Insights From Massachusetts School Food Change Leaders

How is the biggest school district in New England — Boston Public Schools — and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts working to improve school meal programs? We recently hosted a panel discussion to find out.

The panel participants included:

• Annelise Tanner, Executive Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Boston Public Schools and former Chef Ann Foundation staff member
• Mellissa Honeywood, Deputy Director at the Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Food Justice and Chef Ann Foundation former Advisory Committee member and current board member
• Abby Getman Skillicorn, Special Projects Manager for Massachusetts Farm to School (a Chef Ann Foundation PLANTS grantee)
• Bryanna Ippolito, School Nutrition Coordinator for the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District and 2024 Healthy School Food Pathway Fellow
• Ryan Eckles, Chef Educator from Project Bread

Investing in the School Food Workforce

There’s a simple truth about most school food jobs: the pay is not enough. School food workers play a critical role in influencing the health and wellbeing of our nation’s children, yet remain some of the lowest paid workers in the U.S. Also, most school food positions are only part time. 

The panel highlighted that a well-trained, motivated, and fairly compensated school food workforce will be vital for sustaining and expanding scratch cooking in Massachusetts — and elsewhere. School food workforce programs like the Chef Ann Foundation’s Healthy School Food Pathway Fellowship and the School Food Fellowship at Project Bread in Massachusetts are helping provide structured training opportunities for school food professionals.

Ryan Eckles, Chef Educator at Project Bread, also spoke to the importance of creating good energy in the kitchen so that school food teams are excited to create change. Eckles has seen firsthand the way school food staff get excited about recipe testing and working with fresh ingredients if given the opportunity. However, he also stressed that If the staff feel undervalued and underpaid, new skills taught during training are much less likely to stick.

Elevating the Expertise of School Food Professionals

Before becoming Boston’s Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Food Justice, Mellissa Honeywood directed the school food program at Cambridge Public Schools. With her school food service background, she’s able to bring an operator’s perspective to policy discussions about school food, which has been an invaluable asset for enacting lasting school food change. 

Bryanna Ippolito, School Nutrition Coordinator for the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District and 2024 Chef Ann Foundation Healthy School Food Pathway Fellow, stressed the importance of empowering school food staff to advance change. Ensuring that school food professionals at all levels are part of decision-making processes can lead to better outcomes and a more motivated, valued workforce. 

Modeling Change for Smaller Districts 

As the largest school district in a state that is otherwise composed of mostly small districts, Boston Public Schools has a unique opportunity to lead by example. 

When Massachusetts passed universal school meals, it resulted in smaller districts across the state getting more money to allocate to their school meal programs. Boston Public Schools, having operated a universal program under the Community Eligibility Provision before Massachusetts passed statewide legislation, is in a position to show smaller districts how they can use their increased revenue to improve their school meal programs.

For example, Boston Public Schools was the first district in Massachusetts to provide kosher and halal meals to students, as well as send meals home with students who observe Ramadan. To do this, it had to overcome barriers, like obtaining waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

“There’s a growing sense that Boston Public Schools is in a position to set the tone for the rest of New England,” Food Service Director Anneliese Tanner shared. “It’s just a matter of taking that step to start the ripple effect.”

Photo: Boston Public Schools Food Service Director Anneliese Tanner and school food staff

About Boston Public Schools and Universal School Meals in Massachusetts

Founded in 1647, Boston Public Schools is the oldest public school system in America and the largest school district in Massachusetts—and with 125 schools serving over 54,000 students from 139 different counties, it’s also home to New England’s largest school meal program. The district produces its meals in a central kitchen.

Thanks to advocacy by Project Bread and the Feed Kids Coalition, starting in school year 2022-23, Massachusetts enacted universal school meals, enabling all students in the state to get free breakfast and lunch.

Showcasing School Food Change

To show parents and community members how they are working to expand scratch cooking and local sourcing, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education partnered with Massachusetts Farm to School to host a monthly Terrific Tray Competition.

Schools took pictures of their best lunch tray at the end of each month, and the public voted on the best tray at the end of the school year. The friendly competition not only showcased scratch-cooked local foods being served at Massachusetts schools, it also helped demonstrate how universal free school meals — and the increased school meal funding that comes with it — is putting fresher, healthier foods on students’ trays. 

Supporting Local and Regional Farms

While not typically considered an agricultural powerhouse, Massachusetts has well-established local food systems and farm-to-school programs. It’s home to some of the oldest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in the United States. “Local producers are treasured among the community as the fabric of our society,” said Massachusetts Farm to School Special Projects Manager Abby Getman Skillicorn. “They won’t be here if they don’t get more support against big commercial farms.” 

To help keep their beloved local farmers and to improve the quality of the food for students, Boston Public Schools’ goal is for 50% of the food consumed in its schools to be locally sourced by 2060. The district is also seeking to participate in collaborative initiatives with other local organizations that seek to transform school food supply chains.