Good, healthy food has lots of benefits, including giving busy students the energy and resources they need to be successful. 

We were introduced to Chef Ann Cooper when she came as a guest speaker to the Fall course, Improving our Food Systems Through Value-Based Supply Chains. Chef Ann is the founder of the Chef Ann Foundation, which she leverages to improve nutrition and food education in K-12 schools across the country. The foundation is dedicated to providing kids with healthy, delicious meals, exposing them to a variety of foods, and thus improving their learning ability.

Chef Ann graduated from The Culinary Institute of America then worked on cruise ships and traveled around the world learning about food cultures. From there, she worked in hotels, served catering parties 20,000 strong, and even cooked for the Grateful Dead when they were on tour. She was an early proponent of sustainable farm-to-table practices, culminating in her book, Bitter Harvest.  

So, how did she end up getting into school food? To start, she spent a lot of time doing “philanthropic” work that made her realize the value of feeding kids real, fresh, whole food, which goes hand and hand with sustainability. We were inspired by Chef Ann’s story because she addresses a crucial need in the community—providing farm-fresh meals to K-12 schools in ways that support the sustainability of the land and environment. It’s compelled us to use our business degrees to explore careers in food systems.

She shared, “I was running all over the country, basically feeding rich people, you know, my chef dreams.… I came to understand and believe that feeding kids was the most important thing we could do.” 

She talked with us about getting small and achievable wins to make incremental improvements in school food, starting with increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables and less highly processed foods.

“We may not be able to make the food fully organic and regenerative, but let’s at least start with 50% of the plate being plant-based. Or just whole ingredients instead of ultra-processed foods. Whole grains can be inexpensive, taste really good and healthy, and still have a high caloric content… It’s really about having a knowledgeable staff and the right equipment.”

Healthy food access and nutrition matters in a child’s development and their ability to focus in school. Chef Ann emphasizes that food is fuel. The effect is measurable. She recalls a story about a little girl who didn’t speak up in class until after lunch. Once the school implemented a free breakfast program, she started participating in class in the morning. Such differences have been seen district-wide in her work leading the Boulder Unified School District Nutrition Services team. 

Beyond the cafeteria, Chef Ann wants kids to improve their overall relationship with food and increase the likelihood that they will be open to trying a variety of healthier options in the cafeteria. Although her foundation has been successful in getting more scratch cooking into schools, it’s been hard to transform school nutrition nationwide. Chef Ann remains optimistic, stating that parents and nonprofits will continue to care about improving children’s access to fresh, healthy food, and she continues to be encouraged by the results she’s seen in schools.