How California Is Rewriting School Food with Organic

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Ensuring that children have daily access to pesticide-free, organic food is not just a nutrition issue — it is a national imperative tied to long-term health, academic performance and environmental resilience.

Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health reported that early-life exposure to agricultural pesticides can cause measurable and potentially irreversible neuro-developmental harm in children, and UC–Berkeley’s Organic Diet Intervention Study demonstrated that switching children to an organic diet can reduce certain pesticide biomarkers by as much as 80–95% within days, directly lowering exposure during critical developmental windows.

Now, in California, that vision is shifting from aspiration to reality.

In a remarkable turnaround, California public schools — which had zero access to organic produce through the USDA’s Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (DoD Fresh) just a few years ago — are now purchasing nearly $6 million in organic fruits and vegetables annually. The state’s rapid progress has become one of the most significant wins for domestic organic farmers in recent memory and offers a clear model for the rest of the country.

Yet, this progress didn’t happen on its own.

It stems from strategic, systems-level work led by Friends of the Earth (FOE) and its statewide partners, who understood early on the structural barriers to organic school meals and set out to unwind them.

Working in partnership with the California Department of Education, FOE engaged directly with the prime vendors contracted by DoD Fresh — the distribution companies that determine which items appear in the program’s catalogs and curated lists — and pressed them to add organic SKUs.

At the same time, FOE connected with hundreds of schools across the state, encouraging them to request and purchase organic from their prime vendors. The organization also built a cohort of nutrition service directors from 18 school districts to help build demand and overcome sourcing barriers.

“We believe all students should have access to organic foods,” said Leah Smith, organic procurement consultant with the FOE’s Climate-Friendly School Food Program. “More than 80% of the school districts in our organic cohort are in low-income communities, and many of these school nutrition directors know this will be the best food the kids get all day. Being aware of this reality increases the importance and need for organic.”

For advocates, one challenge is to dispel the myth that the price of organic makes it unattainable for schools.

“There is a perception that serving healthier foods is not financially feasible, but our schools are showing that delicious, local and organic foods are possible,” said Nora LaTorre, CEO of Eat Real, a nonprofit that helps schools transition to healthier, sustainable meals. “And our data shows that participation tends to increase as the meals improve because kids love real food, which boosts the economics of the school food program.”

THE RESULTS ARE UNDENIABLE — AND SET A POWERFUL EXAMPLE

Since organic options were added in fall 2021, more than 466 California school districts have gained access to organic items through DoD Fresh. Over 36 different organic fruits and vegetables — from berries and broccoli to salad mix, grapes, and tomatoes — have been added to vendor catalogs. Districts are now buying millions of dollars of organic produce each year, with purchases jumping more than 300% last school year alone.

The momentum is also reshaping procurement culture.

Programs like FOE’s Climate-Friendly School Food Program are helping nutrition directors shift more entitlement spending into fresh, organic produce instead of traditional “Brown Box” commodities, such as canned beans or processed entrées.

Now, FOE is preparing to take the model nationwide. A spring webinar will guide other states in working with their departments of education, vendors and school nutrition leaders to duplicate California’s success.

“What we are doing in California can be done everywhere, and organic farmers selling into DoD Fresh say it has completely changed their livelihoods and future prospects,” said Judi Shils, founder and executive director of Conscious Kitchen, a nonprofit that works alongside FOE to help schools serve fresh, organic, scratch-cooked meals. “In my mind, there is no opportunity as necessary and impactful as school-supported agriculture to address the health of our kids, climate resilience in our communities, and the healing of our planet.”

With gratitude, Max Goldberg, Founder