Beecher's Handmade Cheese - Pure Food Kids

Pure Food Kids

Beecher's and Dammeier also fund and develop "Pure Food Kids: A Recipe for Healthy Eating", an outreach and educational program, run by the Flagship Foundation, for elementary and middle-school children in the Seattle Public Schools, with the goal of teaching children about healthful foods and eating habits. The program was initially developed by Dammeier and his wife Leslie, after they learned about and were unhappy with the state of school cafeteria meals in Seattle, where their three children attended public school. Established in 2005, 1% of the total sales for Beecher's and Dammeier's other business, Bennet's Pure Food, Maximus/Minimus, and Pasta & Co., are used to fund the Pure Food Kids program. The Pure Food Kids program is staffed by trained volunteers, including Dammeier himself.

Fourth through sixth grade elementary school children are educated on the effects of food additives, eating healthful foods, reading food labels, and about marketing of food aimed at children. According to Chip Wood, co-founder of the Northeast Foundation for Children, fourth through sixth grade children will typically be between the ages of 9 and 12 years old. The program is provided at no cost to the children and their families. To date, over 15,000 children have participated in the educational program. Pure Food Kids is taught in classrooms, after-school events, and at Parent-Teacher Association events, with all supplies and materials provided by Beecher's, although there is explicitly no promotion or use of any products from any of Dammeier's businesses.