Teaming up with Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group for Healthy, Sustainable School Meals

We’re excited to announce that we’re teaming up with Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group for a brand new research study on values-aligned school food. Together, we’ll examine how purchasing food that's good for the environment and local communities can help California K-12 schools replace ultraprocessed foods with healthier, more sustainable school meals while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The project will evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of our Values-Aligned Purchasing Collectives, an initiative we launched in 2025 that helps school districts work together to purchase better food for their students.

What are Values-Aligned Purchasing Collectives?

By joining forces as part of a purchasing collective, participating school districts increase their buying power, making food that reflects their values more accessible. Values-aligned food can include products and ingredients that are local, organic, sustainable, regenerative, humanely raised, or made by independent producers.

When schools join forces to buy better food, the positive ripple effects extend far beyond the cafeteria tray. Values-Aligned Purchasing Collectives: 

• Get healthier meals to students
• Boost the local economy by providing regional producers with reliable customers
• Lower environmental impacts by reducing shipping distances and supporting sustainable growing practices 

This study will shed light on just how powerful the impact of Values-Aligned Purchasing Collectives can be. 

Through this partnership, we plan to apply the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative model to the K-12 setting. This will provide a foundation for better-aligned data collection and research on schools’ transition to more scratch cooking and reduced reliance on ultraprocessed foods.

Findings from this research will help identify practical strategies that can be shared with more school districts and adapted for other institutional settings. This new partnership builds on both organizations’ involvement with the Healthy Kids Collaborative and our shared commitment to advancing healthier, more sustainable K-12 school food systems. 

Learn more

For any questions about the partnership, reach out to Reece Lyerly, Chef Ann Foundation’s Senior Director or Research & Evaluation, at reece.lyerly@chefannfoundation.org.