USDA’s “Harvest to Hallways” Is a Welcome Investment in School Food Reform

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a new school nutrition initiative, known as Harvest to Hallways, with associated funding for school kitchen infrastructure, local procurement, and school meal research.

The announcement, which is in advance of USDA’s forthcoming proposed rule updating school nutrition standards to align with the 2025-2030 Dietary Guideline for Americans, commits:

• $70 million for school kitchen equipment purchasing,
• $25 million for additional Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants, 
• $30 million for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) research to identify practical solutions to improve school meal quality,
• And a planned education campaign for schools to expand local procurement through existing USDA regulations.

“USDA’s Harvest to Hallways initiative is in line with the systems change approach we talk about here at the Chef Ann Foundation when it comes to transforming school food,” said Mara Fleishman, Chef Ann Foundation Co-Founder and CEO. “You don’t change the lunch tray overnight. It takes resources and training to connect districts with local farmers and to know which equipment to purchase to reduce ultraprocessed ingredients from menus."

As the school nutrition community prepares for the upcoming school nutrition standards proposed rule, this announcement is welcome news: Schools across the country are eager to scratch cook and are looking for the resources needed to do so. Over the past 17 years, we’ve helped over 19,000 schools transition away from ultraprocessed foods to more whole-ingredient, scratch-cooked meals that nourish children and communities. Whether it’s procurement, kitchen equipment, staff training, financial modeling, or student taste tests, schools need support across all areas of school food to move the needle, and we’re proud to have supported districts that have taken the leap and those to come.

We stand ready to support any state looking to implement USDA’s Pledge for Healthier School Meals and any district on their scratch cooking journey through our free online library of resources and recipes, The Lunch Box, and our existing grant programs — two of which currently have open applications: 

• Our Fellowship program for national school food leaders, and
• Get Schools Cooking, our flagship multi-year district transformation program.

We urge continued resources for school districts that want to transition to more scratch cooking, from the administration and Congress, and we hope that all federal nutrition programs can be adequately resourced and not at the expense of one another. Healthy kids and healthy families are a recipe for a lifetime of success.