Urban School Food Alliance

Happy #FarmToSchool Month from the Urban School Food Alliance! Executive Director Dr. Katie Wilson is celebrating from Babcock, WI at the Gottschalk Family Farm with Ocean Spray Cranberries. Fawn Gottschalk is a co-owner and 5th generation cranberry grower. Thank you for the marsh tour and all you do to support healthy #SchoolMeals! 💚

The Urban School Food Alliance is proud to celebrate all the efforts our members continue to make to support their local growers, ranchers, producers, and fishers while bringing fresh, local, culturally significant foods to school children across the nation. Happy National #FarmToSchool Month!

ICYMI: D Magazine shared the stories and faces of school nutrition professionals in member Dallas Independent School District. Brenda Jackson started working in elementary school cafeterias and eventually worked her way up to the district’s central food service facility. She has been with the district 45 years! “The kids would tell me they like me. And when it was cold or something, they’d come in with their shorts and we’d go take them to the gym and get them some pants and keep them warm.” Brenda has taken one day off in the 45 years she’s worked for the district. “I am proud of my record. I do my work, and my record is so good. I don’t like missing.” 📖 Read the full story and meet Brenda, one of the Hardest Working Cooks in Dallas: https://bit.ly/3YGP7bv

ICYMI: The Urban School Food Alliance is honored to be one of the 12 recipients of the Newman's Own Foundation 2024 Food Justice for Kids Prize. With this funding we look forward to supporting new relationships between local producers and schools and increasing the availability of fresh, local #SchoolFood nationwide! Learn more about the award and the incredible work of the recipients: https://bit.ly/47JmZHf

The Urban School Food Alliance is live from Chicago, IL this week for our fall membership meeting! On the agenda: child nutrition legislative updates, food waste solutions, partnering with historically underutilized suppliers, and more. We look forward to sharing the outcomes and ahas from our time together!

The Urban School Food Alliance is honored to be recognized by ASAE's Power of Associations Awards. Last night, Dr. Wilson accepted our #2024SummitAward, the highest distinction for associations, in the Power of Community Support and Engagement category. This prestigious award embraces the value #SchoolFood programs play, not only in a child's daily academic success, but in the community as a whole. Thank you, ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership! Learn more: https://bit.ly/3Yrymkw

🎉 Exciting #SchoolFood news! The Urban School Food Alliance values this new partnership with Newman's Own Foundation and is very grateful for their support. With this funding, we look forward to introducing new relationships between local producers and school nutrition procurement personnel across the country, enabling even more fresh, local food to be served in schools. 

The Urban School Food Alliance is so grateful to Rachael Ray for the continued support of #SchoolMeals and our mission! Thank you for celebrating the talented, dedicated school nutrition professionals who are helping students succeed in our member districts and nationwide ❤️🍎

ICYMI: D Magazine shared the stories and faces of school nutrition professionals in member Dallas Independent School District. Patricia Jackson of Julian T. Saldivar Elementary School has been with the district 42 years! Thank you to these dedicated #HungerHeroes, and those nationwide, who feed the hearts and minds of students every day. “We get a lot of kids through the line,” she says. “It starts about 10:30, and when one group is done, you clean up and get ready. And at the end of everything, you clean up and get ready to start all over the next day.” The reward comes when the kids come through the line, smiling. “Especially the pre-K. You say, ‘Hi!’ and then one starts and the rest of them start in next, ‘Hiiiiiiiiii.’” 📖 Read the full story and meet Patricia, one of the Hardest Working Cooks in Dallas: https://bit.ly/3YGP7bv

Thank you John Oliver for bringing to light the challenges we have as we try to make sure all kids get healthy, appealing meals in school! The fact that we put the cost of this food on the shoulders of children is appalling. We call on Congress to make school meals a part of the school day and allow us to use our funding for quality, local food instead of identifying family incomes and shaming students.