Join us!
Explore food and packaging waste, ultra-processed foods, and sustainable ingredients in school food
Join us for a special three-part webinar series, Healthy School Food for Thought, hosted by Chef Ann Foundation CEO Mara Fleishman, featuring special guests from the World Wildlife Fund, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Natural Resources Defense Council, Stanford Prevention Research Center, and more!
During each webinar, we will examine a major topic in today’s school food landscape — decreasing food waste, reducing ultra-processed foods, and buying more sustainable ingredients — to understand challenges and opportunities.
Learn more about each webinar and register below! All webinars are free to attend.
Join us!
Explore food and packaging waste, ultra-processed foods, and sustainable ingredients in school food
Join us for a special three-part webinar series, Healthy School Food for Thought, hosted by Chef Ann Foundation CEO Mara Fleishman, featuring special guests from the World Wildlife Fund, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Natural Resources Defense Council, Stanford Prevention Research Center, and more!
During each webinar, we will examine a major topic in today’s school food landscape — decreasing food waste, reducing ultra-processed foods, and buying more sustainable ingredients — to understand challenges and opportunities.
Learn more about each webinar and register below! All webinars are free to attend.
September 17 • 1-2 p.m. ET
Reducing Ultra-Processed Meals: The Next Chapter in School Food
Featuring Chef Ann Cooper, president and founder of Chef Ann Foundation, Anna Lappé, executive director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, MJ Kepner, senior director of policy at Chef Ann Foundation, and Dr. Christopher Gardner, Rehnborg Farquhar professor of medicine at Stanford University & director of Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group at the Stanford Prevention Research Center
This webinar will focus on the overdependence of ultra-processed foods in school meals. We’ll examine the challenges they present and the opportunities to reduce their presence on trays.
September 17 • 1-2 p.m. ET
Reducing Ultra-Processed Meals: The Next Chapter in School Food
Featuring Chef Ann Cooper, president and founder of Chef Ann Foundation, Anna Lappé, executive director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, MJ Kepner, senior director of policy at Chef Ann Foundation, and Dr. Christopher Gardner, Rehnborg Farquhar professor of medicine at Stanford University & director of Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group at the Stanford Prevention Research Center
This webinar will focus on the overdependence of ultra-processed foods in school meals. We’ll examine the challenges they present and the opportunities to reduce their presence on trays.
November 19 • 1-2 p.m. ET
School Meals for a Sustainable Future: Local, Organic, & Regenerative
Featuring Suzy Friedman, senior director for food policy at World Wildlife Fund, Haile Johnston, co-founder and co-CEO of The Common Market, and Kathleen Merrigan, executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University
There is a lot of conflicting information about whether school food programs can truly procure higher-quality ingredients. This webinar will explore the realities of districts’ ability to incorporate more local, regenerative, and organic food into their programs.
November 19 • 1-2 p.m. ET
School Meals for a Sustainable Future: Local, Organic, & Regenerative
Featuring Suzy Friedman, senior director for food policy at World Wildlife Fund, Haile Johnston, co-founder and co-CEO of The Common Market, and Kathleen Merrigan, executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University
There is a lot of conflicting information about whether school food programs can truly procure higher-quality ingredients. This webinar will explore the realities of districts’ ability to incorporate more local, regenerative, and organic food into their programs.
April 23 • 2-3 p.m. ET
Feeding Minds, Not Landfills: Why Reducing School Food & Packaging Waste Matters
Featuring Pete Pearson, vice president of food loss and waste at World Wildlife Fund, Stephanie Lip, senior director of West Coast operations at Chef Ann Foundation, Dr. Kaitlyn Harper, assistant scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Yvette Cabrera, food waste director at Natural Resources Defense Council
This webinar focuses on the root causes of food and packaging waste in schools, how to address those causes, and what change can look like.
April 23 • 2-3 p.m. ET
Feeding Minds, Not Landfills: Why Reducing School Food & Packaging Waste Matters
Featuring Pete Pearson, vice president of food loss and waste at World Wildlife Fund, Stephanie Lip, senior director of West Coast operations at Chef Ann Foundation, Dr. Kaitlyn Harper, assistant scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Yvette Cabrera, food waste director at Natural Resources Defense Council
This webinar focuses on the root causes of food and packaging waste in schools, how to address those causes, and what change can look like.
