The Chef Ann Foundation promotes whole-ingredient, scratch cooking in schools. This approach enables schools to serve the healthiest, tastiest meals so that kids are well-fed and ready to learn.
We’re dedicated to empowering schools nationwide with the tools, training, resources, and funding they need to serve meals. Browse through programs to learn more about our work and apply for a grant.
Since 2009, the Chef Ann Foundation has worked with schools to implement healthy school meal programs. Dive into the organization’s history and learn about our impact on school food reform over the years.
Whether you are a school district administrator, food service director, food service team member, concerned parent, student or committed community advocate, there are many ways to get involved in changing the way we feed our kids.
Want to learn how you can create school food change? Our toolkit lays out how to approach your district and advocate for healthier food in your child’s school.
Learn more about school food with resources, home recipes, and press materials.
The Chef Ann Foundation promotes whole-ingredient, scratch cooking in schools. This approach enables schools to serve the healthiest, tastiest meals so that kids are well-fed and ready to learn.
We’re dedicated to empowering schools nationwide with the tools, training, resources, and funding they need to serve meals. Browse through programs to learn more about our work and apply for a grant.
Since 2009, the Chef Ann Foundation has worked with schools to implement healthy school meal programs. Dive into the organization’s history and learn about our impact on school food reform over the years.
Whether you are a school district administrator, food service director, food service team member, concerned parent, student or committed community advocate, there are many ways to get involved in changing the way we feed our kids.
Want to learn how you can create school food change? Our toolkit lays out how to approach your district and advocate for healthier food in your child’s school.
Learn more about school food with resources, home recipes, and press materials.
At a time when children’s diets are increasingly overloaded with ultra-processed foods, successful federal grant programs that break down barriers to serving fresh foods should not be canceled nor delayed.
After canceling over $1 billion in local food funding less than two weeks ago, the USDA has moved to disrupt yet another successful federal program that supports both children’s health and local farms: the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program. This program will be canceled for the 2025 fiscal year, withholding schools’ access to $5 million in funding for farm-to-school initiatives.
Federal grant programs that fund local food purchasing and farm-to-school activities have played an important role in helping schools serve students fresher, healthier, and more flavorful foods. The USDA’s most recent farm-to-school census showed that during the 2022-23 school year more than 74,000 schools offered local foods on their menus, and spent $1.8 billion on purchasing local foods. This is money that flows back into local economies and farms.
Additionally, the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program supports projects that supply important resources to schools. Thanks to funding from this program, the Chef Ann Foundation was able to expand our library of freely available scratch cooking resources and USDA-compliant scratch cooking recipes for schools. At a time when children’s diets are increasingly overloaded with ultra-processed foods, successful federal grant programs that break down barriers to serving fresh foods should not be canceled nor delayed.
“Approximately 30 million children rely on school meals in the U.S., and the quality of these meals directly impacts their health and well-being. Cutting federal grant programs that have successfully helped schools source fresh ingredients from local farms for over a decade turns back the clock on progress toward reducing ultra-processed foods in schools. It also threatens small farmers who rely on school partnerships to sustain their businesses, weakening local food systems. We urge the USDA to reinstate this critical funding to support both children’s health and local agriculture.”
—Mara Fleishman, CEO, Chef Ann Foundation
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