Natalie Linden

Miguel Villarreal, Eat REAL Board Member and school food visionary, celebrated his retirement after 40 years as a public school Foodservice Director by dedicating a bikeraiser to Eat REAL this weekend. He rode up Mt. Diablo on Sunday, August 1st, with 10 pounds of sugar strapped to his bike – the amount of sugar Eat … Read more

Children need access to nutritious meals so they can learn, thrive, and grow. Unfortunately, this isn’t the reality for millions of families across the country.  The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated hunger and food insecurity while shining a spotlight on the inequalities in our food system – however, it also exemplified the power school meal programs have … Read more

The 2020-2021 school year was unprecedented. We are beyond impressed and inspired by the ability of schools across the nation to adapt and find creative solutions to problems never faced before. From day 1 of shelter-in-place orders and shutdowns, schools jumped into action serving millions of meals 100% free of cost to any child 18 … Read more

Today, California made history with a huge step towards increasing child nutrition access and ending child hunger. Governor Gavin Newsom signed in the new state budget today including funding for permanent free school meals for all K-12 students.  “Today… California! Tomorrow… the nation. Huge congratulations to the massive community of passionate advocates and leaders who … Read more

This week, Eat REAL is celebrating the California Department of Education’s Farm to Summer Celebration Week! Farm to Summer is all about sourcing local foods and teaching kids about agriculture and nutrition. Thank you to all the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option operators who facilitate this week of learning and healthful farm-fresh … Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated hunger and food insecurity across the country and shined a spotlight on the inequalities in our food system – it also expanded awareness around the power of our existing child feeding programs. With the help of USDA waivers, schools expanded their services to provide free meals to all students. Many … Read more

Summertime hunger is consistently a problem for the 22 million children who rely on free and reduced-price school meals for most of their nutrition and caloric intake. As schools come to a close this year, the likelihood that hunger will increase is even greater due to the growing food insecurity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. … Read more

As the school year comes to an end, we’ve been reflecting on what has been one of the most unprecedented school years. We have never ceased to be impressed and inspired by the ability of our schools to adapt and find creative solutions to problems never faced before. This year also brought new insight into … Read more

“Better Together” is a deep-rooted value for our organization. We know that the more support and voices we can gather, the faster we can accomplish our mission, and the sooner we can raise awareness that real food can help solve our human and planet health crises.  In 2020, we expanded our community and the movement … Read more

For Mother’s Day, Eat REAL would like to thank all the moms, mother figures, and caregivers for all you do – this year more than ever. Moms have risen above and beyond, taking on childcare, becoming homeschool teachers, carrying the weight of increased domestic responsibilities, and keeping their families fed during a global health pandemic. … Read more