Eat Real helps more students achieve academic standards
**Source: Descarpentrie, A., Goran, M. I., Lustig, R. H., Shlain, J., Ghosh, A., & Alderete, T. (2025). Association between the Eat Real school meal certification program and academic performance in California public schools. Public Health Nutrition. National figures reflect NAEP proficiency benchmarks for 4th and 8th grade students nationwide. Eat Real figures reflect the percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards on California’s Smarter Balanced assessment across grades 3–8 and 11.
Students at or above proficient for English Language Arts standards
Students meeting or exceeding English Language Arts Standards
pp = Percentage Points
**Source: Descarpentrie, A., Goran, M. I., Lustig, R. H., Ghosh, A., & Alderete, T. (2025). Association between the Eat Real school meal certification program and academic performance in California public schools. Public Health Nutrition. National figures reflect NAEP proficiency benchmarks for 4th and 8th grade students nationwide. Eat Real figures reflect the percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards on California’s Smarter Balanced assessment across grades 3–8 and 11.
Why this matters
Public schools are the largest restaurant chain in America — with more locations than McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Subway combined.
They serve 30 million kids, over 7.5 billion meals a year. And what goes into those meals determines whether a child can focus and show up ready to learn.
As school districts across the country face growing pressure to improve student health and reverse a generational decline in academic performance, this study changes the conversation:
The cafeteria is not separate from the classroom. It is a classroom.
“This research proves what so many of us have known for years: school food is the solution, not the problem.”
— José Andrés, Chef and Founder, World Central Kitchen
The solution exists.
We just need to scale it.
For Districts
Eat Real certification is free, proven, and built for your team.
Bring Eat Real to your schoolsFor Everyone Else
Believe every child deserves real food?
Help us reach the next million students.
About the Study
The study compared 49 Eat Real Certified schools against nearly 2,500 non-certified control schools in California, using a staggered difference-in-differences methodology — the same approach used to evaluate major public policy interventions. That means researchers isolated the effect of Eat Real certification specifically, controlling for other variables.
Led by: Dr. Michael Goran, Professor and Vice Chair for Research in Pediatrics at USC Keck School of Medicine and Director of the Nutrition and Obesity Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Co-authored by: Dr. Robert Lustig, UCSF pediatric neuroendocrinologist and co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Eat Real, Dr. Jordan Shlain of Private Medical and co-founder of Eat Real, alongside researchers from Duke University and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Published in: Public Health Nutrition
“I co-founded Eat Real because I knew the science. Now we have the peer-reviewed evidence to back it up. This is an urgent call to action.”
— Dr. Robert Lustig, UCSF Pediatric Neuroendocrinologist,
Eat Real Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer
What does Eat Real do?
Eat Real is the only doctor-led children’s health nonprofit working in the school food space. Our K-12 certification program gives school nutrition leaders the framework, data, and support they need to make school meals more nutritious, delicious, and responsibly sourced.
Free for districts
No cost to apply, no cost to certify.
10 Standards
Our 10 standards go above and beyond current state and federal nutrition requirements, reducing ultra-processed foods and increasing real ones.
Over 1M Students Reached
Our program currently reaches over 1 million students nationwide, with more districts joining every year.
10 evidence-based standards
Reduced Sugar
Menu Variety
Whole Grains
Sustainable Produce
Fresh Choices
Responsible Proteins
Healthy Fats
Waste Prevention
Minimal Processing
Real Food Education
Better school food isn’t a dream. It’s a decision.
For Districts
Eat Real certification is free, proven, and built for your team.
Bring Eat Real to your schoolsFor Policymakers & Advocates
School meals are education infrastructure. The evidence is here.
See the research
