Fresh on the heels of our December webinar—in which our partners at Friends of the Earth (FOE) joined us to talk to our member community about their Climate-Friendly School Food Program and how to help school districts make the shift towards healthy, plant-forward menus—PBFA is kicking off 2023 with a set of comprehensive follow-up resources designed to provide plant-based companies with the food service fundamentals they need to get started in K-12 schools.
This resource set includes three policy briefs covering a broad range of topics, including the current penetration of plant-based products and programs in schools, policy levers for increasing plant-based options, key details about the mechanics of school food procurement, tips for working with district staff and community leaders, and more. PBFA has also created an accompanying resource guide one-pager, packed with important links to help our members get up to speed on current government policies and standards related to school foods.
The overarching takeaway of December’s Member Solutions Call was that there is substantial opportunity for plant-based foods to advance in school systems, which means that plant-based food brands require more advanced understanding of the nuanced landscape of this unique corner of the industry. That’s why the PBFA team is steadfastly committed to the advancement of plant-based foods in food service and to helping our community make even greater strides in this sector in 2023—and the development of these new school foods resources is just the first step!

PBFA members can access the full set of school foods briefs via the Member Portal here. Not a member yet but interested in gaining access to industry tools like these? Click here.