Mara Fleishman
CEO, Chef Ann Foundation
Mara Fleishman’s career in food systems advocacy started in her early 20s when she turned to the power of food after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. She has over 20 years of experience leading systems change initiatives in the for-profit and non-profit sectors, including over a decade at Whole Foods Market, where she served as global director of partnerships.
As CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, Mara has spent the last 10 years fighting for healthier food for our nation’s kids. Her niche is system-based change and although she takes on many roles as a leader, her favorite is programmatic engineering — breaking down problems to their foundation and building programmatic solutions through dynamic and integrated approaches. This type of programmatic engineering can be seen through the work of the Chef Ann Foundation, an organization recognized as the national leader in driving fresh, healthy, and delicious scratch-cooked food in schools.
Mara Fleishman
CEO, Chef Ann Foundation
Mara Fleishman’s career in food systems advocacy started in her early 20s when she turned to the power of food after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. She has over 20 years of experience leading systems change initiatives in the for-profit and non-profit sectors, including over a decade at Whole Foods Market, where she served as global director of partnerships.
As CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, Mara has spent the last 10 years fighting for healthier food for our nation’s kids. Her niche is system-based change and although she takes on many roles as a leader, her favorite is programmatic engineering — breaking down problems to their foundation and building programmatic solutions through dynamic and integrated approaches. This type of programmatic engineering can be seen through the work of the Chef Ann Foundation, an organization recognized as the national leader in driving fresh, healthy, and delicious scratch-cooked food in schools.
Chef Ann Cooper
Founder, Chef Ann Foundation
Chef Ann Cooper — also known as the Renegade Lunch Lady — founded the Chef Ann Foundation in 2009 to help K–12 schools ensure that every child has daily access to fresh, healthy food.
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Ann has over 50 years of experience as a cook and chef. She directed school food programs for more than 25 years, which included serving as the director of food services for Boulder Valley School District in Colorado for 11 years. Her books Bitter Harvest and Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children have made her a leading advocate for safe, healthy, and environmentally sustainable food.
Currently, Ann serves as president of Chef Ann Foundation’s board of directors. She attends many national conferences and performs regular speaking engagements. Additionally, she is partner of Lunch Lessons, LLC, a consultancy for school districts navigating large-scale food change.
Chef Ann Cooper
Founder, Chef Ann Foundation
Chef Ann Cooper — also known as the Renegade Lunch Lady — founded the Chef Ann Foundation in 2009 to help K–12 schools ensure that every child has daily access to fresh, healthy food.
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Ann has over 50 years of experience as a cook and chef. She directed school food programs for more than 25 years, which included serving as the director of food services for Boulder Valley School District in Colorado for 11 years. Her books Bitter Harvest and Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children have made her a leading advocate for safe, healthy, and environmentally sustainable food.
Currently, Ann serves as president of Chef Ann Foundation’s board of directors. She attends many national conferences and performs regular speaking engagements. Additionally, she is partner of Lunch Lessons, LLC, a consultancy for school districts navigating large-scale food change.
Christopher Gardner
Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine, Stanford University
Director, Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group at the Stanford Prevention Research Center
For more than 30 years, Christopher has been a faculty member at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. With a PhD in nutrition science, he has led 20+ human nutrition intervention studies, including trials of Mediterranean, ketogenic, vegan, low-fat, and low-carb diets and their effects on cardiometabolic outcomes such as blood lipids, glucose, and inflammation. Christopher is internationally recognized as a leading expert on what to consume and avoid for optimal health and how to motivate individuals best to achieve healthy dietary behaviors.
He recently completed a two-year term serving on the 2025 US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and is the past chair of the American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee. His work was featured in the Netflix docuseries You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment.
