WEBVTT - This file was automatically generated by VIMEO

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I just want to welcome and thank everyone for being with us. We have, um,

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a very interesting webinar for y'all today. Farm to School,

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the Common Thread in Successful Universal Meals Campaigns.

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So we'll go ahead and get started. Before we get into deep,

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I would like to turn it over to Valentina with the

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community language co-op, who is going to be offering interpretation as well as a

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message about language justice. So, Valentina.

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Thank you very much, Ryan. Valentina

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Hi everyone. Good morning. Good afternoon.

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My name is Valentina and I'm here on behalf of Community Language Cooperative.

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And I'm here to provide and guarantee your commitment to language justice.

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Language justice is a type of simultaneous interpretation that seeks to create

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spaces in which no one language is dominant. Spaces in which everyone can

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participate with a language of their heart. So, to achieve this objective,

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we'll be using Zoom's interpretation feature.

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And what you will see in a couple of minutes is that a new little button that

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looks like a globe will appear on the bottom bar of your screen. On that same bar

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where you have the buttons for the microphone, the video, the chat, et cetera.

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It'll be towards your right hand. When you see this new little button come up,

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go ahead and click on it and select either English or Spanish as both the

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language that you will be listening into and speaking into.

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If you are joining the meeting on a phone or on a tablet,

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you will find the same options for interpretation by clicking on the button with

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the three little dots on the lower right hand corner of your screen,

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this button reads more.

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And even if you are a monolingual English speaker,

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you should select a language channel. This is for all monolingual speakers,

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whether in English or in Spanish. Only if you are bilingual,

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you can choose to ignore this service.

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A quick reminder for those of you that do prefer to use English,

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Spanish is 20 to 25% longer than English. So please be aware of your speed,

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and if you have any questions or any issues whatsoever with this technology,

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please let the whole group know by means of the chatbox so that we can work

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together to address it.

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Thank you so much for having me here.

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We can go ahead and start the interpretation channels now.

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Ryan: Thank you so much, Valentina.

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And I am going to kick it over to my colleague Cassandra Bull.

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Cassandra: Great, thank you Ryan and Valentina for kicking us off.

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My name is Cassandra Bull.

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I am the policy intern at National Farm to School Network.

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I will be giving a presentation and then Ryan,

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who's introduced himself, will be moderating our discussion.

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So we are here with a stellar group of advocates.

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Our panel today features Abby Halperin from the Center for Ecoliteracy.

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She's representing California. Betsy Rosenbluth

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from Vermont FEED slash Shelburne Farms is representing Vermont.

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And then we have Ryan Parker, who is

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from FoodCorps representing Maine.

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So I'm going to introduce our organization and our "Who's

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at the Table School Meals Campaign."

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Then share some highlights from recent research we've been conducting

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on Universal Meals policies.

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And then we'll move into a discussion with our panelists, and

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then finish off with an audience q and a.

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Great.

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So many of you probably know about the National Farm to School Network,

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but our mission is to increase access to local food and nutrition

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education, to improve children's health, strengthen family farms,

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and cultivate vibrant communities.

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Our core functions are that we are a hub for information,

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for networking and for advocacy,

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and we connect people to resources to each other,

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and to policies.

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We are guided by our call to action,

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which is 100% of communities will hold power in a racially

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just food system.

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And this call to action is guided by our six community values.

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They are economic justice, environmental justice,

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health impact, racial equity, workers' rights,

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and animal welfare.

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And so this call to action and our values lead really well into

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our Who's at the Table School Meals Campaign.

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And so this is because we believe we need a system of school

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meals that serves all kids and also values the people who get,

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food to the table. So during this campaign,

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we've been creating resources to support what we call values

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aligned universal meals advocacy.

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And so what this means is that it's great to have access to school meals,

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but if they're not sourced locally,

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if they're not nutrient dense, scratch cooked,

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that support adequate labor rights and animal welfare purchased

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from historically marginalized farms and so on,

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we think that we're missing the mark. So universal meals,

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if supported by the right policies,

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can create a just and resilient food system for all.

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So this graphic shows how these three categories,

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local universal meals and values-based work together to

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create a just and resilient food system.

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And so this is how it all sort of flows together.

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Universal meals increases access and lessens administrative

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burden, which increases

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school participation in lunch,

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which increases the need for ingredients,

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which hopefully will be purchased from local farms,

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and increase opportunities for scratch cooking and for students to become more

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connected to the food system. And then we have this third bubble,

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which is community values.

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And so we're not interested in perpetuating the status quo of

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school food, right?

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We need our food to be produced in a way that supports all of these values.

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And when we say values-based purchasing, we don't mean all of these at once.

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That's really, you know, hard to do.

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So we want values to come from the communities that are doing the purchasing.

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What it really means is that we want decisions about food

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purchases to be made beyond, you know,

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price and even geographic location as the bottom line.

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So to back it up,

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as of July 2023, thirty-one

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states and DC have introduced policies in some way to

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support universal meals.

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And seven states now have permanent policies,

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and three states have temporary policies or had temporary

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policies.

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These are the seven states with permanent universal meals programs.

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They are California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan,

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Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont.

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And collectively these seven states

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represent 9.9 million students,

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which is about 20% of all US students. Which, you know,

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pre-pandemic, we didn't have any states with Universal Meals policies.

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So that's really amazing.

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And now I'm sort of going to dive into our analysis and

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something that we saw right away is that there's a strong connection between

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farm to school and Universal Meals policies.

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So if there's one thing I want you to take away from this conversation,

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it's that all states with permanent universal meals policies right now,

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these seven,

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they already had strong policies in place that support local food

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purchasing. In our world,

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we call these local food purchasing incentives. And so these seven states,

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I included the, the names to each of their incentive programs,

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which you can look back on and go to their websites later.

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So we were seeing this strong relationship and decided to dive deeper,

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and to do four case studies.

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So our case studies are Maine, Vermont,

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Colorado, and California. And we interviewed advocates,

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we read all of the legislation and lots of

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secondary sources to create these.

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They all have relatively the same structure.

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So they have a policy overview, a coalition overview,

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discussions of unique policy features,

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relevant farm to school policies and how they relate,

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top tips from advocates, and any insights on implementation

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if they're at that stage.

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So two that are available now are Vermont and Maine,

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and then coming soon in August will be Colorado's and

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California's.

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So just some insights when you look at the four case studies in aggregate and

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make comparisons, are that, one,

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each state had diverse universal meals policy features. Two,

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each state had unique coalition and advocacy strategies,

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but many advocates shared similar tips and had similar experiences

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in implementation.

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And then the third is that farm to school and/or

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policies that support values aligned purchasing are crucial for

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universal meals advocacy.

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So I'm going to get a little wonky for a few minutes, but bear with me.

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If it's not your thing, we will come back. Um,

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I really wanted to tease out the diverse

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policy features that I was seeing.

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And the first is that there's different ways to establish a universal meals

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program.

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So California established theirs in their big education budget

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bill that funds lots of things beyond just school food.

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Whereas Colorado's was actually voted in by public ballot measures.

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So Prop FF. And then Maine and Vermont went through the

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typical bill, single bill legislation process. But,

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Vermont's was introduced by a bipartisan committee.

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It's pretty cool...of agriculture.

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This slide sort of teases out that nuance further in a

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graphic way.

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But first I wanted to say that all of these four states,

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their final policy was not how it looked in its first introduction,

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and that's really nuanced,

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but I wanted to just say it and put a pin in it for later.

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But Vermont, for example,

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passed a temporary policy as a strategic decision and then

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passed a permanent one,

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whereas the other states all started out with permanent policies.

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The next sort of distinguished aspects between

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these four states is that all of them require maximization

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of federal funding. But Maine just encourages it.

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And that's contextual.

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All of them mandate universal meals

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to any school that participates in the National School Lunch Program

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except Colorado's, which is optional, which is wild to me.

