This is a national organization that addresses solutions to childhood obesity, undernourishment, and sedentary life styles. It focuses on schools and parents, and it is a great resource for both. The organization sets goals such as improving the quality of food in school vending machines and providing nutrition information for students and educators, and then it acts on those goals.

Cabot is a farm family owned cooperative with a big community spirit. Their "Community and You" web section is packed with fun information and activities for kids to enjoy. Adults will get a kick out of it and learn something as well. Cabot is a community-minded company that engages daily with Vermont schools, parent groups, and local boards to make learning about nutrition, the importance of calcium, and healthy recipes fun and memorable. It is a great site for kids and parents alike. Educators and nutrition professionals can pick up an important tip or two as well. Their goal: Make learning about nutrition fun so it will last a lifetime.

Separate sections for educators, school wellness professionals, health professionals, school nutrition professionals, and consumers at large. Attractive and easy to navigate, it has an excellent section on hosting health fairs for kids, health fair materials for adults, and a dairy fact sheet section with links about cheese, milk and yogurt.

NOFA-VT is an association of farmers, gardeners, and consumers dedicated to promoting an economically viable and ecologically sound organic food system for Vermont. It offers apprenticeship opportunities to youngsters who want to learn about farming from farmers who want to teach them. It is a great resource for kids and adults alike to learn about the food supply system in Vermont.

This intriguing site offers a variety of self-help programs for organizations and individuals that want to develop healthier behaviors. This includes such things as setting up a walking and fitness program for you or your company, taking a peer coaching course so you can assist your colleagues in their wellness undertakings, obtaining tools for healthy life surveys, and more.

Taproot offers health and wellness workshops for teachers, parent groups and students, as well as corporations for lunch and learn wellness programs. Marie Frohlich, Taproot's principal and a health counselor has spent over 20 years working with communities, schools and organizations to support health and wellness objectives. Workshops focus on food and recipes that support winter health, boosting the immune system, brain development, and learning among others themes.

This wonderful site is perfect for teachers who want to share lesson plans on dairy or maple sugaring and more. If you want to know anything about agriculture in the state of Vermont, this is the place to start your journey.

This site is designed for educators. It provides an opportunity for professionals in physical education, health, nutrition, recreation, dance, and school administration to network with other professionals and keep tabs on what's happening in Vermont. It hosts statewide conferences and workshops for teachers, principals, superintendents, and other professionals.

While what they do is campaign, what they are is an organization. They work closely with schools to make sure they serve breakfast and lunch for their students, and they make sure the students can afford it. They provide ongoing outreach programs to reach every needy family they can. They teach the neediest among us how to prepare healthy, tasty, and nutritious meals on a small budget; they help qualified families obtain food stamps; and they are active in legislation to make sure hunger is eradicated in Vermont.

This interesting site is an extension of the University of Vermont. Its purpose is to promote healthy communities through research programs and practical information about Vermont's natural resources and its environment. It has readily accessible information about Vermont's 4-H, health and family issues, agriculture, and the environment.

There is only one food bank in Vermont, and this is it. They provide food to partner members that in turn deliver the food directly to low-income families. The site is great for teenagers and even younger kids to learn about the perils of malnutrition and the existence of hunger in Vermont itself. It is a great place to donate your time, special expertise, or money to make a real difference in the community.

Vermont FEED works with schools and communities to raise awareness about healthy food, the role of Vermont farms and farmers, and good nutrition. We act as a catalyst for rebuilding healthy food systems, and to cultivate links between the classrooms, cafeterias, local farms, and communities.

It is a terrific site that is a joint project of the Vermont Departments of Education and Health, the Agency of Agriculture, and Vermont's Action for Healthy Kids. It describes state and national programs supporting Healthy Kids, offers ideas about how to implement programs at schools, and addresses the benefits of stressing good nutrition and physical activity in Vermont schools. The site has many important links to such topics as substance abuse, disease and prevention, community health, and much more.

