The Chef Ann Foundation is dedicated to promoting whole-ingredient, scratch-cooking in schools. This approach enables schools to serve the healthiest, tastiest meals so that kids are well-fed and ready to learn.
We’re dedicated to empowering schools nationwide with the tools, training, resources, and funding they need to serve meals. Browse through programs to learn more about our work and apply for a grant.
Since 2009, the Chef Ann Foundation has worked with schools to implement healthy school meal programs. Dive into the organization’s history and learn about our impact on school food reform over the years.
Whether you are a school district administrator, food service director, food service team member, concerned parent, student or committed community advocate, there are many ways to get involved in changing the way we feed our kids.
Want to learn how you can create school food change? Our toolkit lays out how to approach your district and advocate for healthier food in your child’s school.
Learn more about school food with resources, home recipes, and press materials.
The Chef Ann Foundation is dedicated to promoting whole-ingredient, scratch-cooking in schools. This approach enables schools to serve the healthiest, tastiest meals so that kids are well-fed and ready to learn.
We’re dedicated to empowering schools nationwide with the tools, training, resources, and funding they need to serve meals. Browse through programs to learn more about our work and apply for a grant.
Since 2009, the Chef Ann Foundation has worked with schools to implement healthy school meal programs. Dive into the organization’s history and learn about our impact on school food reform over the years.
Whether you are a school district administrator, food service director, food service team member, concerned parent, student or committed community advocate, there are many ways to get involved in changing the way we feed our kids.
Want to learn how you can create school food change? Our toolkit lays out how to approach your district and advocate for healthier food in your child’s school.
Learn more about school food with resources, home recipes, and press materials.
EXHALE… have you been able to take a breath? I think there are many words we can use to describe 2020: awful, harrowing, never-ending, monotonous, sad, unreal, and the list could go on. For the Chef Ann Foundation, I think the word that comes to mind is CHANGE.
With the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, our work had to change and we had to act quickly. Our 2020 goals to support salad bar implementation in 250 schools, assessments in 5 districts, and onsite scratch-cooking support for all of our Get Schools Cooking districts were all quickly scratched (no pun intended). But school food teams needed help, so we pivoted to ensure that we could support their emergency response needs.
Our team was extremely motivated to continue the necessary work to keep school food reform moving forward. It was clear that we wanted and needed to jump in to support immediate relief efforts, and CAF’s 2020 goals changed to better support the new times we all lived in.
When districts moved to virtual learning, they had to ensure kids still received school meals, which meant serving to-go through remote feeding stations. It also meant that processed and processed packaged foods were easier. Our work focused on finding new ways to encourage school districts to keep scratch-cooking while navigating new challenges and constantly-changing environments.
Online resources for operational pivots: we added 30+ resources on The Lunch Box website, including USDA guidance, emergency response plans from leading districts, meal kits, community marketing methods, to-go recipes and much more.
Scratch Cooking To-Go: one of the most challenging things in emergency feeding is identifying scratch cook recipes that can be easily packaged, transported, and stored until ready to eat. We worked directly with 20 of our district partners to help them continue to serve some fresh, scratch-cooked food. Additionally, Brandy Dreibelbis, our Director of School Food Operations, curated a list of the top recommended foods for districts to serve to-go style.
Hero Highlights: school food professionals needed to hear how others were doing things, and they deserved acknowledgement for their front line work. We were honored to feature 14 incredible school professionals, all focused on serving fresh food during remote feeding.
With many school food professionals not able to work on the job, school food management needed virtual support, and our programs took a digital focus. Here were a few of our professional support milestones:
While 2021 does not resolve all of our global challenges, it certainly does have an air of hope. With that hope, the CAF team is planning with optimism and implementing with thoughtfulness. Here are our main impact goals:
Here’s to a brighter 2021, for everyone.
Mara Fleishman, CEO Chef Ann Foundation
Thank you for signing up for our newsletter!
There was an error, please try again.
Privacy Policy | © 2024 Chef Ann Foundation
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