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And Colorado also creates a new tax structure to fund its program,

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which is really interesting. And

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three out of the four states took steps to increase access

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by eliminating the reduced price category of school meals before

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going into full blown universal meals policies.

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So Colorado,

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Maine, and Vermont first eliminated the reduced price category to

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expand access.

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And then this sort of teases out complimentary programs that

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were introduced alongside Universal Meals policies.

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California's is the most robust,

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and that's partially because it was a budget bill, right? It's a big bill.

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But it included funding for kitchen infrastructure,

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food service staff training, increase in meal reimbursement

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that the state provided. It also had the...

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the General Budget

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Bill had the farm to school incubator grant established one year prior,

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and they funded evaluation,

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which is really cool, for their Universal meals program. In Colorado,

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in the one main bill,

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it included a local food purchasing grant,

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so it expanded on the one they already had, which was a pilot.

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It increased wages for food nutrition staff.

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It included grants for technical assistance.

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And for any school who has that local food purchasing grant,

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they need to establish a student-parent advisory board,

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to receive those funds. Maine's had none of this.

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It was very sleek, very clean,

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simple to understand, three pages in length,

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and that was a strategic decision as well.

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And then Vermont's was similarly quite clean,

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but it's worth noting that it was introduced in one bill, The

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Farm Fresh School Meals for All Bill,

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which included the incentive as well as Universal Meals.

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Those two bills were separated, and then the incentive was passed

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one year prior, and then Universal Meals was passed after that.

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The next finding is that each state

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had sort of different coalition structures.

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So most of them had one main organizer of the

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steering committee of the coalition.

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They all had formal or informal tiers of the coalition,

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so a leadership or a steering committee,

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and then a general membership.

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They worked with national partners, and they built the capacity of their

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coalition as much as possible for advocacy.

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Unique elements were that Maine's steering committee was quite

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small and nimble,

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whereas Colorado's was broad intentionally with different

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racial and ethnic demographics, and represented different

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geographic regions of the state.

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Vermont had a really interesting visioning process before

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any advocacy had taken place.

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Colorado funded their steering committee members,

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and they also focused on language justice and provided interpretation.

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Advocacy tips were really the same

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mostly focused on hunger, and youth, and storytelling,

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have a broad coalition, work on clear messaging.

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A lot of them targeted their research to different audiences.

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They all thought bipartisan support was crucial.

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They worked with lobbyists.

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They all had really great legislative champions that were already in

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relationship with their coalitions,

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and they use different partners' strengths to reach out to specific audiences.

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So for implementation, a lot of them found, who had it,

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that meal participation increased and stigma of

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eating lunch was reduced, which cannot be understated.

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But similar challenges were income form completion,

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longer lunch lines... oh, income form completion, it dropped, right?...

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Longer lunch lines, which means less mealtime,

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strained capacity because of the longer lunch lines, and strains on

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infrastructure.

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My last finding is that farm to school and/or

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values aligned purchasing were crucial for Universal Meals advocacy.

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And so I said it before, but all states had

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incentive policies in place prior to Universal Meals.

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And what this means is that they were already well poised with these

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partnerships in place to then mobilize for Universal Meals.

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Farm to school advocates

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also took on leadership roles in Universal Meals coalitions,

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and then lastly, is including these policies in either

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messaging or including it within the bill itself,

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strengthened advocacy because

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you could talk about the virtuous cycle of school meals,

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which Betsy will talk about soon.

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But basically it supported...

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you can talk about economic development, workers' rights,

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improved meal quality...

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and this gained bipartisan public and policymaker support.

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And it broadened the coalition membership overall to include farm

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to school aspects.

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And my recommendations for advocates are to integrate farm

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to school and values aligned purchasing in advocacy and in

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legislation if possible.,

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Also, if possible, to include supports for implementation in

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Universal Meals bills. And lastly,

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to learn from successful coalitions through these case studies,

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communities of practice, coalition websites,

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and just having conversations with advocates.

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So that's my presentation.

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I'm going to hand it back to Ryan who will reintroduce the panelists,

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and they have a really great set of questions to respond to.

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Thanks.

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Ryan: Thank you so, so much Cassandra. And thank you f

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for your work in putting

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together these case studies with advocates and coalitions and

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your analysis here today. I'm happy to

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to be talking with Abby, Betsy, and Ryan today. Of course,

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Abby's representing California with the Center for Ecoliteracy.

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Betsy is coming to us from Vermont with Vermont FEED and Shelburne Farms.

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And Ryan Parker is coming from Maine

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representing FoodCorps. So yeah, I would, you know...

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I'm just so struck by the findings that Cassandra shared,

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especially about how farm to school was an integral part of universal meals

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campaigns. So my first question is gonna be for Betsy. We, you know,

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we know that Vermont had really integrated farm to school messaging and the

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universal meals advocacy. So could you maybe talk more to this and maybe

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share any advice you'd give to states wondering if they should include farm to

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school in their Universal Meals policies?

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Betsy, you're on, you're on mute.

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Betsy: Okay. Thank you. That's helpful. Thanks, Ryan.

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Our legislative campaign was a lot stronger by integrating

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all of our requests into Farm Fresh School Meals for All.

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So it was Universal Meals, local food incentive,

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and increased funding for the Farm to School and Early Childhood Grants Program.

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And there were a couple of things. You know,

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it allowed legislators, who were either interested in ag economy and

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local purchasing to jump on board,

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or those who are really focused on childhood hunger and health,

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so it captured a wider spread.

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It also increased the return on investment.

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We talk a lot about as we're feeding kids,

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we're benefiting farmers, that win-win.

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And our senate Ag Chair, Agriculture Committee Chair, said at

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one point,

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you would only oppose this bill if you don't support children or farmers. So,

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that helped. And... as advocates,

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we weren't competing or letting legislators choose one issue over

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another. And I would say that it really,

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I can talk more about this,

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but it really happened by coming together and having a shared vision.

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We call it a happy ending. Like, what do we need? What needs to happen?

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And then together, when we articulate that, we can be really clear.

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It isn't either or, but it's these pieces together.

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So we all were on the same page with this vision.

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But it took a lot of relationship building. I mean,

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it started back almost 10 years ago as a network when we were developing a

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shared goal. And in that goal, it included Universal Meals,

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local purchasing, and food system...

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integrated food system education. And policy was a lever

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that built demand for those things.

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And so we've been working together along the way. And,

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and just to elaborate on this, you know, we all talk about the virtuous cycle,

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which in a very abbreviated way is, you know,

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farm to school,

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universal meals increases participation in school meals,

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which...and the excitement, the kids are excited,

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they connect with school meals, participation goes up,

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the programs are more financially viable,

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which gives them more money to buy more local food,

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which increases participation and the excitement.

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And it's this reinforcing cycle.

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So we use this graphic on the screen a lot that show how these three,

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components of the legislation really create the outcomes that we're all

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seeking. And that was, you know, really successful. And, you know,

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it showed up really well, like when we took leads...

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each of the main partners, so that's Vermont FEED and, um,

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SNA Vermont, and Hunger Free Vermont. And then a core

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partner in the campaign was NEA, the Union.

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And so while Hunger Free took the lead on Universal Meals, they'd get asked,

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"well, how is this gonna help farmers?" And they could refer back to our campaign,

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This Farm Feeds Vermont Kids --

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We could drop that link in the chat -- and see that over a hundred farms across

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the state were selling to early childhood programs and schools.

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And we had data that showed that schools with Universal Meals were purchasing

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more local product -- that got a little messed up in the pandemic.

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So by working together,

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each of our individual organization goals were really met.

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So anyway, my piece of advice would be lead with your happy ending,

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be really clear together where you're trying to get to, and don't give up on it.

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Ryan: Thanks so much, Betsy, and thanks so much for sharing the

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the slide on the virtuous cycle.

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It's such a great framing and a great visual as well.

