School Meals & Food Education Working Group

Seattle School Meals & Food Education Working Group (Working Group), is a diverse, multi-sectoral group formed in 2022 with the shared goals of supporting high-quality school meals, food, and garden education for students who attend Seattle Public Schools (SPS). 

Priority Action Recommendations 

Through a collaborative planning process which included aligning with the priorities of youth leadership, the Working Group developed a 2024 Report that outlines the following three recommended Priority Actions to continue improving school meals, school gardens, and food education in Seattle schools:

Orange Icon of a steaming bowl of food 1. Provide more high-quality school meals, developed with student input, by increasing staff capacity at Seattle Public Schools Culinary Services.
A seafoam colored icon with a grouping of people symbol 2. Make school food free for all students by pursuing districtwide universal meal policies.
A yellow-gold Icon of a hand holding a flower in its palm 3. Integrate more food and garden education districtwide by advocating for policy change and creating a district-level School Garden Coordinator position. 

The report also summarizes current efforts and celebrates recent progress that SPS staff and partners have made on these issues.  

Throughout 2024 and 2025, Working Group participants have continued to meet and collaborate on next steps to advance the three Priority Actions. Participants organized into Priority Action Teams to develop strategies to advance each of the Priority Actions. This has included outreach to community and district leadership to promote the Priority Actions, coordinating on state and federal school meal policy issues, collaborating on a grant application to mobilize new resources, and planning for future student engagement about school meals. 

What are “high-quality school meals”? 

Students, the broader school community, and SPS Culinary Services staff have defined high-quality school meals as freshly prepared “from scratch,” delicious, culturally relevant, using local ingredients produced with environmentally sustainable practices, and supporting an equitable food system by purchasing ingredients from underrepresented farmers and food producers.

Sustainability and Environment

Michelle Caulfield, Interim Director
Address: 700 5th Avenue, #1868, Seattle, WA, 98104
Mailing Address: PO Box 94729, Seattle, WA, 98124-4729
Phone: (206) 256-5158
OSE@seattle.gov

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