The Get School Cooking Grant was created to support medium-sized school districts who are eager to transform their school lunch programs from processed foods to scratch-cooked meals.
Type
Consultation and Monetary Grant
Eligibility
School districts in the U.S. with at least 3,000 students
Grant Value
$200,000
Whole Kids Foundation has joined forces with Chef Ann Foundation to provide support for this journey through technical assistance grants.
Get Schools Cooking will work with the selected districts through a technical assistance program that includes a workshop for food service directors, on-site assessment and on-site assessment debrief and strategic planning, along with peer-to-peer collaboration and access to a food service program Assistance Grant. The program has a value of nearly $200,000 per participating district (depending on district size).
Serving children scratch-cooked meals allows districts to offer healthy and delicious breakfast and lunch, but it’s not always an easy task—there are financial, procurement, management, education, and staffing hurdles to jump over. Oftentimes, school districts need the guidance from school food experts to overcome these challenges. According to a recent Pew study, directors whose school food programs prepared more foods from scratch and increased the use of salad bars were more likely to report that student participation rose. In addition, the guidelines implemented through this program support scratch cooking that is healthier and more nutritious than serving processed foods.
View an informational webinar highlighting grant details and one district's experience here.
For more information or questions on the Get Schools Cooking application process, visit ChefAnnFoundation.org or email Grants@WholeKidsFoundation.org with any questions.
Fall 2022
The school districts that applied had to disclose all aspects of their operations and demonstrate to the review committee through their application and interview that they are ready for change.
These school districts have begun implementing the recommendations from their on-site assessments and are in the midst of transitioning to healthier, scratch-cooked school food by meeting program goals. For example, they are introducing new scratch-cooked recipes, salad bars, adding new local foods, eliminating highly processed nuggets and patties, and gaining significant community support.
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