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Obviously I wanna hear from, you know, from California and Maine.

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As Cassandra's presenting the case studies, you know,

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I noticed that perhaps the greatest difference in policy design was between

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Maine and California's policy. So on the one hand,

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Maine's policy was quite sleek, as Cassandra put it,

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where California has had a lot of different complementary policies built into

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the budget bill. So, Ryan, I want kinda maybe start with you,

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maybe you can provide a little bit more context around why the decisions were

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made in Maine around keeping y'all's bill sleek.

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Ryan: Yeah, thanks, Ryan.

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I guess it comes down to an understanding of how your state's specific

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legislature works, and they're all gonna be, you know,

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have certain similarities across the country,

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but the personalities could be different.

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And then just the way things work are different.

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So having an understanding or having somebody in your coalition who has an

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understanding of how your specific legislative process works,

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I think is really important. Uh, we happen to have some really great folks,

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in our coalition who are really connected with the way policy moves forward in

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the Maine legislature. So I think that's really helpful.

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I would just say that, you know, for us in Maine,

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we have committees of jurisdiction and they oversee specific agencies,

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and that may be the case in other states, I don't know. But for us in Maine,

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what that translates into is if you have a bill or a piece of legislation

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that dictates or guides more than one agency to do something,

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it's almost guaranteed your bill is gonna be dead in the water.

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Because the committees that oversee those don't like mission creep.

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They don't like to get confused, I guess,

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on who's in charge of what.

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And so we made the decision to just focus exclusively on

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Universal Meals, keep it very simple. We also, as you mentioned,

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already have

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actually a really strong local incentive purchasing program and

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a really strong farm and sea to school network and programming.

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And we actually already have supports for those farm and sea to school

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initiatives in both our Department of Education and our Department of

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Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry.

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So while we would always love to strengthen those,

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we decided to just focus on just Universal Meals and getting that, you know,

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across the finish line. I would also say that for us in Maine,

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and I'm sure this is true again, for legislators in other parts of the country,

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00:28:47.650 --> 00:28:51.550
but our legislature is pretty conservative overall. I mean, both party,

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00:28:51.550 --> 00:28:54.190
we have some independents, but both of

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our parties are pretty conservative. There are a few

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you know, hot button issues that tend to divide our legislature,

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but for the most part,

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our legislators actually work really well with each other no matter what party

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affiliation they have in a one-on-one context.

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And then within individual committees, they work really well with each other.

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So the more focused we can be on a specific issue and keep

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any other thing off the table that might derail the conversation is always

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really, really beneficial to us. And I would just lastly say that, you know,

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the strength of your coalition is really built on the strength of the members of

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00:29:32.930 --> 00:29:36.170
it. And, you know, as Cassandra mentioned,

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we had some really strong leadership in our state.

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I would just point to Full Plates, Full Potential,

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which is an amazing organization here. The advocacy

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00:29:45.470 --> 00:29:48.680
lead there is Anna, and then she really took the lead and

427
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helped us develop some really strong relationships in the legislature.

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So I think those are all really important factors.

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Ryan: Thanks so much, Ryan.

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Abby would love to hear a little bit more about the context around California's

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policy design.

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Abby: Thanks, Ryan. Like in Maine,

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our school Meals for All Policy had bipartisan support,

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00:30:10.110 --> 00:30:12.170
so we didn't need it in the California context.

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We were really pleased that it passed unanimously out of two policy committees

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00:30:17.790 --> 00:30:20.250
before becoming part of the budget bill.

437
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And part of this is that we were very intentional in using language like "school

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meals for all" rather than "universal school meals",

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because polling studies by the Center for Science and the Public Interest found

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that "school meals for all" had more bipartisan support.

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00:30:37.870 --> 00:30:42.370
And the comprehensive policy package that we were able to advocate for in

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California as part of our budget bill,

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was really key to building that broad base of support.

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As Cassandra started to mention, in the 2021 budget,

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we were ultimately successful in obtaining $650 million for School Meals

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for All, which included both breakfast and lunch,

447
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$150 million for kitchen infrastructure and staff training,

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and $30 million in both 2021 and 2022 for the largest

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farm to school grant program in the country. As we spoke to policymakers,

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we were able to speak to different components of this policy.

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As Betsy mentioned, for instance,

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we had a rural Republican senator who was also a family farmer,

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and appreciated how farm to school programs could direct funding to

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support California's agricultural communities. Together these investments

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have a potential to really transform school meals and get

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us closer to the vision where all students have access to free,

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00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:44.490
fresh, and local meals at school.

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Ryan: Thank you so much. I think one of the things that, you know, a common,

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00:31:51.130 --> 00:31:55.090
another common thread amongst all of y'all is, you know,

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00:31:55.950 --> 00:31:59.530
the coalition piece and like the coalition structure and how that's developed.

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00:31:59.830 --> 00:32:02.770
So, so Abby, kind of same with you. Um,

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00:32:02.780 --> 00:32:05.290
maybe could you speak a little bit about California's coalition,

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00:32:05.290 --> 00:32:08.130
how y'all engaged diverse groups for the campaign?

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Abby: Absolutely. Strong partnerships were critical to building a multi-stakeholder

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coalition. When we started out,

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our goal was to have a hundred organizations sign on to the legislation,

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00:32:22.570 --> 00:32:25.950
but we had over 200 show up to support.

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00:32:26.660 --> 00:32:31.590
They represented labor, and agriculture, and school districts, and health, and faith

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00:32:31.590 --> 00:32:35.470
organizations, and food banks, advocacy orgs,

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nonprofits, so many more.

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And as a co-sponsor of the School Meals for All legislation,

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The Center for Ecoliteracy worked really closely with our fellow co-sponsors

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who formed a core coalition.

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And that was the California Association of Food Banks ,Next Gen California,

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00:32:52.320 --> 00:32:54.540
the Tomcat Ranch Educational Foundation,

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and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurman.

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We built a broad coalition and each of the co-sponsors brought a unique

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set of other stakeholders to the table.

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I also really want to acknowledge our legislative champion, Senator Nancy Skinner.

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She's Chair of the Senate Budget Committee and played a key role in bringing

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these groups together with her long history of social justice and environmental

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00:33:20.140 --> 00:33:23.100
advocacy. Her Chief of Staff, Jess Bartholow,

483
00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:25.860
is an incredible advocate for anti-hunger.

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And Senator Skinner and her team recruited over 30 co-authors on the bill,

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00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:33.550
which is a quarter of the California legislature.

486
00:33:35.020 --> 00:33:38.640
And that really helped build the legislative support and momentum.

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00:33:39.560 --> 00:33:43.320
I also wanna acknowledge that school districts were our real champions.

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The school districts in the Center for Ecoliteracy's

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00:33:46.290 --> 00:33:51.080
California Food for California Kids Network provided a unique opportunity to

490
00:33:51.080 --> 00:33:53.760
gauge feasibility and priorities.

491
00:33:54.140 --> 00:33:57.400
We connected school nutrition directors with policymakers,

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00:33:57.430 --> 00:33:59.480
supported them in testifying at hearings,

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and elevated their voices in the press and on social media. For instance,

494
00:34:04.810 --> 00:34:07.650
a New York Times article featured Erin Primer,

495
00:34:07.890 --> 00:34:12.090
a school nutrition director who shared the story of a single mother who called

496
00:34:12.110 --> 00:34:16.530
her in tears when she learned that she made just a few hundred dollars

497
00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:21.490
over the annual income limit to qualify for free or reduced price meals.

498
00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:25.670
Media opportunities, social media kits, press releases,

499
00:34:25.670 --> 00:34:30.670
these all provided an opportunity to bring together the coalition and amplify

500
00:34:30.830 --> 00:34:33.990
their voices in supporting this historic legislation.

