This is an opportune time to be working on issues concerning the school food environment in San Francisco. Communities throughout California and the rest of the United States are developing creative new models for improving the quality of school meals and the way that children learn about and understand food.

On January 14, 2003, the San Francisco Board of Education passed a resolution on Healthy School Nutrition and Physical Exercise for San Francisco Unified School District. This policy mandated the development of a School Nutrition and Physical Fitness Advisory Committee as well as a plan to improve the nutritional quality of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and beverages served and sold in all SFUSD schools.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors also recognized the problem of childhood obesity recently and acknowledged that lack of access to healthy food options in school is part of this problem. The Board of Supervisors introduced a resolution, passed on August 22, 2003, calling for the formation of a Childhood Nutrition and Physical Activity Task Force. Comprised of city agencies, local community based organizations, parents and children, the task force first met in February of 2004 and, over the course of a year, compiled a list of recommendations for the City and County.

"Farm-to-school" is a general term that is used to describe efforts that connect schools with local agriculture. By adopting such a model, schools can improve the freshness and appeal of cafeteria meals, provide a more hands-on introduction to nutrition and natural sciences, support the surrounding farm economy, and increase communities' understanding of the importance of local agriculture, environmental protection, and farmland conservation. Farm-to-school can take on a number of different forms, but typically revolves around a few key components:

(1) improved school lunches using fresh produce sourced from local growers;
(2) school gardens where children obtain hands-on experience in growing food;
(3) field trips to local farms and classroom visits from food producers;
(4) integrated nutrition curriculum that connects experiential learning at the farm and in the garden to healthy choices in the lunchroom; and
(5) waste reduction, composting, and recycling strategies.

San Francisco Food Systems began a feasibility study around farm-to-school in SFUSD in January of 2003. The purpose of this project was to understand the food system within an institution like SFUSD and assess the feasibility of changing purchasing practices in a way that would better support children's health as well as the viability of small- and medium-sized farmers in the region. San Francisco Food Systems has worked closely with Student Nutrition Services and other project partners to map out District-wide operations around food and school-specific operations using our School Food Environment Survey. San Francisco Food Systems has also worked with Student Nutrition Services and others to assess the feasibility of salad bars in SFUSD. The first pilot salad bar was initiated in one elementary school in September of 2004. Identifying some of the main assets and constraints in the District, this overall feasibility study will inform future initiatives to improve the school food environment. Findings from the study, along with recommendations and future project plans, are summarized in the farm-to-school report below.


To download one or more section(s) of the San Francisco Farm-to-School Report, click below:

Cover Page
Sections 1-4, Full Text of Report
Section 5, School Food Environment Survey
Section 6, Data from School Food Environment Survey
Section 7, SFUSD Board of Education Resolution
Section 8, SFUSD Student Nutrition and Physical Fitness Plan


For ideas and resources on how you can connect your school or classroom to local agriculture, click below:

Farm-to-School Resource Guide


To see the results from our Harvesting Health Art Contest, click below:

Harvesting Health Winning Artwork