Plant Powered School Meals Coalition

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Plant Powered School Meals Coalition

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A coalition expanding nutritious & delicious plant-based foods & beverages in U.S. K-12 schools through policy, advocacy, and education

10/16/2026

Great News on this ! We’ve been awarded the 2026 Food Justice for Kids Prize! 🌱🍓

This support will help us continue advancing policy that expands access to nutritious, culturally relevant, plant-based school meals and increase our capacity to better support students as they advocate for more inclusive meal options in their school cafeterias.

Across the country, nonprofits, Native Nations, and schools are working to support kids learning about healthy food, eating nutritious school meals, and engaging with Indigenous foods. We're honored that our work is being recognized alongside so many inspiring initiatives, and to be part of a cohort of 14 organizations advancing food justice for children and selected for this prize. Congratulations to our fellow recipients!

Thank you to Newman’s Own Foundation Newman's Own , Humanitix , The Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and the Hunger to Health Collaboratory Hunger to Health Collaboratory for investing in this work and our communities.

Read the announcement at foodjusticeforkids.org.

10/14/2026

Behind every tray is a team. 💚

This National School Lunch Week, we’re celebrating plant-based options and the school food service teams across the country whose planning, preparation, and care make them possible.

Take a moment to thank your cafeteria staff and food service director: say thank you while you’re in the lunch line, write a handwritten note, or offer a small token of appreciation, like a keychain.

Then help bring more inclusive options to school lunch menus: text FUTURE to 30373 to support the Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act, which, if passed, will provide more funding to support schools. You don’t have to be a student or parent to take action!

10/14/2026

🌱 What does a day of eating plant-powered look like? From soulful comfort food to savory “crab” cakes, our Youth Fellows are proving that plant-based meals are anything but boring! 😋✨

10/12/2026

🥕🏫 A new report from Friends of the Earth and Chef Ann Foundation, two PPSMC member organizations, analyzed more than 10,000 school lunch entrées across 45 public school districts and found that animal proteins dominate school menus, while plant-based options remain limited. In fact, only 5% of entrées were fully plant-based (excluding PB&J).

The report also examines health concerns associated with heavily processed animal proteins and highlights how federal funding, procurement policies, and limited resources help shape what ends up on students’ trays.

The good news? Change is possible. The report offers a roadmap for healthier school meals through greater investment in scratch cooking, higher quality ingredients, more plant proteins, and reforms to USDA procurement.

🔗 Read the full report via Friends of the Earth — https://foe.org/resources/beyond-the-nugget/

10/09/2026

Congress passed legislation to expand access to non-dairy milk in schools, but many students are still struggling to access it. The article explores the regulatory and cost barriers schools are facing - and what it will take to overcome them.

We’re proud that two of our Plant Powered School Meals Youth Fellows and coalition member, Chloë Waterman, were interviewed for this article, bringing youth and community voices directly into the conversation. 🌱✊🏽

Their perspectives help highlight why student choice, accessibility, and inclusive school meals matter.

📖 Want to learn more? Read the full article, “Congress Promised Non-Dairy Milk for Schools. Where Is It?” on Sentient Media.

https://sentientmedia.org/congress-promised-non-dairy-milk-for-schools/

10/08/2026

Every student deserves access to nutritious, sustainable school meals that meet their needs. This year, a first-of-its-kind pilot offering organic soy milk on the lunch line in five NYC schools found strong student demand and cut average daily milk-related greenhouse gas emissions by 17%. The NYC Public Schools’ Soy Milk Pilot showed what’s possible when schools expand access to nutritious, plant-based options.

The pilot found that:
🌱 36% of milk selections were soy milk.
📉 greenhouse gas emissions per 100 milk servings declined 30.4%.
💚 Average daily milk selection increased 19%.

The pilot was conducted by the Plant Powered School Meals Coalition, including Chilis on Wheels, Coalition for Healthy School Food, Friends of the Earth, and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, in partnership with the New York City Office of Food & Nutrition Services (OFNS) and the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy (MOFP).

Following these promising results, NYC is expanding the pilot to 12 schools this fall!

Let's keep building a future where plant-based options are accessible to all students.

Read more at [https://www.plantpoweredschoolmeals.com/soymilkpilot] or by clicking the link in our bio

09/17/2026

**Sold out** Please join the waitlist.

Join us for !

Every day, New York City serves a million school meals—giving the nation’s largest
school system a powerful opportunity to improve student health while reducing its
environmental footprint.

Join the Plant Powered School Meals Coalition and partners for a special Climate Week event exploring how plant-forward school meals can be a practical, scalable, and often overlooked climate solution.

Attendees will have the opportunity to taste an actual plant-based school lunch served in New York City schools and hear from leaders working at the intersection of food, climate, health, and education. The event will also unveil new data quantifying the climate benefits of New York City’s plant-forward K–12 menus and highlight lessons from the city’s efforts to expand healthy, sustainable options for students.

Together, we’ll explore how shifting the food served in schools can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while advancing public health, food equity, and student well-being—and
how New York City’s leadership can help inspire change in school food systems across the country.

The event will feature:
● Samples of a plant-based NYC school lunch prepared by the Office of Food and
Nutrition Services
● New data on the climate impact of New York City’s plant-forward school menus
● A conversation about the connections between school food, climate action, public health, and equity
● Perspectives from leaders and advocates working to build a healthier, more sustainable food system

Come experience what climate action can taste like—and discover the enormous
potential sitting on school lunch trays every day.

🗓 Friday, September 25
⏰11:30am - 1:00 pm
📍New York City Department of Education Office of Food & Nutrition Services: 44-36 Vernon Boulevard, Queens, NY 11101 (Long Island City)

🎟️ Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climate-action-is-on-the-menu-tickets-1998818634342

Sustainability FoodSystems

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Washington D.C., DC

Website

http://plantpoweredschoolmeals.com/

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