501
00:34:34.520 --> 00:34:38.430
We're going to share in the chat a link with these press releases and coverage so

502
00:34:38.430 --> 00:34:42.590
you can see who the members of the California coalition were and how the media

503
00:34:42.700 --> 00:34:44.590
responded to this diverse coalition.

504
00:34:47.130 --> 00:34:51.960
Ryan: Thank you so much for sharing, Abby. It's really important to,

505
00:34:51.960 --> 00:34:52.880
and I feel like so,

506
00:34:52.940 --> 00:34:56.600
so interesting to hear, about like how these coalitions emerge in in so many

507
00:34:56.600 --> 00:34:59.280
different parts of the country. Betsy,

508
00:34:59.520 --> 00:35:01.960
I know y'all had a very formal model of organizing.

509
00:35:01.960 --> 00:35:04.840
Maybe could you speak a little bit more about the process you went through to

510
00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:05.920
develop y'all's coalition?

511
00:35:07.260 --> 00:35:11.350
Betsy: Sure. Um, so we have an amazing consultant,

512
00:35:11.830 --> 00:35:14.350
advocacy consultant and lobbyist, Action Circles.

513
00:35:14.530 --> 00:35:18.030
So they have a model of organizing that really worked well for us.

514
00:35:18.170 --> 00:35:22.670
So I talked a little bit about this happy ending that you have with your

515
00:35:22.670 --> 00:35:24.870
partners, that you're working together towards,

516
00:35:25.090 --> 00:35:29.650
but the other piece that we did very early on with the core

517
00:35:29.720 --> 00:35:33.970
coalition is develop a set of shared principles for the campaign.

518
00:35:34.230 --> 00:35:38.560
So we worked out ahead of time agreements around

519
00:35:39.670 --> 00:35:44.040
what needed to be met in the legislation and what could not be compromised.

520
00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:49.140
So that when it was on the spot and legislators are full of good ideas

521
00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:55.180
we already had a foundation as to what we could say no or yes

522
00:35:55.200 --> 00:35:57.660
to. And it really created a lot of trust.

523
00:35:58.520 --> 00:36:02.380
It surfaced tensions early on, we could work through it.

524
00:36:02.600 --> 00:36:07.380
It allowed us to make quick decisions in the legislature, and it kept us

525
00:36:07.450 --> 00:36:11.780
from splintering as a coalition, you know, with different points of view.

526
00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:16.740
So I really recommend the shared principles. And I'm not gonna read them all,

527
00:36:16.820 --> 00:36:19.700
I could probably drop them in the chat, but a few things,

528
00:36:19.700 --> 00:36:24.260
just to give you an idea was, like, no student or family being shamed or

529
00:36:24.260 --> 00:36:25.820
singled out.

530
00:36:27.020 --> 00:36:31.260
A state revenue source should not be regressive and should not require cut to

531
00:36:31.260 --> 00:36:33.700
other important programs.

532
00:36:34.650 --> 00:36:38.820
That it should enhance the local economy through increased local purchasing,

533
00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:43.740
things like that. And investing in the capacity of our Agency of Ed to

534
00:36:43.920 --> 00:36:48.540
implement. So we did create a position for that.

535
00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:53.780
So for example, because I'm sure many of you have this, legislators say,

536
00:36:53.810 --> 00:36:55.260
well, it's a big investment,

537
00:36:55.830 --> 00:37:00.180
maybe we should just raise the threshold so more kids qualify, but not everyone.

538
00:37:01.030 --> 00:37:03.690
And we could very quickly say, okay,

539
00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:06.490
this is in conflict with our shared principles.

540
00:37:06.550 --> 00:37:10.490
It doesn't de-stigmatize the meal program. It's not universal,

541
00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:15.250
it's not equitable. So we could say no. And, and that really helped.

542
00:37:15.750 --> 00:37:19.090
The other thing was,I think similar to what Abby mentioned,

543
00:37:19.090 --> 00:37:20.170
shared messaging.

544
00:37:20.870 --> 00:37:25.810
And so we really worked together to rewrite the story of school

545
00:37:25.860 --> 00:37:29.560
meals and what it could look like.

546
00:37:30.500 --> 00:37:35.360
And there's some message frameworks that I think Cassandra could drop in the

547
00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:38.600
link... there's a link to what we ended up as our messaging,

548
00:37:38.700 --> 00:37:41.080
and we just kept saying it. All of us.

549
00:37:41.340 --> 00:37:45.640
zThe legislators started to use the same messaging.

550
00:37:46.340 --> 00:37:50.680
We looked at rewriting the story that was, you know,

551
00:37:50.680 --> 00:37:54.520
originally being told that the quality of meals was poor and people really

552
00:37:54.520 --> 00:37:56.400
didn't want their children eating them.

553
00:37:56.740 --> 00:37:59.960
And after a year that has turned around,

554
00:38:00.220 --> 00:38:04.960
and it was really more around equity and collective responsibility, that

555
00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:08.120
every student should have access to the same things at school,

556
00:38:08.120 --> 00:38:10.400
whether it's education or food.

557
00:38:10.860 --> 00:38:14.960
And it really kind of countered this idea that, well,

558
00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:19.520
individual parents should be responsible for feeding their kids. Because if you

559
00:38:19.520 --> 00:38:22.880
look at bussing, and sports, and Chromebooks, and everything else,

560
00:38:23.070 --> 00:38:27.720
that wasn't the case. So, the messaging, the consistent messaging, was really,

561
00:38:27.720 --> 00:38:29.800
really helpful for us.

562
00:38:31.740 --> 00:38:35.200
Ryan: Thanks so much Betsy. And I think kind of keeping it to the messaging, you know,

563
00:38:35.200 --> 00:38:36.520
storytelling aspect,

564
00:38:36.560 --> 00:38:40.720
I want to enter in like a kind of a quick lightning round with each of y'all to

565
00:38:40.720 --> 00:38:45.320
maybe talk to and respond to maybe some common questions or myths about

566
00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:47.320
Universal Meals, especially when, you know,

567
00:38:47.520 --> 00:38:51.000
advocates kind of experience some pushback. So this one's for you, Abby,

568
00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:53.760
lightning round. Real quick, real quick.

569
00:38:54.380 --> 00:38:56.720
So this is maybe something that folks have, have heard.

570
00:38:57.490 --> 00:39:00.200
"Isn't this something the federal government should be paying for?

571
00:39:00.700 --> 00:39:02.200
Why is this a state issue?"

572
00:39:03.740 --> 00:39:05.070
Abby: This is such a great question,

573
00:39:05.210 --> 00:39:08.870
and one we also got from California policy makers. Yes,

574
00:39:09.250 --> 00:39:13.630
it would be wonderful if a Federal Government were to pass school meals for all,

575
00:39:14.090 --> 00:39:18.870
I'm sure most of us on this call have signed on the letters and advocated

576
00:39:18.890 --> 00:39:22.670
for it. However, at the time,

577
00:39:23.090 --> 00:39:24.630
in 2021,

578
00:39:25.090 --> 00:39:29.830
it was very clear that even the best federal policy on the table,

579
00:39:30.680 --> 00:39:32.710
which was the American Family's Plan,

580
00:39:32.920 --> 00:39:37.870
would still leave out 42% of California schools. For

581
00:39:37.970 --> 00:39:38.910
key legislators,

582
00:39:38.970 --> 00:39:43.030
we produced individualized reports about the impact of school meals for all,

583
00:39:43.650 --> 00:39:48.190
and showed which of the students and schools in their district would be left out

584
00:39:48.190 --> 00:39:50.870
of that proposed federal policy.

585
00:39:51.570 --> 00:39:56.270
We also worked hard to design the California policy so that it compliments the

586
00:39:56.670 --> 00:39:59.990
existing federal funding for school meals. For instance,

587
00:39:59.990 --> 00:40:01.190
in this coming school year,

588
00:40:01.570 --> 00:40:06.150
the state expects to see $2.6 billion of federal

589
00:40:06.360 --> 00:40:10.230
funds go to school meals in California compared to nearly

590
00:40:10.410 --> 00:40:14.910
$1.7 billion of state funds for those universal school meals and

591
00:40:14.910 --> 00:40:17.550
increased state reimbursement.

