Highlights:

  • Schools and community organizations with active gardens encouraged to apply for American Heart Association’s Teaching Gardens Network grants in an effort to combat food insecurity and promote healthy eating behaviors among kids.
  • The application grant period has now been extended to October 7, 2020.
  • 2020-2021 grants are made possible by a $1 million commitment to the American Heart Association from CAULIPOWER.

DALLAS, Oct. 1, 2020 — The American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, in collaboration with CAULIPOWER, launched a nationwide grant program to support the Association’s Teaching Gardens Network. The grants are made possible by a $1M commitment from CAULIPOWER, supporting a joint mission of promoting healthy eating amongst children in underserved communities. Grant recipients with established gardens can revitalize their programs with new initiatives to meet the evolving needs of families in today’s environment, providing kids with access to healthy foods. Schools and community organizations with established gardens can apply for grants online. The grant application period has been extended through October 7, 2020.

The American Heart Association Teaching Gardens Network provides access to free resources and curriculums helping established gardens become Teaching Gardens®. Healthy eating habits are created during childhood; that’s why the American Heart Association and CAULIPOWER want to inspire kids to adopt healthy behaviors early in life. Schools and community gardens pair an active experience with an interactive nutrition curriculum to help kids make healthy food choices. Teaching Gardens are real-life laboratories for students to learn what it means to be healthy and how fruits and vegetables contribute to a balanced diet, while providing nutritious alternatives to families in under-resourced neighborhoods.

The Network’s proud champion, CAULIPOWER, provided funds for the 2020-2021 Teaching Gardens grants as part of their $1M commitment to the Association. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Heart Association and CAULIPOWER are allocating funds from the donation to help those in need, providing 100,000 meals with food from local farmers to more than 4,500 families suffering from food insecurity across the country over the course of several months.

“CAULIPOWER’s mission is to make healthier food more accessible to all,” said founder and chief executive officer Gail Becker, whose food products are available in 25,000 stores nationwide. “The American Heart Association’s Teaching Gardens Network teaches kids about the importance of eating healthy fruits and vegetables. More importantly, during a time of great financial hardship they can bring the food they grow home to their families, many of whom don’t have enough food or access to healthier alternatives.”

About 80% of a person’s health is determined by factors other than access and quality of clinical care[1]; one such factor, access to healthy foods, accounts for 30% of a person’s health outcomes. The Teaching Gardens curriculum has become increasingly important since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching Gardens Network aims to inspire innovation and incubate new strategies for improving access to healthy food in under-resourced communities nationwide.

According to the American Heart Association’s 2020 Statistical Update, most children don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. On any given day, 27% of 2- and 3-year-olds do not eat a vegetable and among those who do, fried potatoes are the most common[2]. The problem isn’t just among toddlers. Data shows kids eat less and less of these important foods up to age 19[3].

“One third of U.S. children are overweight or have obesity which puts them at higher risk of childhood diabetes and high blood pressure as well as higher risk of heart disease and stroke in adulthood,” said Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., MPH, FAAFP, chief medical officer for prevention for the American Heart Association. “The Teaching Gardens Network localizes the conversation of health and provides a turnkey solution for communities to provide accessible, nutritious foods that kids need to be healthy.”

In 2010, the American Heart Association created Teaching Gardens, with support from Kelly Meyer, founder of OneSun, at elementary schools across the country with the goal of helping students learn what it means to be healthy.

2021 Teaching Gardens grant recipients will be announced in December 2020.

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About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.orgFacebookTwitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.   

About CAULIPOWER®
CAULIPOWER® is on a mission to reinvent your favorite foods, one healthy meal hack at a time. CAULIPOWER's first meal hack, cauliflower crust pizza, created a white-hot category in 2017. Today CAULIPOWER is America's favorite cauliflower crust pizza, the #1 better-for-you pizza, #1 gluten-free pizza, and fastest growing frozen pizza brand in the U.S. In addition to cauliflower crust pizzas, the CAULIPOWER family of vegetable-forward meal hacks now includes baked not fried chicken tenders, flavored riced cauliflower, cauliflower tortillas, and sweet potato toast. Founder, CEO, and mother of two sons with Celiac Disease, Gail Becker, set out to innovate the frozen food aisle and left a global executive position to launch the company in 2016. Today it remains her mission to eliminate the need for consumers to choose between taste, convenience, and health. CAULIPOWER is brought to you by Vegolutionary Foods, a company of "never-been-dones," inspired by what people want. Every CAULIPOWER purchase benefits the American Heart Association Teaching Gardens Network, a program installing edible teaching gardens in underserved public schools. Find one of CAULIPOWER's 25,000 retailers and get recipe inspiration at eatCAULIPOWER.com

For Media Inquiries: 

AHA Media Contact: Kim Haller, 214-706-4858, kimberly.haller@heart.org

CAULIPOWER Media Contact: Anita Chatterjee, anita@a-gamepr.com, 917-421-0025

For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and strokeassociation.org


[1] Virani SS, Alonso A, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, Chamberlain AM, Chang AR, Cheng S, Delling FN, Djousse L, Elkind MSV, Ferguson JF, Fornage M, Khan SS, Kissela BM, Knutson KL, Kwan TW, Lackland DT, Lewis TT, Lichtman JH, Longenecker CT, Loop MS, Lutsey PL, Martin SS, Matsushita K, Moran AE, Mussolino ME, Perak AM, Rosamond WD, Roth GA, Sampson UKA, Satou GM, Schroeder EB, Shah SH, Shay CM, Spartano NL, Stokes A, Tirschwell DL, VanWagner LB, Tsao CW; on behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics— 2020 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020;141:e1–e458. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000757

[2] Virani SS, Alonso A, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, Chamberlain AM, Chang AR, Cheng S, Delling FN, Djousse L, Elkind MSV, Ferguson JF, Fornage M, Khan SS, Kissela BM, Knutson KL, Kwan TW, Lackland DT, Lewis TT, Lichtman JH, Longenecker CT, Loop MS, Lutsey PL, Martin SS, Matsushita K, Moran AE, Mussolino ME, Perak AM, Rosamond WD, Roth GA, Sampson UKA, Satou GM, Schroeder EB, Shah SH, Shay CM, Spartano NL, Stokes A, Tirschwell DL, VanWagner LB, Tsao CW; on behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics— 2020 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020;141:e1–e458. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000757

[3] Virani SS, Alonso A, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, Chamberlain AM, Chang AR, Cheng S, Delling FN, Djousse L, Elkind MSV, Ferguson JF, Fornage M, Khan SS, Kissela BM, Knutson KL, Kwan TW, Lackland DT, Lewis TT, Lichtman JH, Longenecker CT, Loop MS, Lutsey PL, Martin SS, Matsushita K, Moran AE, Mussolino ME, Perak AM, Rosamond WD, Roth GA, Sampson UKA, Satou GM, Schroeder EB, Shah SH, Shay CM, Spartano NL, Stokes A, Tirschwell DL, VanWagner LB, Tsao CW; on behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke statistics— 2020 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020;141:e1–e458. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000757