for schools, community based organizations, and LEAs to consider when implementing a school garden program.
Edible Education Curriculum — Edible Schoolyard
An edible education places the child at the center of their learning and uses food to engage all aspects of their education. You can access our full curriculum of 62 lessons below – along with our pedagogy, philosophy, practices, and approach to curriculum development.
“Farm to School Approved” Farm Field Trips — DC Greens
Find farms in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia that offer rich educational experiences for children in elementary through high school.
Health and Wellness Curriculum Resources — Office of the State Superintendent of Education
View wellness and nutrition resources for students, parents and school staff.
Oldways
Explore various traditional diets, recipes and resources.
Food Distribution & Access
Food Assistance Programs — DUG Network
The DUG Network compiled a list of food assistance programs available to Washington, D.C. residents, such as Produce Plus and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program.
Food Bank Network — Capital Area Food Bank
To strengthen and fill in gaps in the hunger safety net under the Washington metro area, the Capital Area Food Bank is committed to connecting its partners and neighbors in need with healthy food. The Food Bank Network creates links to the CAFB’s network of food assistance partners and programs while providing real time access to services such as affordable housing and job training.
Local Harvest
Local Harvest connects people with local food at farmers markets, family farms, grocery stores and restaurants.
2022 Washington, DC Farmers Market Map — DC Food Policy Council
Find farmers markets in Washington, D.C.
Maryland Food Bank – With more and more Marylanders asking themselves “where are food banks near me?” Keeping an updated list of open partners is more important than ever.
Maryland Department of Health and Human Services – List of Community Food Resources in Maryland by Region
Carroll County Government – List of Meal Service Sites
District of Columbia:
Frederick County:
Food Assistance Resources in Frederick County
City of Frederick Food Bank Program
The Religious Coalition for Emergency Human Needs
Howard County:
Howard County Food Pantry Flyer
Howard County MultiService Center –
Prince George’s County Government:
Prince George’s County Food Equity Council:
National Resources & Organizations
American Heart Association
Find information on heart health and a list of recommendations for diet and lifestyle.
Building Our Understanding: Key Concepts of Evaluation
Find information on healthy living
Food and Drug Administration – United States Department of Agriculture
Learn more about the administration and find information on food labeling and nutrition.
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health – Harvard University
Find information on nutrition, recipes and fitness.
Nutrition Education – SNAP-Ed Connection/United States Department of Agriculture
Nutrition Education can be used to deliver nutrition messages to the SNAP-Ed audience. Nutrition Education is one of the three approaches outlined in the SNAP-Ed Guidance.
PubMed Central – U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine
PubMed Central® (PMC) is a free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM).
Resources – National Farm to School Network
Search the resource database to find information by setting and topic.
SNAP-Ed Library – United States Department of Agriculture
Find information on interventions, education materials and program administration.
SNAP-Ed Toolkit – United States Department of Agriculture
This toolkit will help SNAP-Ed Implementing Agencies across the country find evidence-based interventions and explore the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework in order to strengthen our impact on our goal to help SNAP-eligible households make healthy eating and physical activity choices on a limited budget.
Today’s Dietitian
Browse this magazine for nutrition professionals.
The Out of School Nutrition and Physical Activity (OSNAP) Initiative – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health/Harvard University
The Out of School Nutrition and Physical Activity (OSNAP) Initiative works with out of school time (OST) programs to improve nutrition- and physical activity-related practices, environments, and policies.
The Social-Ecological Model: A Framework for Prevention
Find information on prevention strategies
United States Department of Agriculture
Eat Right– Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Find resources on food, fitness and health.
Health.gov – Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion/United States Department of Health and Human Services
Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child, or WSCC model, is CDC’s framework for addressing health in schools.
National health and nutrition organizations
- American College of Lifestyle Medicine
- American Diabetes Association
- Association for Size Diversity and Health
- Eating Disorder Registered Dietitians and Professionals
- FoodCorps
- National Council on Aging
- National Eating Disorders Association
- National Institutes of Health
- Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Rise Coalition of Western Maryland – Immigration Resources
Nutrition Education Curricula
CATCH
Catch.org is the platform to access program resources for CATCH, the school health program with the most scientific evidence of effectiveness.
Common Bytes
Find nutrition lesson plans and programs for teachers.
Cooking with Kids
Cooking with Kids educates and empowers children and families to make healthy food choices through hands-on learning with fresh, affordable foods.
Dig In! — United States Department of Agriculture
Explore a world of possibilities in the garden and on your plate using ten inquiry-based lessons that engage 5th and 6th graders in growing, harvesting, tasting, and learning about fruits and vegetables. More information is also available at Dig In! At Home Parent Booklet and Dig In! Posters.
USDA Food and Nutrition Service — United States Department of Agriculture
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) developed the following curricula. The curricula are often used in SNAP-Ed programming. FNS also provides free education and outreach materials.
Foodspan — Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
This free, downloadable curriculum provides high school students with a deep understanding of critical food system issues, empowers them to make healthy and responsible food choices, and encourages them to become advocates for food system change.
Our First Harvest – Bilingual Pre-K Curriculum — City Blossoms
After years of teaching children ages three- to five-years-old, City Blossoms has published Our First Harvest/Nuestra Primera Cosecha, a bilingual, year-round curriculum consisting of 30 garden-related lessons plus all kinds of resources and helpful hints.
Simple Cooking with Heart Infographics and Resources — American Heart Association
Eating healthy can be a lot simpler than most people think. Limiting sugar and making substitutions can go a long way towards improving the overall health of your heart. Applying simple steps to your cooking habits can help create great tasting, healthy meals that you and your family will love. Learn more about eating healthy without breaking the bank with these Simple Cooking with Heart infographics and resources.
SNAP-Ed Library — United States Department of Agriculture
Search more than 100 SNAP-Ed curriculum resources.
Other Resources
Action for Healthy Kids
Find information on healthy tips for kids
DC Health Matters
DC Health Matters provides a one-stop resource for online access to community health indicators and related resources that impact the health of DC communities. You will find up-to-date demographic, health and social determinants data; hundreds of maps, tables and figures; and, promising practices.
Extension Master Gardener Help Desk — Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
At the Extension Master Gardener Help Desk, Master Gardener volunteers are available to answer questions Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to noon (except on holidays). Call (703) 228-6414 to speak to a Master Gardener or leave a message with your name and phone number and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible, usually within a few business days.
Hunger Heat Map — Capital Area Food Bank
The Hunger Heat Map is a tool that visually represents data related to poverty and food insecurity, and the food distribution efforts CAFB is leading across its service area.
Washington, D.C. government resources
- Nutrition Educators Guide – DC Department of Health
- Nutrition and Meals – District of Columbia Public Schools
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education – DC Department of Health
- Wellness and Nutrition Resources – Office of the State Superintendent of Education