592
00:40:17.650 --> 00:40:21.390
So that's how the federal and state policies can work together to advance food

593
00:40:21.390 --> 00:40:22.223
access.

594
00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:27.540
Ryan: Thanks, Abby. Okay, moving on. This one's for Ryan Parker.

595
00:40:28.720 --> 00:40:33.580
So again, in line with like messaging, storytelling, pushback,

596
00:40:33.920 --> 00:40:37.300
"Why are we going to pay for rich kids to eat?"

597
00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:42.230
Ryan: Yeah, this is another question that you might face. It's one that, you know,

598
00:40:42.230 --> 00:40:46.270
you can anticipate. It's gonna come from a certain, a certain,

599
00:40:46.270 --> 00:40:50.790
demographic of legislator, I guess. And what I would say is, first of all,

600
00:40:50.850 --> 00:40:53.630
at least in Maine, we don't have a lot of rich kids.

601
00:40:53.770 --> 00:40:57.990
So this is not something that we necessarily have to worry about. But, you know,

602
00:40:57.990 --> 00:41:02.110
before the pandemic and before our, you know, universal meals

603
00:41:02.180 --> 00:41:03.230
bill became law,

604
00:41:04.100 --> 00:41:09.030
most of our school districts were well over 50% free and reduced. So we,

605
00:41:09.330 --> 00:41:13.750
you know, as mentioned, we first went for getting rid of the reduced

606
00:41:14.120 --> 00:41:16.270
level or label.

607
00:41:16.610 --> 00:41:20.710
And so that kind of introduced the idea and gave legislators an idea,

608
00:41:20.870 --> 00:41:24.870
a sense of, you know, what are we talking about here in terms of population

609
00:41:25.170 --> 00:41:27.470
and who's gonna benefit from this? So that, you know,

610
00:41:27.470 --> 00:41:31.870
the pump was already primed in that way. I would also just share,

611
00:41:32.050 --> 00:41:36.880
one of the best champions we had for our legislation was, uh, Senator Matt Pouliot,

612
00:41:36.940 --> 00:41:40.000
who, uh, was a Republican leader at the time.

613
00:41:40.060 --> 00:41:45.040
And we also had Senate President  Troy Jackson who was,

614
00:41:45.060 --> 00:41:47.520
Senate President as I said. And

615
00:41:47.520 --> 00:41:50.040
the two of them worked really well together in a bipartisan fashion.

616
00:41:50.140 --> 00:41:53.400
But Senator Pouliot was really instrumental, I would say,

617
00:41:53.400 --> 00:41:56.560
in getting a lot of his Republican colleagues on board.

618
00:41:56.980 --> 00:42:00.760
And one of the sort of metaphors that he used was, you know,

619
00:42:00.760 --> 00:42:02.520
to make them understand, look, as a state,

620
00:42:03.020 --> 00:42:06.960
we already spend over a billion dollars on education.

621
00:42:07.140 --> 00:42:09.880
And so we're investing all this money in education,

622
00:42:09.960 --> 00:42:13.560
but that we're not giving kids one of the most basic things that they need to

623
00:42:14.440 --> 00:42:18.240
achieve all of the benefits from that. So it's it's really,

624
00:42:18.500 --> 00:42:22.880
you know, as Betsy said, a return on investment issue. And,

625
00:42:22.880 --> 00:42:25.680
you know, it'd be like buying a Ferrari and not putting any gas in it,

626
00:42:25.740 --> 00:42:30.560
it just silly. And then one thing that I would just bring,

627
00:42:30.820 --> 00:42:35.560
and one of the pieces that I was able to bring to bear for legislators, is I've

628
00:42:35.560 --> 00:42:37.240
been on my school board for the last six years,

629
00:42:37.260 --> 00:42:41.200
and so have a pretty intricate knowledge of the backend of things and how things

630
00:42:41.200 --> 00:42:42.480
are funded. And

631
00:42:42.740 --> 00:42:47.640
the reality is the way schools and education are funded in

632
00:42:47.640 --> 00:42:51.520
most states in the country, if not all, is through local property taxes.

633
00:42:51.860 --> 00:42:56.440
And so the reality is you're paying for it anyway. In our state,

634
00:42:56.500 --> 00:42:58.400
in the state of Maine and certainly in our district,

635
00:42:58.650 --> 00:43:01.520
every year we would have to allocate a certain amount of money from our general

636
00:43:01.790 --> 00:43:06.640
operating budget to offset the losses in our school nutrition

637
00:43:06.640 --> 00:43:07.260
budget.

638
00:43:07.260 --> 00:43:12.080
And now that Universal Meals has been in place for two years in Maine, this year,

639
00:43:12.140 --> 00:43:14.320
for the first time in at least a decade,

640
00:43:14.540 --> 00:43:19.400
our district has zeroed out that that line, so we no longer are providing that,

641
00:43:19.910 --> 00:43:23.040
additional supplement to our nutrition department,

642
00:43:23.420 --> 00:43:25.800
and yet they still are more than breaking even.

643
00:43:26.300 --> 00:43:28.920
So it saves everybody money in the long run.

644
00:43:31.080 --> 00:43:35.100
Ryan: Thanks, Ryan. Alright, last question.  in the lightning round.

645
00:43:35.310 --> 00:43:39.020
Betsy, his one's about the forms. So as we know,

646
00:43:39.020 --> 00:43:41.340
there's a lot of fear that if students get to eat for free,

647
00:43:41.340 --> 00:43:44.940
their families won't fill out income eligibility paperwork.

648
00:43:45.080 --> 00:43:47.780
So these forms are often used to determine, you know,

649
00:43:47.780 --> 00:43:49.300
other kinds of funding that goes to school.

650
00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:53.260
So can you talk to someone who would say,

651
00:43:53.520 --> 00:43:55.540
to someone who's worried, you know,

652
00:43:55.540 --> 00:43:58.140
someone who's worried that their school will get less funding overall because

653
00:43:58.140 --> 00:44:01.420
there's no direct incentive for families to fill out these

654
00:44:01.420 --> 00:44:03.220
income verification forms?

655
00:44:04.490 --> 00:44:08.620
Betsy: Yeah, well, my lightning answer wasn't, would be, I mean,

656
00:44:08.800 --> 00:44:13.020
it makes no sense to not feed our kids because we can't figure out the right

657
00:44:13.020 --> 00:44:13.853
forms.

658
00:44:14.040 --> 00:44:18.780
So we often said that our children should not pay the price and the adults can

659
00:44:18.780 --> 00:44:20.820
figure this out. So, you know,

660
00:44:20.870 --> 00:44:25.780
we're still figuring out getting people to fill out either free and reduced

661
00:44:25.780 --> 00:44:30.700
forms or household income forms. But I will give a plug that Vermont got

662
00:44:31.280 --> 00:44:36.000
USDA pilot approved for direct certification through Medicaid,

663
00:44:36.140 --> 00:44:39.760
and that's probably gonna be a game changer for us. You know,

664
00:44:39.760 --> 00:44:41.600
there's a lot of details,

665
00:44:42.060 --> 00:44:44.800
how and when that can work in a state,

666
00:44:44.900 --> 00:44:48.200
but it's going to work in Vermont and I think it'll take away that burden.

667
00:44:48.340 --> 00:44:51.720
But that's a little side note. But yes, for us,

668
00:44:51.980 --> 00:44:55.480
the kids shouldn't pay the price of that. The adults need to figure this out.

