The Food Trust
48
3
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: Philadelphia, PA
Founded: 1992
Mission: Ensuring that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food.
Tags:
national, childhood nutrition & health, nutrition programs, consulting, health equity, policy, healthy schools
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Yael Lehmann.
Yael Lehmann is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and now serves as the Executive Director of The Food Trust, a non-profit organization that promotes healthy eating and food availability in urban communities. Since 2001, Ms. Lehmann has worked with The Food Trust to lead the growth and development of the organization's programs. She has…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
n/a
Total Revenue:
$4,689,701
From the Nonprofit
|
April White
Communications Manager Oct 29, 2010 |
Who We Are The Food Trust strives to make healthy food available to all. Working with neighborhoods, schools, grocers, farmers and policymakers, we've developed a comprehensive approach that combines nutrition education and greater availability of affordable, healthy food. Our History … Read More. |
Contact Info
Website:
E-Mail:
contact AT thefoodtrust.org
Phone:
215-575-0444
Facebook:
Address:
1617 John F. Kennedy Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA
Twitter:
Story:
This is the story of why and how Brad Lidge (a Phillies pitcher) and his wife Lindsay are involved in the work The Food Trust is doing:
Phillies pitcher Brad Lidge and his wife Lindsay have joined The Food Trust team. Together, the Lidges and The Food Trust will “TEAM UP for Healthy Food and Healthy Families.”
“In Philadelphia, 57 percent of children are overweight or obese. As a parent of kids who are very near school age, that number is shocking,” said Lindsay. The Lidges have two children, Avery, 5, and Rowan, 18 months.
This baseball season, you’ll see The Food Trust and the TEAM UP campaign at the Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park. And this farmers’ market season you’ll see Brad and Lindsay Lidge spreading the The Food Trust message.
For instance, each week, Lindsay will offer readers of The Food Trust’s e-newsletter, Fresh Times, wholesome snacking tips and Lidge family recipes, plus hints for eating healthy with kids (even on the road!) and feeding a hungry pitcher.
“We’re thrilled to TEAM UP with Brad and Lindsay,” said The Food Trust executive director Yael Lehmann, “and we’re thankful for their support and enthusiasm for projects like our Kindergarten Initiative.” (Source: http://www.thefoodtrust.org/pdf/Food%20Matters%20Spring%2010.pdf)
Expert Reviews of The Food Trust
Evidence of Impact Summary:
The Food Trust is credited for improving childhood health outcomes in Philadelphia through a variety of approaches including: healthy food store conversions, school nutrition policies, and research.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Experts most frequently cited the Food Trust Staff as its major strength.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Most respondents cited improvement areas related to growth: capacity building, scalability, and expanding programming.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Impact |
|||
|
F
|
This organization is creating mechanisms to bring grocery stores to communities lacking in access to fresh food. | ||
|
R
|
The Food Trust provides research-based, replicable, market-based solutions to food access. Their Corner Store and Fresh Food Financing initiatives are enormously successful in improving food environments and childhood nutrition outcomes. | ||
|
R
|
This Philadelphia-based group has been a leader in the area of food access in underserved communities, and innovative child nutrition programs, including farm to school. They pioneered an initiative around market development and food access that has now spread to multiple states, thanks to their technical assistance. | ||
|
N
|
The Fresh Food Financing Initiative and Corner Store policies/programs are very effective. | ||
|
N
|
They pioneered and are now replicating state-level financing program to develop grocery stores in underserved communities. This program has supported several healthy corner store conversions, which offer healthy snacks to children (and reinforce the excellent nutrition education The Food Trust offers in Philadelphia's public school system). | ||
|
N
|
The Kindergarten Initiative and other school based efforts to increase farm to school and school nutrition programs signify impact. | ||
|
N
|
The Food Trust has a wide variety of successful programs reaching large numbers of children throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Their work includes policy, research, and hands-on programming. | ||
|
O
|
The Food Trust has a number of programs that focus on bringing healthy foods into schools and communities. Their Comprehensive School Nutrition Policy Initiative, evaluated by Temple University, reduced the incidence of childhood obesity by 50% in participating Philadelphia schools. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Advocacy |
