The Berkeley Unified School District | PlantingProgress

One of the best examples

of school lunches and nutrition is The Berkeley Unified School District in, Berkeley, California. As a pioneer in the movement of school lunch reform, The Berkeley Unified School District has changed their entire lunch program.

The Berkeley Unified School District is one of the first school districts to combat childhood health problems by school lunch reform including cooperation with local farms and adding fresh vegetables and fruit to school lunches. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we’re on the path to seeing diabetes in 30 to 40 percent of today’s children if trends continue. Berkeley has responded by making the following improvements to their food programs:

Salad bars in all schools

Hormone and antibiotic-free milk

Fresh fruit and vegetables served daily

Almost all food is made from scratch

All bread and dinner rolls are organic

All other rolls are whole-grain

Swipe card systems in almost all of our schools

A majority of the food is now purchased locally:

Breakfast muffins

Whole-grain pizza crust

Sliced bread and dinner rolls

Salad dressings

25% of our produce

Organic salad bar at the high school

All hamburgers and hot dogs are natural and grass-fed

More information can be found at:

http://www.berkeley.net/student-nutrition-menus/