669
00:44:57.770 --> 00:45:01.270
Ryan: Thank you so much. So I know we've, we've got

670
00:45:01.830 --> 00:45:03.990
probably about less than 15 minutes left,

671
00:45:04.010 --> 00:45:06.270
so I'm just going to ask a couple more questions. We do wanna open it up

672
00:45:06.410 --> 00:45:10.070
for questions and answers. But, you know,

673
00:45:11.910 --> 00:45:14.670
I would like to just kind of maybe end on some questions about, you know,

674
00:45:14.670 --> 00:45:17.630
what happens if a state does adopt universal meals? So Abby,

675
00:45:17.710 --> 00:45:19.110
I want to kind of turn it over to you.

676
00:45:19.210 --> 00:45:22.750
Do you have any insights from implementation that you want to share or maybe

677
00:45:22.750 --> 00:45:24.390
some things that maybe your coalition's working on now?

678
00:45:26.220 --> 00:45:29.840
Abby: Thanks, Ryan. School Meals for All is working.

679
00:45:30.380 --> 00:45:35.040
We have heard from students across California that the stigma is

680
00:45:35.150 --> 00:45:37.600
gone, eating school meals has become the norm,

681
00:45:38.060 --> 00:45:41.480
and that free school meals are building community. In California,

682
00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:45.920
participation in school meals has remained strong, increasing to nearly pre-

683
00:45:46.160 --> 00:45:49.080
pandemic levels despite declining enrollments,

684
00:45:49.230 --> 00:45:53.600
whereas we've seen drops in other states after the federal waivers expired.

685
00:45:54.130 --> 00:45:59.040
We're lucky that California's policy funded evaluation through folks at the

686
00:45:59.040 --> 00:46:02.080
Nutrition Policy Institute who are collaborating

687
00:46:02.080 --> 00:46:06.160
with researchers in Maine to compare states with and without,

688
00:46:06.780 --> 00:46:10.600
and others to compare 10 states with and without school meals for all policies.

689
00:46:10.670 --> 00:46:14.880
Some of their early results are available and we're excited to keep learning

690
00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:15.713
from them.

691
00:46:16.020 --> 00:46:19.600
And the Center for Ecoliteracy continues to work with over a hundred school

692
00:46:19.800 --> 00:46:24.000
districts and the California Food for California Kids Network and beyond to

693
00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:27.280
support effective implementation of school meals for all.

694
00:46:27.610 --> 00:46:31.360
We've convened a School Meals for All implementation task force held,

695
00:46:31.360 --> 00:46:32.880
community of practice calls,

696
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:36.880
surveyed and interviewed districts about their challenges and successes.

697
00:46:37.230 --> 00:46:41.520
Cassandra mentioned earlier a few of the themes

698
00:46:41.540 --> 00:46:46.480
and challenges around time to eat, around staffing and labor shortages,

699
00:46:46.980 --> 00:46:48.320
and around the paperwork

700
00:46:48.320 --> 00:46:52.040
as Betsy was just discussing. In response to these challenges,

701
00:46:52.330 --> 00:46:55.480
we've produced a resource on success with School Meals for all,

702
00:46:55.480 --> 00:46:57.080
which we'll drop into the chat.

703
00:46:57.410 --> 00:47:01.600
We've held webinars with school districts to share best practices,

704
00:47:02.260 --> 00:47:07.000
and of course, our advocacy doesn't stop. In 2022,

705
00:47:07.100 --> 00:47:11.280
the School Meals for All Coalition advocated for a suite of complimentary state

706
00:47:11.720 --> 00:47:15.280
policies, and we were successful in securing over $2 billion,

707
00:47:15.350 --> 00:47:19.600
including $600 million for kitchen infrastructure and training,

708
00:47:19.970 --> 00:47:24.400
$45 million for workforce development and $60 million for farm to school.

709
00:47:25.380 --> 00:47:28.600
In this current year, things have been harder. California's facing

710
00:47:28.900 --> 00:47:31.280
a budget deficit of over $30 billion.

711
00:47:32.030 --> 00:47:37.000
We're pleased that California continued its commitment to fully funding

712
00:47:37.190 --> 00:47:41.720
free school meals for all and increased state meal reimbursement of nearly a

713
00:47:41.720 --> 00:47:42.560
dollar per meal.

714
00:47:43.510 --> 00:47:47.920
They were also successful in protecting the funding allocated last year,

715
00:47:48.190 --> 00:47:48.750
however,

716
00:47:48.750 --> 00:47:52.840
many important programs such as kitchen infrastructure and training did not

717
00:47:52.840 --> 00:47:54.600
receive new funding in this budget.

718
00:47:59.430 --> 00:48:01.770
Ryan: Ryan,

719
00:48:02.130 --> 00:48:05.090
I know you kind of have an interesting perspective on this, especially,

720
00:48:05.090 --> 00:48:09.450
you kind of mentioned that you're, you know, part of a school board, so,

721
00:48:10.010 --> 00:48:13.210
I feel like it's really important that we get more school board members in these

722
00:48:13.410 --> 00:48:14.230
advocacy conversations.

723
00:48:14.230 --> 00:48:18.010
Can you maybe talk to about how these universal meals has impacted y'all's

724
00:48:18.010 --> 00:48:19.250
school? Maybe a little more detail?

725
00:48:20.160 --> 00:48:22.010
Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. I would just say, first of all,

726
00:48:22.010 --> 00:48:23.530
in terms of the actual advocacy,

727
00:48:23.590 --> 00:48:28.050
one of the things that school boards are tasked with, so to speak,

728
00:48:28.190 --> 00:48:30.450
in terms of mission, in the state of Maine

729
00:48:30.510 --> 00:48:33.370
is actually advocacy on behalf of students and families.

730
00:48:33.670 --> 00:48:35.890
But most school boards forget that.,

731
00:48:35.950 --> 00:48:39.090
And a lot of them are actually very hesitant to take

732
00:48:39.120 --> 00:48:41.410
what they see as political stance on state issues.

733
00:48:41.990 --> 00:48:46.010
And because I'm very politically active and have been working in the legislature

734
00:48:46.010 --> 00:48:50.650
for a long time, I also am kind of a nerd about nuts and bolts of policy.

735
00:48:51.570 --> 00:48:55.050
I kind of looked up the rules for school boards and was able to get our school

736
00:48:55.050 --> 00:48:58.250
board to pass a unanimous resolution,

737
00:48:58.890 --> 00:49:02.090
urging the state legislature to pass universal meals.

738
00:49:02.590 --> 00:49:06.090
And because that happens so rarely, it really has an impact.

739
00:49:06.230 --> 00:49:10.130
So I would say getting school boards to take action is really important,

740
00:49:10.500 --> 00:49:13.770
especially because they're the ones that have to pass the local budgets and

741
00:49:13.770 --> 00:49:18.610
they're the ones that know firsthand how difficult that is or can be.

742
00:49:18.630 --> 00:49:21.530
But then I just wanted to share, as I mentioned earlier,

743
00:49:22.150 --> 00:49:24.890
our school nutrition program no longer operates in the red,

744
00:49:24.890 --> 00:49:29.810
which it did every year to the tune of $80,000 every year.

745
00:49:30.190 --> 00:49:31.330
We

746
00:49:31.330 --> 00:49:35.930
had to transfer from the budget $80,000 a year to make our nutrition

747
00:49:35.930 --> 00:49:40.090
department whole. That has completely gone away, and they are able to reinvest

748
00:49:40.490 --> 00:49:44.530
some of the additional funding that they're getting now that Universal Meals is

749
00:49:44.550 --> 00:49:49.010
the law of the land, and participation has increased. But

750
00:49:49.070 --> 00:49:52.650
on a better note, an even more important note, I think it,

751
00:49:52.790 --> 00:49:57.450
it provides the opportunity for further discussion. So in my school board,

752
00:49:57.550 --> 00:50:01.690
our longtime school nutrition director retired at the end of last year,

753
00:50:01.790 --> 00:50:04.850
and I was able to work with the superintendent because I developed a

754
00:50:04.850 --> 00:50:06.210
relationship around these issues,

755
00:50:06.630 --> 00:50:11.250
worked with the superintendent to rewrite the entire job description to focus

756
00:50:11.280 --> 00:50:14.210
more on scratch cooking and local procurement.

