Key Lessons from California Schools Working to Change School Food Environments
California schools have taken the lead in improving school environments to make them healthier for children. California was the first state in the nation to set nutrition standards for competitive foods—those not part of the official school lunch—sold on school campuses. In addition, federal legislation that reauthorized the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program required that all participating school districts establish a local school wellness policy in the 2006-2007 academic year (Public Law 208-265). At a minimum, these district-level policies must address nutrition and physical activity, offer guidelines for foods sold on school campuses and provide a plan for implementing and enforcing the wellness policy. This recently enacted requirement precipitated a flurry of activity at the local level and has made improving student nutrition and physical activity a higher priority for many school districts.
Key Lessons from California Schools Working to Change School Food Environments, prepared by Samuels & Associates, California Project LEAN, the Partnership for the Public’s Health, and the Center for Weight and Health, University of California, Berkeley, shares the collective learning from The California Endowment’s experience supporting work to improve school food, especially early lessons from The Endowment’s Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC) program. The brief provides communities and school districts with the opportunity to learn from the experience gained in California. Key issues, achievements, challenges and solutions are presented based on the experience of California public health, nutrition and research professionals working to make healthy eating part of the daily lives of children while they are in school.
