School Food Organizing

A student’s success, academically and holistically, is directly tied to their health. And young people have repeatedly told us that one of the biggest health-related barriers they face is a lack of fresh, healthy food at school. To combat this issue, youth at FEEST are claiming a seat at the table with school principals, district dieticians, and other decision makers who set the policies and practices that directly impact their health.

All students deserve to have access to fresh, hot, nutritious, and culturally relevant meals whenever they need them. Unfortunately, we are seeing a continuing trend, influenced by corporate lobbying, of the devaluing of student health and a push to dump highly processed food into poorer communities. For many low-income students, school is the easiest and sometimes the only place to get a hot, low-cost or free meal. And they deserve better than greasy square pizza and almost-expired milk.

Taking matters into their own hands, FEEST youth leaders organize their peers to develop youth-led solutions. In Highline and Seattle Public Schools, youth leaders are organizing for more fresh, delicious, and culturally relevant foods on the lunch menu and have had incredible success working with administration to get new items like squash curry, lentil stew, pho, Caribbean chicken, and others.