Christopher Gardner
Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine, Stanford University
Director, Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group at the Stanford Prevention Research Center
For more than 30 years, Christopher has been a faculty member at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. With a PhD in nutrition science, he has led 20+ human nutrition intervention studies, including trials of Mediterranean, ketogenic, vegan, low-fat, and low-carb diets and their effects on cardiometabolic outcomes such as blood lipids, glucose, and inflammation. Christopher is internationally recognized as a leading expert on what to consume and avoid for optimal health and how to motivate individuals best to achieve healthy dietary behaviors.
He recently completed a two-year term serving on the 2025 US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and is the past chair of the American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee. His work was featured in the Netflix docuseries You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment.
Anna Lappé
Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food
Anna has worked for over 20 years as an internationally renowned advocate and author on food, farming, and sustainability. At the Global Alliance, she builds partnerships inside and outside philanthropy to support the urgent transition to food systems that work for people and planet.
Anna founded three national organizations, including Real Food Media and the Small Planet Fund. She was a columnist for Earth Island Journal and Al Jazeera English. Anna also wrote three books—including the national bestseller Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet—and contributed to or featured in nearly two dozen other books.
She’s received the James Beard Leadership Award, and her two TEDx talks and Food MythBuster videos have millions of views.
Anna Lappé
Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food
Anna has worked for over 20 years as an internationally renowned advocate and author on food, farming, and sustainability. At the Global Alliance, she builds partnerships inside and outside philanthropy to support the urgent transition to food systems that work for people and planet.
Anna founded three national organizations, including Real Food Media and the Small Planet Fund. She was a columnist for Earth Island Journal and Al Jazeera English. Anna also wrote three books—including the national bestseller Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet—and contributed to or featured in nearly two dozen other books.
She’s received the James Beard Leadership Award, and her two TEDx talks and Food MythBuster videos have millions of views.
MJ Kepner
Senior Director of Policy, Chef Ann Foundation
MJ advocates for state and federal policy pathways to increase healthy, scratch-cooked meals in schools and the skilled workforce needed to do so.
Prior to the Chef Ann Foundation, MJ managed federal and state policy work for two leading Massachusetts anti-hunger organizations: Project Bread and The Greater Boston Food Bank. He worked for several different political campaigns and organizations before moving into healthy food access work.
MJ Kepner
Senior Director of Policy, Chef Ann Foundation
MJ advocates for state and federal policy pathways to increase healthy, scratch-cooked meals in schools and the skilled workforce needed to do so.
Prior to the Chef Ann Foundation, MJ managed federal and state policy work for two leading Massachusetts anti-hunger organizations: Project Bread and The Greater Boston Food Bank. He worked for several different political campaigns and organizations before moving into healthy food access work.
Suzy Friedman
Senior Director for Food Policy, World Wildlife Fund
As senior director for food policy at WWF, Suzy leads efforts to enable agriculture to be net zero by 2040 and support the economic viability of producers and communities. She focuses on policies to advance grassland conservation, end commodity-driven habitat conversion, scale sustainable protein & feed systems (and regenerative agriculture), and eliminate food loss and waste.
Suzy previously served as vice president for policy at the National Alliance for Forest Owners and led the Environmental Defense Fund’s work to build resilience and sustainability in the U.S. agricultural system. She currently serves on the Leading Harvest board, which provides sustainable agriculture assurance programs.
Suzy Friedman
Senior Director for Food Policy, World Wildlife Fund
As senior director for food policy at WWF, Suzy leads efforts to enable agriculture to be net zero by 2040 and support the economic viability of producers and communities. She focuses on policies to advance grassland conservation, end commodity-driven habitat conversion, scale sustainable protein & feed systems (and regenerative agriculture), and eliminate food loss and waste.
Suzy previously served as vice president for policy at the National Alliance for Forest Owners and led the Environmental Defense Fund’s work to build resilience and sustainability in the U.S. agricultural system. She currently serves on the Leading Harvest board, which provides sustainable agriculture assurance programs.
Haile Johnston
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Common Market
As co-founder and co-CEO of The Common Market, Haile has created strong local food distribution networks that link vulnerable producers with communities and institutions, emphasizing equitable access to fresh, healthy food.
Founded in Philadelphia, the Common Market has expanded to the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Texas, and Great Lakes regions, generating over $250 million in direct regional economic impact.