This organization is a public-private partnership comprised of over 60 separate national organizations and government agencies. They focus on the overweight and sedentary lifestyle epidemics we are experiencing across the country, and they offer tools for schools to address these problems. They work in all fifty states and offer suggestions to get kids moving, to eat better and healthier foods, and to make good nutrition and exercise a fun and ongoing part of kids' lifestyles. The site is easy to navigate, and it offers lots of FREE information about many topics.

This organization is a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. Their co-leader is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and their goal is to step-by-step, child-by-child, eliminate childhood obesity throughout the land. Their goal is serious, but their tools are fun. They engage kids at every turn and drive home the scope of the obesity epidemic; the dangers it causes for your children; and what parents and educators can do about it.

The goal of the CDC is quite simple to say: "Healthy People in Every Stage of Life." The CDC has a very expansive website, but its Health Protection section is particularly cogent: It addresses health issues from the beginning of life to its final conclusion, and it has a lot to offer about top issues affecting the health of youth.

This simple, straight forward site lets you download programs to improve food and beverages in schools. It includes case studies, contact information, and a host of resources that you can use to improve diet and nutrition in your school.

The Calhoun School in midtown Manhattan has been an innovator in many ways for many years. In this particular instance, Chef Bobo and his staff are turning those youthful, fast food palates into educated, refined centers of culinary exquisiteness. Say what? Chef Bob and his staff make every meal from scratch - the morning croissants, the pasta sauce, the chicken soup, and all entrees. All ingredients are fresh, and the students learn all about them. The chef teaches in science classes, PE classes, health classes, and is known throughout the school. This is a model that is cited across the country, and it is taking hold in many other schools in many other states. A great site and blog for educators, nutritionists, and parents who want to help out in the school's cafeteria.

Spoons Across America is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to teaching children, parents, and educators about healthy eating. They do this by making connections with local farmers in New York state and bring kids closer to the land and the foods they eat. They offer hands on experiences, great ideas for the classroom and cafeteria, and creative approaches to teaching kids about nutrition.

This website promotes purchasing local products from local farmers and engaging kids in farm-to-school activities. It provides hands-on experience for kids, and it has a host of interesting programs for educators and adults. Not a site for kids.

This wonderful site shows parents and educators how to teach kids about growing things Ôfrom the ground up.' (Excuse the pun.) It offers ideas on specific programs for kids such as seed gathering, growing up-around-and down concerning the things plants do, creating a pond habitat, and much, much more.

The National Dairy Council provides timely, scientifically-sound nutrition information designed specifically for teachers, parents and school foodservice professionals.

The Healthy Schools Campaign is a not-for-profit organization that advocates policies and practices to make kids learn and teachers teach in the healthiest, safest environments possible. More specifically, the organization addresses such things as air quality, physical activity for kids, nutrition, pest control (meaning varmints, not pesky kids), and more. They are legislatively active, based out of Chicago, and highly successful at what they do.

This is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and non-profit private schools. It provides low cost or free lunches that are healthy and nutritious every school day. This is a critical site for school administrators and health professionals. It describes who is eligible for the program, how to apply, reimbursement rates, and more. At its core, the site is there to help schools get the money they need to feed their children in a healthy way.

It doesn't get any more grassroots than this. Fed up with the options provided by the school cafeteria, e.g., green slurpees, tire sized cookies, high sugar ice cream, and fat-laden, processed meats, these two moms decided to do something about it. They could get their schools to pay attention, so they filmed their own documentary entitled "Two Angry Moms." And the documentary has been blazing a trail through schools across the nation. Visit the site to learn how you can host a screening or attend one near you.

Established by Beth Oden, a woman of remarkable background and broad experience, this site is designed to provide information and tools for "women in wellness" work. Their goal is to offer practical solutions to the everyday problems of good nutrition. The site offers members access to conference calls, a library of nutrition information and articles, and audio and video clips. It is a site by women for women, and it has an active on-line community component.