School Food

A trio of school chefs working in the kitchen as part of the Healthy School Food Pathways program. (Photos courtesy of the Chef Ann Foundation)

School Food Chefs Learn to Plot Healthier Menus With a New Fellowship

By Anne Marshall-Chalmers

March 6, 2023

With scratch cooking in schools still hard to achieve, the program is training school lunch leaders to leave the heat-and-serve model behind.

Indigenous Foodways Are the Focus in a Growing Number of Classrooms

By Renata Birkenbuel

February 15, 2023

Indigenous and non-native Great Falls students and staff gather around hides of six bison, including a freshly killed bison, as Indian Education Director Dugan Coburn (in blanket coat) demonstrates skinning the bison and honoring its life with thanks with a sage-burning and pipe prayer. The sage smudge burns away any bad energy. Sweetgrass burning welcomes the good. (Photo credit: Great Falls Public Schools)

The Field Report: FDA Data Shows a Worrisome Increase in Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture

December 13, 2022

a pig eating antibiotic-filled feed in a hog barn

How the Midterm Elections Will Impact Food and Agriculture

November 3, 2022

Sunrise over the US Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Next Chance to Improve School Meal Access Is Coming Up Soon

October 6, 2022

A high school student looks skeptically at a cafeteria school meal. (Photo credit: USDA)

For Healthier School Meals, California Bets On More Cooks in the Kitchen

By Anne Marshall-Chalmers

September 28, 2022

School meal Chef trainees take part in the Healthy School Food Pathway program. (Photo credit: Santa Clara Unified School District)

How the Politics of School Food Shape What Kids Eat

By Matthew Wheeland

September 26, 2022

Marcus Weaver-Hightower and the cover of his new book, Unpacking School Lunch

Hydroponics Help Urban Schools Grow Food Year-Round

September 13, 2022

Harvesting greens at Teens for Food Justice. (Photo credit: Jessica DiMento)

Farm to School Efforts Just Got a Big Influx of Cash. Will It Help More Schools Get On Board?

By Anne Marshall-Chalmers

August 15, 2022

Some of the lunch offerings through Winters' farm to school cafeterial program.

The Field Report: Are Expiring School Meal Waivers a Looming Catastrophe?

June 15, 2022

LOUISVILLE, KY - JANUARY 11: Pam Howard, a school food service assistant, prepares lunches for curbside pickup during a period of Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) at Hazelwood Elementary School on January 11, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. Jefferson County Public Schools, along with many other school districts in the US, have switched to NTI in response to severe staffing shortages caused by the prevalence of the omicron variant of COVID-19. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Vegan Fridays for All? More Schools Offer Plant-Based Meals

March 21, 2022

Vegan Fridays for All? More Schools Offer Plant-Based Meals

Pandemic Disruptions Created an Opportunity for Organic School Meals in California

February 28, 2022

Early morning packing of organic school food boxes at WCCUSD's central kitchen. (Photo courtesy of Conscious Kitchen)

What’s Next for Healthier School Meals? We Asked the USDA.

February 10, 2022

A "Vegan Friday" school meal at at PS 130 in Manhattan on Friday, February 4, 2022. (Photo by Michael Appleton, NYC Mayoral Photography Office)

The Field Report: Will the Next Farm Bill Move the Needle on Climate Action?

February 9, 2022

USDA employees plant Cereal Rye as a cover crop in the garden beds of the urban farm outside of the Department of Agriculture Whitten Building in Washington, D.C., December 15, 2021. (USDA photo by Preston Keres)

The Field Report: Biden Targets Consolidation in the Meat Industry (Again)

January 7, 2022

Meat Prices To Rise As Corn Supply Diverted For Ethanol Production

NYC Is on the Cusp of Making Its Food Purchasing Sustainable. It Won’t Be Easy.

December 21, 2021

Students eating lunch in school cafeteria

Op-ed: Fix the School Supply Chain by Empowering Independent Family Farmers and Ranchers

By James McGovern

October 28, 2021

Elementary Students at Lunch break in School Cafeteria

The Next Chapter for Farm to School: Milling Whole Grains in the Cafeteria

By Hannah Wallace

September 10, 2021

Harvesting Hard Red Spring wheat variety Summit 515 at Whitehead Elementary school in Woodland, California – the second school to grow wheat as part of the Wheat 2 Schools project.

Farm to School Programs Are Finally Making Inroads on Capitol Hill

August 23, 2021

cafeteria workers serve farm to school produce to students to improve their nutrition and support local farmers

Will the U.S. Finally Take a Holistic Approach to Ending Child Hunger?

June 22, 2021

three children eating federally subsidized school meals

Op-ed: Our Shot at Creating Hunger Free Schools

By Luis Guardia and Miriam Nelson

June 10, 2021

a lady hands a student a school meal

Op-ed: Transforming School Food Requires More than Universal Access

By Angela McKee-Brown

June 10, 2021

students get a healthy salad for a school meal

What New York City Schools Learned Feeding Millions During the Pandemic

By Nadra Nittle

March 18, 2021

A kindergarten student eating breakfast at Yung Wing School P.S. 124 on January 13, 2021 in New York City.

The People Behind School Meals Are Pushing for Free Access for All

March 8, 2021

A Holmen School District transportation employee loads lunches onto a school bus before helping deliver them throughout the community.

The Pandemic Reveals Racial Gaps in School Meal Access

January 26, 2021

Montgomery County Public Schools Special Needs Bus Attendant Bhavin Savla helps distribute bags of food donated by Manna Food Center at Quince Orchard High School as part of a program to feed children while schools are closed due to the coronavirus March 20, 2020 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Millions of children across the country rely on meals they get at school, which are closed in an attempt to suppress transmission of the COVID-19 virus. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)