Driving measurable impact, one school meal at a time.
Now serving
1 Million students!
We doubled our lifetime impact in a single school year.
1,897
schools
Eat Real helps school districts transform their meal programs to serve real, nourishing food to kids — and it’s working.
34 pounds of sugar removed
per student, per year at Morgan Hill USD
98% locally sourced produce
at Natomas USD
123% increased meal participation
at Walnut Creek USD
78% minimally processed menu
at Coupeville School District
30 million
students
policy change
3 bills
passed
Our advocacy work translates local success into state and national policy, creating healthier food for millions of kids every day.
Eliminating harmful ultra-processed ingredients in schools
Real Food, Healthy Meals Act (AB 1264)
Eat Real co-sponsored AB 1264 (Gabriel), which removes the most harmful ultra-processed ingredients from California school meals. Backed by broad bipartisan support and strong advocacy from Eat Real and our partners, it passed nearly unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2025, improving meals for 5 million students statewide.
Removing unnecessary food dyes
California School Food Safety Act (AB 2316)
California’s Assembly Bill 2316 prohibits schools from offering or selling foods during the school day that contain six artificial food dyes or titanium dioxide. It represents a meaningful step toward protecting students’ health—and Eat Real stands ready to support policies that advance healthier, real-food environments for school communities.
“I believe it is about being transparent about what is in the foods we are serving our kids and doing what is in the best interest of children’s health and their ability to learn and thrive”
— Kristin Zellhart, Director of K-12 Nutrition Standards
Nation’s first added sugar limit — now federal law
Healthy Meals for Kids (SB 348)
Eat Real co-sponsored California’s SB 348, establishing the first-ever added sugar limit in school meals, which was based on Eat Real’s reduced sugar standard. The bill was so successful that the USDA adopted it nationally, improving nutrition standards for 30 million students in the National School Lunch Program.
“I thought, if there’s anybody who can inspire the senator, it’s Nora. And by the end of their visit, the senator said, ‘We’re doing this!’”
— Jessica Bartholow, Chief of Staff for Senator Skinner
Threading the needle between nutrition and academic success
By rigorously studying our model’s impact on student health, well-being, and academic performance, we make the case for improved nutrition and therefore, healthier, more delicious futures for our kids.
Eat Real and the Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group are joining forces to transform school food and improve kids’ health nationwide. Backed by a new grant from Ardmore Institute of Health, this first-of-its-kind research partnership will study the impact of healthy school meals on student performance, well-being, and lifelong eating habits.
Read the press release
Our partnership with The Goran Lab will evaluate whether the high-quality, minimally processed school meals served in Eat Real Certified districts have a positive impact on students’ test results.
Read the press releaseTransforming the school food narrative
If there was ever an industry that deserved a rebrand, it’s school food. We help districts transform the perception of their programs so more parents and kids feel great about eating lunch at school.
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