Fitness with a Purpose

From 2008-2011 the Life Time Foundation operated like most corporate foundations, collecting and distributing money to various charities and foundations. In 2011, under the direction of Life Time Founder CEO Bahram Akradi, the mission was changed to that of driving healthier and more nutritious food in schools nationwide.

So, how does an amenity-driven company (offering everything you could dream of from tennis courts to giant pools to onsite spas) decide that they want to help change school food? In an interview with Barbara Koch, the Executive Director of the Foundation, she explains, “Life Time has a long history of being dedicated to changing the health of America. We aim to inspire healthy people and a healthy planet, and focusing on the health of our children—one school lunch at a time—is our way of giving back to our community.”

As a long-time advocate for healthy school food reform and the CEO of The Chef Ann Foundation (founded by Chef Ann Cooper, a.k.a “The Renegade Lunch Lady”), I must say I was impressed with their philanthropic choice. In my previous career as the global partnership director for Whole Foods Market, I had many meetings with NGO’s and was forced to pick and choose which non-profits to work with and for what purpose. So, I understand the other side of the table and it makes me appreciate foundations like Life Time all the more.

As soon as we met Executive Director Barbara Koch and her passionate team, I knew it was going to be a long-term partnership. Barbara wanted to understand everything she could about school food and she also wanted to know what schools needed most. What they need most, from our perspective, is the technical support resources that we developed, but were fighting tooth and nail to keep available to all schools for free at www.thelunchbox.org. Barbara agreed. It became clear very quickly that supporting the tools on The Lunch Box was just as important to her and Life Time Foundation as it was for us.

What is the primary mission of Life Time?

Our mission is to inspire healthy people and a healthy planet by improving children’s nutrition one school lunch at a time. We aim to eliminate the seven ingredients of concern [high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, artificial preservatives, trans fat, bleached flour, and hormones and antibiotics] from the school lunch and encourage families and school food service professionals to cook from scratch. Since 2011, we’ve been on the ground with school districts helping them discover what they need to do to eliminate unhealthy ingredients from their meals.

Why did you first connect with Chef Ann Foundation?

We have a very dedicated staff, but we’re small in numbers. As the foundation grew, and we started working with larger school districts, we realized we needed to grow too. We had heard of Chef Ann and the great work she was doing across the country, and we realized the Chef Ann Foundation’s scope of experience would really help fill the gap in our own expertise. Both of our organizations passionately strive to improve school food. Together, we felt that we could accomplish our shared goal faster and more effectively.

And, it’s the best resource of its kind in the country. The Lunch Box doesn’t just address menus and USDA compliant recipes, but lunchroom education and marketing, financial and staffing models—the complete picture of school food. The website is so comprehensive and supports schools in exactly the areas they need help. We really feel strongly that every child deserves a healthy school meal, which is why it’s so important to keep the tools on The Lunch Box free for all schools to benefit from them.

For you, what is your ultimate picture of success?

​Our ultimate picture of success is having school districts all over the country report increased participation in their meals programs after committing to healthy change. School districts that are large and small, that are near and far from our Life Time Healthy Way of Life destinations.

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