School meals provide an important opportunity to create greater access to healthy food.
Thirty million kids rely on schools for lunch every day, and more than 12 million for breakfast. Schools can help shape a child’s relationship with food—and the eating habits they’ll carry for a lifetime.
Building on our foundation of food education in schools, FoodCorps is taking action to influence how students experience school meals and ensure kids have access to healthier, more sustainable meals at school.
To meet this goal, we collaborate with partners across the school food system—including school district leaders, nonprofit organizations, food manufacturers, and government officials—working together to change the role of food in schools. We’re also exploring ways to elevate school food leaders and shift policy and public perceptions to support school meals.
How kids feel in the cafeteria matters. That’s why FoodCorps is also working to make cafeterias joyful, empowering places for both students and school staff to gather every day.
While most agree that fruits and vegetables are the way to go, healthy food can look and feel different across communities, whether you’re in New York City, rural Arkansas, or the Navajo Nation. Rather than say what we think healthy food should mean, we have a vision that guides our work:
All students—regardless of race, place, or class—enjoy quality food in school, free from stigma and barriers to access. The food is delicious, appealing, seasonally and culturally relevant, and made from whole, nourishing ingredients. It is sourced and served in ways that support local economies, protect lands and waters, treat animals humanely, and uphold the dignity and health of farmers, food workers, and students themselves.