Meet Daniela Ifju
Meet Daniela Ifju
FoodCorps Service Member
Daniela works as a FoodCorps service member with schools during the 2023-24 school year to cultivate an inclusive place-based learning environment that promotes healthy food and food habits. She’ll be leading activities such as taste tests, nutrition lessons with various foods, and also taking kids outdoors to, as she says, “create those early and monumental memories and connections to the environment.”
Right from the start of her year, Daniela has found the most rewarding aspect is building in-person, one-to-one relationships. “Making a kid smile, collaborating with a teacher, receiving positive feedback, I am really enjoying that human connection,” she says.
One early FoodCorps experience that stays with Daniela was taking part in unveiling the name of the new garden space at East Jordan Public School. “It’s named the Happy Heart Garden,” she says. “Last year, the school asked kids to list words about the garden and many said ‘happy,’ and many said ‘heart,’ so we combined the two,” she says. The garden welcome sign is written in English, Spanish, and Anishnaabemowin.
Daniela’s FoodCorps service term follows her earning bachelor’s degrees in criminology and psychology, and as she looks ahead, she sees leveraging that knowledge in pursuit of a graduate degree in environmental justice. “I want to use my knowledge and give back to the community by helping bridge the gaps I see in environmental justice,” she says.