Resources Archive

Resources

Plant-Based Trends in California’s School Lunches

As our climate crisis intensifies and more than half of Americans suffer from diet-related disease, California’s school nutrition service staff have heeded the urgent call to make school food healthier and more climate-friendly.

How a Rockstar Lentil Burger Inspired More Plant-Forward School Food

This case study highlights San Luis Coastal Unified School District’s Thai Basil Lentil Burger, which has become one of the school’s most popular plant-forward entrees

USDA Foods: How a $1.3 billion program can be transformed to create a more just and healthy food system

The USDA Foods program, while providing well-intentioned financial support for school districts, contributes to menus that rely heavily on carbon-intensive, ultra-processed foods like hamburgers, deli meat sandwiches, and chicken nuggets sourced from the largest industrial meat and dairy corporations.

The State of School Lunch in California

The need to make school food healthier, climate-friendly and accessible to all families is more urgent than ever.

Organic School Food Roadmap

This report outlines six key strategies and shares seven brief case studies from diverse school districts that show how school districts with various food service models can successfully source organic food.

Organic, Plant-Forward, Scratch Cooked School Meals: A California Case Study

As schools across the nation grapple with how to feed kids healthier, more sustainable food on tight budgets, an inspiring story from Northern California provides a roadmap for change.

Scaling Up Healthy, Climate-Friendly School Food

Within this broader vision of climate-friendly foodservice, this report focuses primarily on strategies for increasing offerings of healthy, cost-effective plant forward foods.

Meat of the Matter

A municipal guide to climate-friendly food purchasing.

Shrinking Carbon and Water Footprints of School Food

As schools across the nation grapple with how to feed kids healthier, more sustainable food on tight budgets, an inspiring story from Oakland Unified School District provides a roadmap for change. Friends of the Earth’s new case study shows how the district was able to significantly reduce its carbon and water footprint by replacing a share of its meat, poultry and cheese purchases with plant-based proteins

Reflections on the 2015-2016 Dietary Guidelines Process and Recommendations

We hope the IOM will confirm the soundness of the current Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee process, and focus much of its review on how to enhance the ability of USDA and HHS to publish Dietary Guidelines that fully and clearly reflect the weight of the scientific evidence, as opposed to political or profit-driven food industry interests.