Episode 243: Improving School Meals with Local & Organic Food
About the Podcast
Today, Clancy sits down with Leah Smith, Organic School Food Procurement Consultant at Friends of the Earth. In this episode, they unpack what it really takes to get better food into schools, making local, organic, and climate-friendly meals possible for students.
About Leah Smith
Leah Smith works with Friends of the Earth’s Climate Friendly School Food Program, supporting school districts, primarily in California, in sourcing locally grown, organic, regenerative, and humanely raised food for school meals. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between farmers and school systems, helping districts make realistic, step-by-step shifts toward better food for students while also advocating for long-term policy change.
Discussion Takeaways
- The school and food systems are a very complex system. Bringing the two systems together requires constant relationship-building, problem-solving, and meeting people where they are.
- One of the most powerful strategies they use is peer-to-peer learning. When school nutrition directors talk to each other, share challenges, and swap solutions, real progress happens faster than any top-down approach.
- The DOD Fresh program plays a major role in this work. It allows schools across the U.S. to use federal funds to purchase fresh produce, and can shape what millions of students eat every day.
- Leah highlights the importance of supporting farmers. Programs like these don’t just feed students but create stable markets for growers, helping keep sustainable and organic farming viable.
#1 tip to improve access to healthy food
Food dignity means that everybody, regardless of income and where they live, has access to healthy, culturally relevant, and good food for people and the planet.
Each week on the Food Dignity® Podcast, the Food Dignity® Movement's Clancy Harrison hosts a wide variety of hunger experts and other people making changes on the frontlines. Join us as we dive deep into conversations that will change the way you think about food insecurity.
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