Expanding opportunities for the world's children to receive adequate nutrition for learning and achieving their potential.
The Global Child Nutrition Foundation was created in 2006 with the mission of expanding opportunities for the world’s children to receive adequate nutrition for learning and achieving their potential. It continues and expands upon the work of the Global Child Nutrition Forum, formerly conducted by the School Nutrition Association (SNA). Created in 1946, SNA advocates healthy nutrition for every child in the United States.
GCNF is dedicated to helping countries develop and operate successful, sustainable, school feeding programs. GCNF provides training and education to support the development of community-based school feeding programs that respond to the nutritional needs of children, while considering local cultural and community values.
GCNF holds an annual Forum focused exclusively on advancing child nutrition internationally through effective and sustainable school and community-based feeding programs. Our most recent Forum was held in Nairobi, Kenya. GCNF is perpetually planning to bring representatives from various countries to future Forums to facilitate the exchange of information related to sustainable school feeding programs. GCNF encourages honest dialogue in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of programs in existence and those that will be created.
The Global Child Nutrition Forum. Begun in 2000 through the leadership of the SNA and with the support of industry partners, the Global Child Nutrition Forum is a one-of-kind program focused exclusively on advancing child nutrition internationally through effective and sustainable school and community-based feeding programs. Plans are now in progress to bring representatives to this year’s Forum in Chicago from Honduras, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Mali. Over the past nine years, 153 delegates from 51 countries have benefited from the Forum.
Global Team Outreach. As a necessary complement to the Forum, the Foundation will develop a faculty of Global Advisors to respond to requests from governments and agencies around the world for on-the-ground technical assistance in creating or improving school and community feeding programs: one nation at a time, one community at a time. The Foundation will recruit an international faculty representing every aspect of successful program development, as well as the full complement of cultural knowledge and insight required to ensure success across an extraordinary diversity of settings and populations. The goal is to have available 20-30 exceptional faculty members, from which the Foundation can fashion the best team to best respond to individual country requests. The Foundation has developed clear criteria to guide its response to requests and ensure the maximum return on investment and the most beneficial outcomes.
A Global Web-based Network. Again, as a means to undergird and advance the work of the Forum and the Team Outreach program, the GCNF aspires to build a globally-accessible, highly-interactive compendium of up-to-date information and expertise on a single website, displaying country-specific guidelines, best practices, personal testimonies, and contact information, along with a broad array of other resources. As a key part of developing an online global community, the Foundation may seek to provide selected potential participants with access to the computer hardware, software and training required for full participation in the online community.
GCNF is a USA based, 501 (c) (3) international foundation dedicated to helping countries develop and operate sustainable school feeding programs. Established in 2006 as the international arm of the School Nutrition Association (SNA), GCNF provides technical assistance and training to support the development of community-based school feeding programs that respond to nutritional needs of children, local cultures and community values. SNA is a national, 501 (c) (4) professional organization representing more than 55,000 members who provide high quality, low-cost meals to students in schools across the United States. Recognized as the authority on school nutrition programs, SNA has been advancing the availability, quality, and acceptance of school nutrition programs as an integral part of education since 1946 and serves as a strong professional resource for the GCNF. The GCNF Board of Directors, representing both domestic and international leaders in child nutrition, provides global perspective and policy guidance for directing resources to most effectively assist countries with policy and program development.
