About Us
Our mission
We are on a mission to turn every fourth grader into a Food Detective, equipped with the skills to see through marketing messages and empowered to make smart choices for their families and communities.
what we do
We help 4th grade teachers bring standards-aligned nutrition education into their classroom by providing 3 hours of fun, interactive, and easy to facilitate lessons for free.
OUR story
In 2003 our founder, Kurt Beecher Dammeier, started a food business based on trust and transparency and wanted to contribute 1% of sales to a nonprofit that was educating kids about our food system to help them better navigate the conflicting marketing messages targeting youth. He couldn’t find exactly what he was looking for, and so he decided to create a program that fit the bill.
Since 2006, The Beecher’s Foundation has turned over 190,000 kids into Food Detectives. We continue to receive the majority of our funding from sales of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese in addition to private donors.
wait… are you trying to sell cheese??
Our workshops are 100% commercial free. Aside from sharing the Beecher’s name, we are a completely separate entity from Beecher’s Handmade Cheese.
We do not promote any specific diets or foods (including dairy or cheese!) in our workshop. We believe each child and family has the right to define what good, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food means to them. We teach kids to analyze marketing messages, explore ingredient lists, and practice making choices based on the foods that are available and preferable.
Our Foundation is truly inspired by a passion to advocate for trust and transparency in our food system. We believe kids are a powerful force behind food systems change and we are on a mission to teach them life skills that promote savvy shopping that hold food companies accountable to the standards we all deserve.
MEET OUR TEAM
Kurt Dammeier, Founder and Co-Chair (he/him)
Kurt has always felt passionately about authentic, full-flavored foods, free of artificial additives. In 2006 he started The Beecher’s Foundation to help the next generation of eaters decipher our increasingly complex food system, and to demand change and transparency through consumer power. Kurt is also the owner and head chef of Sugar Mountain, a creative food company that is home to extraordinary food brands and restaurants. Kurt’s goal is to demonstrate how quality ingredients make for delicious meals, without added food colorings, flavor enhancers, or preservatives.
Laura Paulus, Co-Chair (she/her)
Laura joined The Beecher’s Foundation as an Advisory Board member in 2018 and played a key role in our shift to online learning in 2020. Laura is also the co-founder of the Exponential Health Program, a personalized and effective approach to holistic well-being and health. Her early career was spent developing digital health solutions for some of the largest health companies to help millions of people around the world manage their nutrition goals. She was honored to be named Forbes 30 under 30 for her contributions and impact in the health field.
Kelly Lake, Executive Director (she/they)
After five years of experience leading nonprofits in Boston, MA, Kelly joined The Beecher’s Foundation in 2013. She has led hundreds of workshops, designed curriculum for kids, teens, and adults, and led the Foundation into its newest chapter of national expansion during the pandemic. In addition to her work with the Foundation, Kelly serves as the treasurer of the board of Washington’s National Park Fund and is a member of the Community Alliance for Global Justice, a sometimes ultra-runner, and always a mom.
Jonathan Saturay, Director of Operations (he/they)
For the past decade, Jonathan has had the opportunity to work with students of all ages in the areas of food education, youth leadership, and music. At The Beecher’s Foundation, he has the distinct pleasure of building and cultivating relationships with classroom teachers across the nation who get to experience our Food Detective Workshop firsthand. In addition to his work with the Foundation, Jonathan is also the Staff Coordinator for the Seattle All-City Band, a member of the SPECTRUM Saxophone Quartet, and a community organizer with the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.
Rebecca Salo, Director of Growth (she/her)
Rebecca’s lifelong passion for food and its impact on history, culture and exploration has taken her around the world and inspired her career which has focused on high quality, experiential foods and beverages in the PNW. Her personal mission is to expand corporate citizenship within the food industry along with improving food quality and access. She has served on the food industry boards of Seattle Children’s Purchase a Miracle, Slow Food Seattle, and City of Hope, and is a regular volunteer for FareStart. When she isn’t working, she loves to adventure near and far and cook with friends and family.
Learn (even more) about us!
If you want to see how the program works or what the curriculum covers, watch our Instagram stories and give us a follow! @food.detectives.workshop
