Why School Food Matters

Our new policy roadmap outlines the Chef Ann Foundation’s issue priorities for increasing scratch cooking in schools; expanding access to healthy school meals; and unlocking the academic, environmental, economic, and social benefits scratch cooking offers children and communities. 

About Our Policy Roadmap

Today, nearly 70% of a typical child’s diet is made up of ultra-processed foods, which are associated with more than 30 health conditions. Many of these foods come from K–12 schools, which serve more than 30 million children breakfast and lunch every school day through the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program. 

To protect and improve children’s health — and to access cascading academic, environmental, and economic benefits — schools must serve students more minimally processed meals cooked from scratch. While most schools want to serve their students more scratch-made meals, their ability to do so is significantly limited by systemic labor, financial, and infrastructure barriers, as well as public perceptions that devalue the critical role school food professionals play in supporting the well-being of our nation’s children.

Our new publication, The Scratch Cooking in Schools Solution: A Policy Roadmap for Boosting Children’s Health, Learning Outcomes, Environmental Sustainability, and Local Economies, outlines the Chef Ann Foundation’ policy priorities for increasing scratch cooking in schools; expanding access to healthy school meals; and unlocking the academic, environmental, economic, and social benefits scratch cooking offers children and communities.

Issue Priorities

Our policy issue priorities are organized according to the five key areas of school food operations: food, facilities, finances, human resources, and marketing. Policies should support school food programs in all of these five key areas to achieve lasting solutions toward improving the quality of school food. You can learn more about all of the policy priorities outlined below in our roadmap. 

Food

• Reduce Ultra-Processed Foods: We are advocating for developing a formal definition for ultra-processed foods, and passing the Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act.
• Use Cleaner Ingredients: We are advocating for better regulating additives in school foods, and passing the federal Safe School Meals Act.
• Procure More Local, Regional, and Values-Aligned Ingredients: We are advocating for increasing farm-to-school and local food for schools funding; establishing a permanent USDA local procurement program; prioritizing purchasing U.S.-sourced protein and produce; removing requirements for awarding contracts to the lowest bidder; and passing the Farm to School Act, Local School Foods Expansion Act, and Local Procurement Act.
• Reduce Food and Packing Waste: We are advocating for creating a USDA grant program that helps schools implement food waste measurement, prevention, education, and reduction projects; and passing the School Food Recovery Act.
• Serve More Plant-Forward Meals: We are advocating for creating a grant program that helps schools serve more plant-forward meals; and passing the federal Healthy Future Students and Earth Pilot Program Act.
• Diversify and Demystify Federal School Food Purchasing: We are advocating for accurately tracking and publicly disclosing comprehensive food supply chain data for USDA Foods and the USDA Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (USDA DoD Fresh).

Facilities

• Update School Kitchen Infrastructure and Equipment: We are advocating for offering more kitchen infrastructure and equipment grants to schools; and passing the School Food Modernization Act.

Finances

• Provide Free Meals to All Students: We are advocating for passing state and federal universal free school meals legislation (Healthy School Meals for All).
• Remove a Barrier to Participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP): We are advocating for increasing the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) multiplier from 1.6 to 2.5.
• Increase School Meal Reimbursement Rates: We are advocating for increasing school breakfast reimbursement by 28 cents; increase school lunch reimbursement by 45 cents; and reviewing and, if needed, adjusting meal reimbursement rates annually.

Human Resources

• Expand Federally Registered Healthy School Food Apprenticeship Programs: We are advocating for expanding the federally registered Healthy School Food Pathway apprenticeship program to all states; and investing in school food workforce training.
• Fairly Compensate School Food Professionals: We are advocating for increasing wages and benefits for school food professionals through a portion of proposed increases for federal meal reimbursement rates; providing affordable health coverage for school food professionals; offering stipends to school food professionals for completing comprehensive training programs and remaining in the school food workforce; and passing the federal SCHOOL Professionals Act.
• Recognize the Lunchroom as a Space for Learning: We are advocating for designating meal time as curriculum time for learning positive eating habits for a healthy life; and recognizing that school food professionals can be an integral part of the education system.

Marketing

• Rebrand School Food Jobs: We are advocating for executing campaigns that seek to positively shift perceptions about the school food workforce and demonstrate the inherent value of these roles in shaping the health of our children and nation.

Learn More

Learn more about all of the issue priorities outlined above in our policy roadmap. If you have questions about the Chef Ann Foundation’s policy and advocacy work, contact policy@chefannfoundation.org. 

Links:

• View our Policy Roadmap