Helping Charter Students Eat Right

Charter schools across the country are working to give children healthy lunch options.

As independent public schools, charters are free to partner with food providers and programs like Edible School Yard, Farm-to-School programs, Revolution Foods and Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign to bring healthy food, and a healthy lifestyle to the school community.

Contact us to tell us about your school’s healthy lunch program.

Edible School Yard (ESY) works to create and sustain an organic garden and landscape that is wholly integrated into the school’s curriculum, culture and food program. It aims to involve students in the experience of growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing food as a means of fostering knowledge of food and food systems, improving students’ food choices and connecting students to the land, the environment and their community. It also aims to engage students and enhance their educational experience through activities in the garden and the kitchen classrooms.

Farm-to-School programs bring locally-grown products fresh from the farm to students’ trays.  Farm to School programs can help expand students’ knowledge about food, health, and environmental issues, and improve the quality and nutrition of school meal options, while supporting the local food economy. These programs exist in the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and more.

Revolution Foods delivers tasty and healthy meals and nutrition education to schools and programs across the country. Started in Northern California, Revolution Foods now has partners in Colorado, and the Washington DC Metropolitan area. Click here to read case studies from charter school partners.

Let’s Move is America’s move to raise a healthier generation of kids. The program’s focus on schools understands that for more than 31 million children participating in the National School Lunch Program and more than 11 million participating in the National School Breakfast Program, good nutrition at school is more important than ever. Let’s Move! is committed to providing healthier foods in our nation’s schools, and encourages all schools to provide a National School Breakfast Program as a first step.
Chefs Move to Schools to match schools with a local chef to incorporate new techniques and healthy recipes into school meals and show kids that eating right is delicious and fun. Learn more on our Chefs Move to Schools web page.

Healthy Lunch in the News

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Charter School Gets ‘Let’s Move’ Honor
Namaste Charter School Thursday became only the second school in Chicago to get the nod from Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign.

Just over a year after the first lady announced the initiative, Namaste received the HealthierUS School Challenge Gold of Distinction award for its commitment to the health of its students.

The Academy for Global Citizenship, a Chicago charter school, and Golfview Elementary in northwest suburban Carpentersville are the only other schools in the state to receive the accolade.

Houston, Texas

Houston group pledges donation of 20 salad bars for schools
They say everything is bigger in Texas and the Houston Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association decided to step up and deliver.
The association hosted a charity golf tournament May 11, intending to use the proceeds to donate three salad bars to the Houston Independent School District through the United Fresh Produce Association’s Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools Initiative.

New Orleans, La.  

Salad bars coming to 32 schools in the New Orleans area
New Orleans students at 32 schools around the city will be getting new healthy lunch options with donated salad bars from the United Fresh Produce Association.  The group, a trade association made up of produce companies, is raising money to provide salad bars for 6,000 schools across the U.S. over the next three years, a campaign aimed at improving childhood nutrition. Also in on the push, dubbed "Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools," are the National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, Whole Foods Markets and The Lunch Box, a nonprofit that advocates for sustainable food production.

Washington, D.C.

Tom Vilsack helps bring the spirit of the Let’s Move! Campaign to a Northwest D.C. School

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan and a group of volunteers on Saturday to construct a new playground for the Hyde Leadership Charter School. Over 500 volunteers joined Vilsack, on right, including his wife and many of the school’s students. Thanks to their hard work, today stands a brand new playground that’s ready for the community to enjoy!