757
00:50:14.390 --> 00:50:17.010
And we were able to find someone that I'm just really excited about,

758
00:50:17.180 --> 00:50:21.730
who's got a lot of experience working with local farmers and doing some really

759
00:50:21.970 --> 00:50:24.810
exciting things in the kitchen. And she just started this summer.

760
00:50:24.910 --> 00:50:29.240
So I'm really looking forward to continuing this momentum now that,

761
00:50:29.240 --> 00:50:32.160
you know, she has some resources to work with

762
00:50:32.460 --> 00:50:33.800
and the support of our school board.

763
00:50:35.270 --> 00:50:38.690
Ryan: That's so wonderful to hear, Ryan. And it's

764
00:50:38.950 --> 00:50:42.010
really encouraging and it's, I think it's hopeful for the rest of us.

765
00:50:42.010 --> 00:50:45.650
And so I just wanna end, before we enter our q and a, Betsy,

766
00:50:45.780 --> 00:50:49.290
maybe you could provide some words of wisdom, some words of hope,

767
00:50:49.390 --> 00:50:49.930
you know,

768
00:50:49.930 --> 00:50:53.450
anything that you'd like to kind of share as far as last words of advice on how

769
00:50:53.450 --> 00:50:56.650
to maintain hope during the campaign process for other

770
00:50:56.780 --> 00:50:59.170
other folks that are still in the thick of this?

771
00:51:00.350 --> 00:51:02.560
Betsy: Yeah. For maintaining hope in the process,

772
00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:06.360
I would say it's really the long game.

773
00:51:06.780 --> 00:51:10.120
And it's taken us a long time. It didn't happen overnight.

774
00:51:10.500 --> 00:51:13.790
And so build your base, you know,

775
00:51:13.860 --> 00:51:18.630
give people ways to get involved from the simplest, small ways of just

776
00:51:18.630 --> 00:51:23.550
filling out a supporter call card, or sending an email, to showing

777
00:51:23.690 --> 00:51:26.750
up in an event, to, you know,

778
00:51:26.980 --> 00:51:31.830
showing up and testifying in hearings. And celebrate and appreciate

779
00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:35.750
along the way all those small gains and wins

780
00:51:36.620 --> 00:51:39.670
because you're in it for the long haul, I think.

781
00:51:40.050 --> 00:51:42.270
And even though we've passed this legislation,

782
00:51:43.040 --> 00:51:46.990
we'll be going back every year telling the story, showing the impact,

783
00:51:47.470 --> 00:51:52.150
thanking people, which is really important. So I think that's important.

784
00:51:52.330 --> 00:51:55.630
And the other, the only last thing I would say is, it's all about stories.

785
00:51:55.740 --> 00:51:59.310
Like people would repeat the talking points and that was important in the data,

786
00:51:59.930 --> 00:52:01.790
but it was all the personal story.

787
00:52:01.970 --> 00:52:06.350
So everyone who spoke, it was a personal story and the legislators

788
00:52:06.900 --> 00:52:10.430
were so moved, especially with the students sharing their stories,

789
00:52:10.500 --> 00:52:15.430
that they started to share their own stories from childhood. And

790
00:52:15.460 --> 00:52:19.230
that personal connection is what made the difference for people to say,

791
00:52:19.570 --> 00:52:22.070
we have to do this, we can't not do this.

792
00:52:24.160 --> 00:52:27.980
Ryan: That's wonderful. Thank you so much Betsy, and Ryan, and Abby.

793
00:52:28.110 --> 00:52:29.940
I definitely wanna open up the floor.

794
00:52:30.160 --> 00:52:34.460
If anyone here with us would like to ask the panelists a question,

795
00:52:34.490 --> 00:52:38.340
feel free to type your question into the chat. If you're comfortable,

796
00:52:38.340 --> 00:52:42.620
raising your hand, coming off mute, asking your question, we'd love to

797
00:52:43.480 --> 00:52:45.140
be here

798
00:52:45.200 --> 00:52:49.880
to kind of help answer anything that you might be curious about or wanna dive in

799
00:52:49.880 --> 00:52:50.713
deeper.

800
00:53:02.790 --> 00:53:06.590
Cassandra: I can read a question from Mike. It's,

801
00:53:07.140 --> 00:53:09.590
"I've always said it's cheaper to cook fresh,

802
00:53:09.590 --> 00:53:12.870
healthy meals and a bunch of frozen preheated meals.

803
00:53:13.450 --> 00:53:17.790
Is there any research to show how children's academic performance improved?

804
00:53:18.530 --> 00:53:23.070
About health now having a guaranteed meal in California?

805
00:53:23.290 --> 00:53:27.920
Do you partner with local chefs to teach, teach cafeteria staff, et cetera,

806
00:53:28.020 --> 00:53:32.430
et cetera?" Abby: I'll maybe start. Yes,

807
00:53:32.460 --> 00:53:36.630
there's certainly research, peer-reviewed research, that shows that when kids

808
00:53:36.630 --> 00:53:40.150
aren't hungry, their academic performance improves.

809
00:53:40.370 --> 00:53:44.430
And we've also seen research that shows that schools are one of the healthiest

810
00:53:44.430 --> 00:53:47.510
places Americans consume food.

811
00:53:47.570 --> 00:53:50.310
So there's an abundance of research on that end.

812
00:53:50.840 --> 00:53:55.830
We're working to provide supports to school districts to be able

813
00:53:55.890 --> 00:54:00.710
to serve and prepare fresh meals.

814
00:54:00.970 --> 00:54:05.470
We have a virtual culinary training that you can find for free on our

815
00:54:05.470 --> 00:54:08.470
website, recipes, things like that.

816
00:54:08.600 --> 00:54:12.710
We'll have an upcoming series of community of practice calls this school year

817
00:54:12.710 --> 00:54:14.830
with menu planning ideas and resources.

818
00:54:15.390 --> 00:54:20.030
I also really wanna give a shout out to our partners at the Chef Ann

819
00:54:20.030 --> 00:54:22.190
Foundation who's been doing workforce development,

820
00:54:22.310 --> 00:54:25.510
formal apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs,

821
00:54:25.510 --> 00:54:29.710
which are part of the budget bill and the amazing things that some of our school

822
00:54:29.710 --> 00:54:33.230
nutrition directors are doing to train their staff with the kitchen

823
00:54:33.230 --> 00:54:34.310
infrastructure funds.

824
00:54:34.340 --> 00:54:38.630
They're partnering with the Culinary Institute of America to do formal trainings

825
00:54:38.630 --> 00:54:40.310
in kitchens. And, you know,

826
00:54:40.410 --> 00:54:44.230
I'm hearing from them about how their staff have tasted roasted broccoli for the

827
00:54:44.230 --> 00:54:46.790
first time and had no idea broccoli could taste so good.

828
00:54:47.170 --> 00:54:52.110
And those types of trainings make such a difference to staff morale and

829
00:54:52.490 --> 00:54:55.670
to how they feel about their jobs and the food that they're able to serve kids.

830
00:54:55.890 --> 00:55:00.430
So yes, you're right, fresh food costs less than frozen meals,

831
00:55:00.450 --> 00:55:03.550
but you need the people and you need the equipment to be able to get there.

832
00:55:03.690 --> 00:55:07.350
And so we're just really lucky in California to have these supports.

833
00:55:09.230 --> 00:55:12.310
Ryan: I'd just like to jump in and just echo something that Betsy said that I think

834
00:55:12.310 --> 00:55:16.150
is super important when you're doing any sort of advocacy is, yes,

835
00:55:16.150 --> 00:55:19.270
it's important to have the research and the data in your back pocket,

836
00:55:19.690 --> 00:55:23.510
but it's the stories that really impact the legislators and policymakers.

