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Watermelon Wednesday
June 2026 Issue #21
End of Year Impact Report - Coming Soon!
July 1, 2026
As As we close our ninth year of service, we are reflecting with gratitude on the incredible community that has made this work possible. Together with educators, school food professionals, Arizona farmers, chefs, gardeners, and food advocates, we have worked toward a shared goal: creating meaningful food experiences for students and helping build healthy habits that can last a lifetime.
As we prepare to enter our 10th year of service this July, we are excited for a year filled with celebration, storytelling, and reflection on the impact we've made together. We hope you'll share our journey with a friend and follow along as we mark this important milestone.
This year alone, we created more than 7,500 student connections through hands-on cooking, gardening, and food education experiences. Students explored nutrition, developed practical life skills, and engaged in real-world foodservice learning inspired by the dedication and expertise of school food professionals.
And there's more to come. Our second annual Impact Report will be released on July 1, 2026, featuring additional stories, data, and outcomes that showcase the collective impact of our community.
Stay tuned—we can't wait to share it with you.
Feeding the Future 2027 planning is underway, and we're looking for school mentors ready to host a student team for this year's competition. If your school is interested in participating, complete the interest form today and help students develop leadership skills while creating innovative school meal recipes that could make an impact across Arizona.
Students participating in our May Chef in the Garden lesson got to learn from Chef Eugenia! This month's recipe featured a delicious chocolate buckwheat pancake recipe which taught students all about the art of whisking. Gardener James Lang taught us how to plant buckwheat.
Click the button below to learn how to grow your own buckwheat and use it in a delicious homemade pancake!
Chef Eugenia’s love and respect for food and baking began at age 13 while working in her father’s restaurant - a legendary Ohio eatery established in 1931 that is still owned and operated by the Theodosopoulos family today!
In 1994, Eugenia and her French husband, Gilles, launched Essence Catering in Phoenix. In 2007 they opened Essence Bakery Cafe which specializes in French pastries, breads and organic breakfast and lunch. After 9 months in business, it was named Best New Restaurant for the pastries and food.
In 2011 Eugenia was awarded Pastry Chef Extraordinaire and inducted into the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame.
Bio provided by Chef Eugenia
James is the Farm to School Coordinator at Concordia Charter School, and is also one of this year’s site reps! At Concordia, he runs the school garden, teaches garden lessons, organizes workshops and much more.
James prides himself on growing edible crops that can be used by students to cook, learn and embrace the rich culture of the Desert Southwest.
By embracing the seasonality of central Arizona, James has been able to transform Concordia's garden program into a flourishing edible garden with an adjacent pollinator garden that is home to the school's beehive.
Bio provided by James
Quote Corner
Check out what our students had to say about Chef Eugenia's recipe!
"It was so good I am asking for it for my birthday!"
-2nd grader, All Saints Episcopal
"I give it ten thumbs up"
- 4th grader, St. Monica's Montessori
"5 stars, everything was AMAZING, putting berries on chocolate pancakes with honey I thought would not be good, but its my new favorite"
-4th grader, Rice Elementary
Share the Mission. Expand the Impact.
As we begin a new school year and look ahead to celebrating our 10th anniversary, we're asking every supporter to reach just one more person. Invite a friend to a volunteer or fundraising event, share your experience with our organization, or introduce someone who believes in hands-on, experiential learning and food education for students to our community. If each of us brings one person along, the impact we create together in the next decade can be even greater than in our first.
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