Meet Cori Fitzpatrick
Meet Cori Fitzpatrick
Farm to Institution Specialist
cori.fitzpatrick@groundworkcenter.org | (231) 941-6584 x705
“The gist of my work,” says Cori Fitzpatrick, Groundwork Farm to Institution Specialist, “is to help children relate to nature and understand where food comes from—and also make sure people have access to nutritious food.”
It’s an ambitious goal that can change lives and communities for the better, and helping achieve that goal feels only natural for Cori, who has for years studied food systems, agroecology, biology and nutrition as both a career interest and a personal pursuit.
Central to Cori’s efforts is making connections and building relationships between local farmers and other local food producers and schools. Her leadership role also includes supervising FoodCorps service members, who work to build a culture of nutritious food in schools and serve through Groundwork’s Petoskey office. “I help them implement lesson plans to build nutritious options for students and systems,” Cori says.
“If you can connect with one person, you can eventually reach an exponential number, and by building relationships and building community, that is how we impact change,” Cori says.
With a big goal and so much to organize and move forward, does it help that Cori was at one time the lead ranch hand for a 53-horse herd in West Texas? Of course it does!