This is an interdisciplinary multi-phased project that explores the capacity for public school districts to implement environmentally sustainable school meal reform to address correctable poor health outcomes among low-income students. The research examines the application of a planning framework called Rethinking School Lunch (RSL) in varied local contexts. RSL is a ten-pronged planning framework created by the Center for Ecoliteracy that proposes complete school meal reform at the local level, supports Farm to School procurement shifts, but does so within the constraints of existing state and federal regulations governing school meal programs. One of the pathways towards school meal reform involves the construction or upgrading of school kitchen and storage facilities to support changes to procurement practices and how food is prepared and served to students.

The premise of RSL is that the quality of school food and student learning can both be improved, while also reducing the meal program’s environmental footprint and contributing to the local and regional economy. RSL directly responds to the public health literature on best practices in improving student consumption of healthy food, and appeals to policymakers looking for comprehensive approaches that address hunger, health, educational outcomes, sustainability, and community development all at once.

This research began in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in California. One aim of the research within OUSD is to understand whether improvements to the school meal program (through the implementation of RSL) has improved student consumption of the school meals. The component of the study directly supports the District’s work to improve its Health and Wellness policy and implementation strategies.

In the Fall of 2017, the research began to expand to other six other districts throughout the State of California. Using case studies, the research team is exploring cross-sector collaborations between local public agencies, non-profits, and philanthropy in multiple regions throughout California to develop and implement RSL (or elements of RSL) within specific local public institutions. These case studies analyze how this collaborative work has not only survived the regulatory and political contexts that govern school district operations and land development, and but how these contexts have shaped implementation.

This work began with funding from the Berkeley Food Institute and has since received financial support from the Stupski Foundation, the TomKat Foundation, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture.