Episode 230: Kids Feeding Kids: Teaching Students to Fight Hunger
About the Podcast
Today, Clancy speaks with Diane Mora, chef, educator, and Education Director of Kids Feeding Kids. Diane shares how the program empowers high school students to cook and distribute thousands of meals to families while learning about food insecurity and community impact. You’ll hear how classrooms are being transformed into hubs of real-world learning, service, and social change.
About Diane Mora
Diane Mora is a chef, educator, and social justice advocate with a career spanning culinary arts and education. She is the Education Director of Kids Feeding Kids, a program now in 43 schools across six states that has engaged thousands of students in preparing and distributing more than 400,000 meals. A former ACF Culinary Olympic Team Sous Chef and Kansas City Chef of the Year, Diane also holds master’s degrees in Liberal Studies (Social Justice) and Education. She was named Kansas City Public Schools’ 2018 Teacher of the Year.
Discussion Takeaways
- Kids Feeding Kids equips high school students to cook and deliver nutritious meals for families in their communities, turning classrooms into hands-on service labs.
- The program combines cooking, nutrition, and lessons on the root causes of food insecurity, helping students connect learning with real-world impact.
- Teachers are trained through a three-day summer institute, fully funded so schools of all sizes and resources can participate. They source ingredients through short-term funding by reimbursing the expenses of the teachers participating in the training.
- The program adapts to different settings from rural towns to urban schools while ensuring meals are distributed with dignity and without stigma.
- Sustainability and funding remain the biggest challenges, but the success stories from both students and families show the lasting impact of the work.
- Food dignity means treating food access as a human right, challenging stigma, and teaching the next generation empathy, purpose, and responsibility.
#1 tip to improve access to healthy food
When teaching kids about food, go beyond recipes. Help them understand the bigger picture — from family challenges to community and policy impacts.
Each week on the Food Dignity® Podcast, the Food Dignity® Movement's Clancy Harrison hosts a wide variety of hunger experts and other people making changes on the frontlines. Join us as we dive deep into conversations that will change the way you think about food insecurity.
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