Haile Johnston
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Common Market
As co-founder and co-CEO of The Common Market, Haile has created strong local food distribution networks that link vulnerable producers with communities and institutions, emphasizing equitable access to fresh, healthy food.
Founded in Philadelphia, the Common Market has expanded to the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Texas, and Great Lakes regions, generating over $250 million in direct regional economic impact.
Pete Pearson
Global Initiative Lead, Food Circularity Program, World Wildlife Fund
As vice president and global initiative lead for the Food Circularity program at World Wildlife Fund, Pete specializes in food waste prevention and food circularity.
Pete has led local and national sustainability programs within the retail grocery sector. He also has over 10 years of technology experience with companies including Hewlett-Packard, Accenture, and Albertsons. He has worked with public schools and hospitals as an independent sustainability consultant, co-founded a non-profit focused on sustainable and regenerative agriculture, and has co-produced a documentary film on regenerative and local food production.
Pete Pearson
Global Initiative Lead, Food Circularity Program, World Wildlife Fund
As vice president and global initiative lead for the Food Circularity program at World Wildlife Fund, Pete specializes in food waste prevention and food circularity.
Pete has led local and national sustainability programs within the retail grocery sector. He also has over 10 years of technology experience with companies including Hewlett-Packard, Accenture, and Albertsons. He has worked with public schools and hospitals as an independent sustainability consultant, co-founded a non-profit focused on sustainable and regenerative agriculture, and has co-produced a documentary film on regenerative and local food production.
Kaitlyn Harper
Assistant Scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Kaitlyn focuses her research on improving food security and reducing wasted food in the U.S.
As a former high school teacher working in Title I districts, Kaitlyn is passionate about community-centered, school-based work. She has conducted numerous studies in schools, including a two-year evaluation of food waste interventions in districts across four states, an evaluation of the effect of USDA waiver rescission on the Summer Food Service Program, and a mixed-methods analysis of the School Food Pantry Program in over 200 Maryland schools.
Kaitlyn Harper
Assistant Scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Kaitlyn focuses her research on improving food security and reducing wasted food in the U.S.
As a former high school teacher working in Title I districts, Kaitlyn is passionate about community-centered, school-based work. She has conducted numerous studies in schools, including a two-year evaluation of food waste interventions in districts across four states, an evaluation of the effect of USDA waiver rescission on the Summer Food Service Program, and a mixed-methods analysis of the School Food Pantry Program in over 200 Maryland schools.
Stephanie Lip
Senior Director of West Coast Operations, Chef Ann Foundation
Stephanie leads a team dedicated to providing high-quality support and technical assistance to school districts, ensuring alignment with the goals of systems change. She works to build capacity in scratch cooking and expand the workforce in school food programs.
Stephanie completed FoodCorps service in Arizona, has a culinary and nutrition degree, and a Master’s in sustainable food systems. She’s also worked with several school districts in various roles—culinary specialist and supervisor with Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, chef with Brigaid and New London Public Schools, and school nutrition director with Pacific Grove Unified School District.
Stephanie Lip
Senior Director of West Coast Operations, Chef Ann Foundation
Stephanie leads a team dedicated to providing high-quality support and technical assistance to school districts, ensuring alignment with the goals of systems change. She works to build capacity in scratch cooking and expand the workforce in school food programs.
Stephanie completed FoodCorps service in Arizona, has a culinary and nutrition degree, and a Master’s in sustainable food systems. She’s also worked with several school districts in various roles—culinary specialist and supervisor with Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, chef with Brigaid and New London Public Schools, and school nutrition director with Pacific Grove Unified School District.
Yvette Cabrera
Food Waste Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
Yvette Cabrera has worked in food systems for over a decade. At Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), she oversees engagement on federal, state, and local food waste policy, and cutting-edge research on food waste.
Previously, Yvette managed the implementation of the food loss and waste initiative in the U.S. at the Rockefeller Foundation.
Yvette Cabrera
Food Waste Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
Yvette Cabrera has worked in food systems for over a decade. At Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), she oversees engagement on federal, state, and local food waste policy, and cutting-edge research on food waste.
Previously, Yvette managed the implementation of the food loss and waste initiative in the U.S. at the Rockefeller Foundation.
