From Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard movement to Michelle Obama’s White House vegetable garden and advocacy of healthy eating, there’s no doubt literacy around food culture is peaking. But it’s not just a movement for adults; kids are just as hungry for books about food as adults are. As they learn to try new foods, they also need to learn about where their food comes from, and other issues related to food literacy. That’s why husband and wife Philip Lee and June Jo Lee, both veterans of the publishing industry, founded Readers to Eaters in 2009. Their mission is to promote food literacy “from the ground up”, in order to help families gain a better understanding on what and how we eat.

Philip Lee, who has been involved in children’s publishing for 25 years, and co-founded Lee & Low Books in New York, where the focus is on multicultural books, believes that “there are a lot of barriers to becoming a reader. Often times, kids don’t have a learning problem, they have a public health problem.” While reporting on educational issues he learned the impact of good food on student learning, which led him to the farm-to-school movement and the idea to launch a company to promote food literacy. Lee believes that publishing books about food is a way to start a variety of conversations, from race to politics to history. “Food is this great connector,” says Lee. “If we’re going to have a conversation about literacy to me it starts with reading a food label. On a global matter it’s a matter of survival for people to be able to read.”

Based in Bellevue, Wash., Readers to Eaters first began as a pop-up bookstore at locations such as farmers’ markets, and launched a publishing program in 2012 in order to produce children’s books on food culture.

September was named Food Literacy Month in Washington State by the governor, the second state to do so after California, which started the movement three years prior. The Washington effort was led by Readers to Eaters and co-sponsored by the Washington Library Association, Washington Library Media Association, and other education, literacy, food, and farm organizations that will organize literary events, volunteer programs, and food drives to support the statewide effort.

Food Literacy Month kicked off on September 17 at the Seattle Public Library with the event “Cultivating Readers,” where Trudi Inslee, farm-to-school advocate and Washington's First Lady, spoke, followed by a panel of food professionals and children’s authors, including Katherine Pryor, whose book Zora’s Zucchini, is a Readers to Eaters title whose release was timed to coincide with the event.

Readers to Eaters titles, as with the mission of Food Literacy Month, are focused on educating children about issues related to food culture. Zora’s Zucchini, Readers to Eaters’ second book by Pryor, focuses on a girl who starts growing zucchini, only to end up with too much and starting a food swap in order to deal with the surplus. “The underlying story is about food waste,” says Philip Lee, “which is one of the biggest topics in food culture. This title touches on the sharing economy and how to prevent food waste.” The final Readers to Eaters event for Food Literacy Month will involve giving away copies of Zora’s Zucchini to low-income families using SNAP-Ed funds, according to Lee.

Another Readers to Eaters title, Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table (Sept. 2013), is part of the company’s biographical series focused on food pioneers, the first of which was Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious (Sept. 2014). The Points of Light Foundation has selected Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table to be the focus of an effort to break the Guinness world record for the largest number of children being read to in a 24-hour period on October 19-20, as part of the Read Across the Globe literacy initiative.

Readers to Eaters has published seven titles so far, with one to two new titles planned per year. Lee plans to continue to engage with initiatives like Food Literacy Month to continue to spread the word about food and literacy to communities. “We see Food Literacy Month growing to reach more communities in coming years,” said Lee. “We believe it can become a national celebration and the central event to promote food education. Libraries are already becoming community food hubs and food and farming organizations are very interested in education. This can also be a good opportunity for booksellers to explore new markets and community outreach.”