|||
|
F
|
This organization has been very effective in garnering political support for financing of grocery stores in areas of need. It has also demonstrated the economic viability of those stores. | ||
|
N
|
They have built a strong foundation of direct services in low-income communities and have a strong record of success in policy advocacy. They are innovative and have the potential to expand more nationally. They have strong leadership and a commitment to research and evaluation of all their programs. | ||
Communication |
|||
|
R
|
Professionalism and communication are particular strengths. The staff is outstanding. | ||
Research |
|||
|
R
|
They have excellent researchers and a very strong leadership handling a big staff and multiple initiatives. | ||
Leadership & Marketing |
|||
|
R
|
They carry the flag for a novel means to change food systems in food deserts. Their prominence can help spur a proliferation of options and put pressure on funding sources nationally and locally. | ||
|
N
|
Leadership, marketing, and their use of data are all strengths of this organization | ||
Communications |
|||
|
N
|
Their ability to demonstrate programmatic success, leverage media, and build relationships to replicate successful programs elsewhere are all strengths. | ||
Staff |
|||
|
N
|
We have worked with some good staff members. | ||
|
N
|
They have a good-size staff with an advanced set of skills; the organization has a long history of successes and is well-established. | ||
|
O
|
They have knowledgeable staff and innovative thinking. | ||
Impact |
|||
|
N
|
They have great evidence of impact, marketing, and are a model for other locales as well as bigger entities (city and federal programs). | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Scalability |
|||
|
F
|
The work of this organization is spreading at a rapid pace. Care must be taken to assure that its infrastructure is strong enough to support this rapid expansion. | ||
Expand Programming |
|||
|
R
|
They should identify ways to set up a permanent presence in other states with the scope they've realized in Pennsylvania would improve their presence nationally. They could also communicate the centrality of the political relationships necessary to success - something not well understood in the childhood nutrition world. | ||
|
R
|
It would be great if they could build the staffing for a national technical assistance network. | ||
Collaboration |
|||
|
R
|
While they have good relationships with several academics, they could increase their links to universities outside of Pennsylvania. They could play more of a leadership role in other networks. | ||
Capacity |
|||
|
N
|
It would be great if The Food Trust could expand its capacity to train others to replicate similar programs in their community. | ||
Leadership
Yael Lehmann
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
|
April White
Communications Manager Oct 29, 2010 |
Who We Are
The Food Trust strives to make healthy food available to all. Working with neighborhoods, schools, grocers, farmers and policymakers, we've developed a comprehensive approach that combines nutrition education and greater availability of affordable, healthy food. Our History The Food Trust, a nonprofit founded in 1992, started out by conducting nutrition education classes for inner-city children at Reading Terminal Market, the century-old farmers' market located in the center of Philadelphia. After The Food Trust opened its first farmers' market at Tasker Homes, a public housing development in southwest Philadelphia, the organization began working with communities to develop lasting and stable sources of affordable foods. Today, The Food Trust is working at schools, recreation centers, corner stores, farmers’ markets and supermarkets throughout the Philadelphia region and in more than a dozen states to improve access to healthy foods. What Others Say About Us "The Food Trust is transforming the food landscape one community at a time, by helping families make healthy choices and providing the access to the affordable and nutritious food we all deserve." -- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation "The [Food Trust's] program has been a remarkable success: one part of it, increasing the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in elementary schools, along with nutrition education, is credited with helping reduce the incidence of overweight students by 50 percent." -- Time Magazine Learn More About The Food Trust The Food Trust website: http://www.thefoodtrust.org/ The Food Trust brochure:http://www.thefoodtrust.org/pdf/TFTbrochure.pdf Philadelphia Story: The Food Trust (Video):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW-9tkA10vA Obesity in America: One Community Fights Back (Video): http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/obesity-america-school-community-fights-back-9805810 |