Over 30 million kids eat school lunches every day. Eat Real is a national nonprofit on a mission to ensure that every child in a public school has access to free, delicious, and sustainable meals. Recently, the organization launched a successful expansion to Yakima and Coupeville School Districts in Washington, where Eat Real is helping to provide food for over 37,000 kids in 79 schools.
The innovative programming, led by CEO Nora LaTorre, focuses on making sure kids get enough healthy foods each day, and that the kids like the food, too. Eat Real follows 10 standards, including fresh produce, whole carbohydrates, minimal processing, and menu variety, to keep the food tasty and interesting for kids. Many of the changes the program helps to implement are small and straightforward, like encouraging a focus on organic, locally-grown produce.
During an interview with ARC Seattle, LaTorre pointed out that unhealthy food puts today’s kids “on track to experience 693 fewer sunsets due to health issues tied to poor nutrition,” which cuts each person’s life expectancy by nearly two years. “When we change the cafeteria at school, we change the future,” she said.
Kids dig into their meals at Natomas Unified School District in Sacramento, CA. (Image courtesy Eat Real)
To get started, Eat Real requests input from the local community, whose support is essential for any successful initiative. They then work with each district to help schools become Eat Real Certified. The thorough certification process takes nearly two years, from an initial assessment and action plan to implementation and a final evaluation to verify that the program matches the school’s goals and standards.
Eat Real sets similar criteria for their Chefs for Kids Council and counts on participation from local leaders and food connoisseurs like chef and restaurateur Ethan Stowell. As Natalie Linden, Eat Real’s chief of staff shared, the council “provides a vital perspective on the impact of food on our health and planet.” And with input from people like Stowell, “his advocacy for our program connected us with local enthusiasts of the real food movement.”
Eat Real knew that connections with community-based initiatives were important in Washington because so many people have already built an infrastructure for programs like theirs to flourish. Parents and advocates are passionate about how kids are emotionally and physically nourished. And what kids eat impacts their energy levels, and their nutrition helps to build healthy brains and bodies. Kids can also connect to the food they eat, even growing their own fruits and vegetables.
Eat Real emphasizes the need for healthy, vibrant, and delicious foods for kids. (Image courtesy Eat Real)
K-12 public school children and young adults are legally required to be present at their schools. So, while our kids are in school, our communities and school districts have an obligation to ensure that kids can build strong foundations for the rest of their lives.
Eat Real knows that parents, advocates, and food service directors are a necessity, as they often defy convention to improve the lives of their community members. “We work in service of them,” Linden says, “and we serve them up to the world to be celebrated for their bravery and heart.”
Parent involvement is crucial to well-rounded nutrition for every child. Alongside Chef Ethan Stowell, Eat Real partnered with local advocates like Monica Plath, a mom in the Yakima School District. She introduced the organization to the district where she grew up and is dedicated to helping her community thrive.
Caption: Kids serve themselves fruit in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District lunch line in San Luis Obispo, CA. (Image courtesy Eat Real)
Linden says that working with people who are “already so impassioned about the health and nutrition of our kids makes what we do all the more impactful.”
Navigating the school cafeteria has never been easier. Now, all your kids will have to worry about is who they want to sit next to daily.