837
00:55:24.050 --> 00:55:27.870
So you want to be able to pull that stuff up, you know, as quickly as possible,

838
00:55:27.930 --> 00:55:31.010
but if you talk to any teacher,

839
00:55:31.370 --> 00:55:35.610
anywhere in the country, about a student who comes back from lunch or recess that

840
00:55:35.610 --> 00:55:38.930
has not had enough to eat, that's all the story you need right there.

841
00:55:38.930 --> 00:55:40.890
They will tell you firsthand what is going to happen,

842
00:55:40.950 --> 00:55:43.770
and they can repeat that for any kid across the country.

843
00:55:44.230 --> 00:55:48.090
And then once you get them eating and get them adequate nutrition,

844
00:55:48.400 --> 00:55:51.570
they will tell you exactly what happens in a classroom, how much easier it is,

845
00:55:51.630 --> 00:55:53.290
how much more focused the student can be.

846
00:55:54.120 --> 00:55:57.250
Kids cannot learn when their stomachs are empty.

847
00:55:57.470 --> 00:56:00.650
We all know that. Anyone who has children knows what happens when a kid gets

848
00:56:00.650 --> 00:56:05.530
hungry. And legislators know that too. Most legislators, at least in Maine,

849
00:56:05.800 --> 00:56:08.290
have kids, have grandkids, you know, have been teachers.

850
00:56:08.790 --> 00:56:12.850
So making those stories make the connection, I think is super critical. Betsy: Yeah,

851
00:56:16.770 --> 00:56:19.850
there's a great comment in the chat about during the pandemic,

852
00:56:20.070 --> 00:56:23.400
the nurse commented on seeing less students.

853
00:56:23.600 --> 00:56:27.440
I think we all had that opportunity to have universal meals,

854
00:56:27.620 --> 00:56:32.400
and so find those stories from teachers, from school nurses, you know,

855
00:56:32.430 --> 00:56:35.920
from anyone in the school that could see the difference

856
00:56:36.060 --> 00:56:38.560
of the culture in the lunchroom and

857
00:56:39.030 --> 00:56:43.760
ability of kids to do their best and bring their best when

858
00:56:43.760 --> 00:56:45.440
they're well fed at school.

859
00:56:48.390 --> 00:56:51.330
Ryan: Thanks y'all. And thanks for the question.

860
00:56:51.330 --> 00:56:53.450
We have another one from Jennifer.

861
00:56:53.600 --> 00:56:55.810
"Knowing that this will be a multi-year process,

862
00:56:56.270 --> 00:56:58.930
what's your advice on pursuing small steps each year?

863
00:56:59.000 --> 00:57:01.330
Like getting rid of reduced, et cetera,

864
00:57:02.110 --> 00:57:04.130
or going for the full school meals for all each year?"

865
00:57:08.150 --> 00:57:09.750
Ryan: I could jump in real quick on that.

866
00:57:09.780 --> 00:57:13.550
Just my advice always for advocacy is always start with more than you think

867
00:57:13.550 --> 00:57:16.430
you're gonna get and negotiate backwards.

868
00:57:16.630 --> 00:57:21.100
I think the mistake that a lot of folks make is getting exactly what they want.

869
00:57:21.170 --> 00:57:25.100
Like, you know, when Betsy talked about the happy ending,

870
00:57:25.200 --> 00:57:30.100
you have to understand what it is you're actually going for and know that that

871
00:57:30.120 --> 00:57:32.620
is where you're gonna draw the line.

872
00:57:32.840 --> 00:57:36.140
And if you can go in asking for more than that,

873
00:57:36.530 --> 00:57:39.060
then when you negotiate backwards what you wanted in the first place seems

874
00:57:39.060 --> 00:57:39.893
completely reasonable.

875
00:57:49.550 --> 00:57:51.840
Ryan: Awesome. Anyone else wanna comment on that?

876
00:57:54.780 --> 00:57:59.630
Okay. We have maybe time for one more question.

877
00:57:59.690 --> 00:58:02.310
"How can community partners in food security help in this?

878
00:58:02.630 --> 00:58:05.750
I run the nutrition program at the local rural community center."

879
00:58:05.920 --> 00:58:07.910
Maybe some advice for them.

880
00:58:09.440 --> 00:58:13.810
Betsy: Yeah, I think find and be part of that coalition,

881
00:58:14.670 --> 00:58:19.290
and hopefully there is one. In finding those partners where,

882
00:58:19.950 --> 00:58:24.090
you all benefit from that, you know,

883
00:58:24.270 --> 00:58:28.930
end result and everybody has a role in that and brings their perspective to the

884
00:58:28.930 --> 00:58:33.810
table. So I would say wherever you are, is there a coalition there?,

885
00:58:34.020 --> 00:58:38.170
there certainly are partners who are interested in this to bring together

886
00:58:38.990 --> 00:58:41.970
and begin to plan

887
00:58:42.470 --> 00:58:46.170
how that can move forward in your state. So yes,

888
00:58:46.350 --> 00:58:50.330
and I think short term, write a letter to the editor.

889
00:58:50.570 --> 00:58:55.370
I know that sounds so old fashioned, whether that's online or in a print,

890
00:58:55.470 --> 00:58:57.330
it depends where you're living.

891
00:58:57.470 --> 00:59:01.450
But some way of just sharing your opinion of why this is so important.

892
00:59:02.320 --> 00:59:03.530
Call your legislator,

893
00:59:03.680 --> 00:59:07.210
have lunch with them in a school cafeteria and just talk about

894
00:59:08.590 --> 00:59:13.250
how different school meals are and how important universal meals are.

895
00:59:13.390 --> 00:59:15.900
So I think there's a role for everyone.

896
00:59:18.720 --> 00:59:23.120
Ryan: Awesome. Thanks so much, Betsy. And again, I just wanna reiterate to

897
00:59:23.180 --> 00:59:26.120
all y'all for being here with us

898
00:59:26.300 --> 00:59:30.720
to speak a little bit more about y'all's efforts and, you know,

899
00:59:30.900 --> 00:59:34.880
the connection with Farm to School, Healthy School Meals for All.

900
00:59:34.880 --> 00:59:37.920
This has been a really wonderful opportunity. I know we're getting lots of,

901
00:59:38.100 --> 00:59:42.320
you know, kudos in the chat. So, thank you all again,

902
00:59:42.320 --> 00:59:46.200
and thank you for everyone who's here with us today participating

903
00:59:46.350 --> 00:59:51.320
with us, and to Cassandra and Valentina our, interpreter today.

904
00:59:51.470 --> 00:59:55.080
Just before we kind of wrap things up, I just wanna invite everyone, you know,

905
00:59:55.100 --> 00:59:57.040
to join us, become a

906
00:59:57.200 --> 01:00:00.120
partner with us at National Farm to School Network. I just put the

907
01:00:00.660 --> 01:00:03.880
link in the chat, so if you're not already, you know, please feel free to,

908
01:00:03.900 --> 01:00:08.360
to pursue that. And with that, we'll

909
01:00:08.610 --> 01:00:12.360
wrap it up. Don't forget,

910
01:00:12.360 --> 01:00:14.920
we'll be sharing the recording, the slides,

911
01:00:15.300 --> 01:00:17.000
our panelists contact information.

912
01:00:17.020 --> 01:00:21.040
So if you have any follow up questions at all, you know,

913
01:00:21.090 --> 01:00:24.600
we'll be able to connect with you and please don't hesitate to reach out.

914
01:00:25.180 --> 01:00:28.480
So thanks again and have a good rest of your afternoon.

915
01:00:32.680 --> 01:00:33.513
Thanks everyone.

916
01:00:34.440 --> 01:00:35.273
Bye.

917
01:00:38.930 --> 01:00:42.430
All right, Monnette, go ahead and say goodbye. Bye bye.