School Lunch (On Pause)

School Lunch is on Pause

For one month, Robin Greenfield will fully immerse himself in school lunches, eating only food that is served in schools across the United States. From the most nourishing, to the most nutrient-deficient, and everywhere in between, he will experience the lunches that represent what we are feeding to over 20 million US American children.

At the same time, he will explore the truth in our school lunch food system by asking questions from the kids who eat the food, the lunch staff who serves it, the corporations that distribute it, the government that regulates it and the top experts who seek to understand it.

This solution oriented campaign will share what schools across the nation are doing to improve their school lunches, including the work of children, parents, teachers, school administrators and community activists who are dedicated to positive reform in the public school lunch system.

Seeds for Schools

We are empowering children, parents, educators and schools to be a part of the solution by providing garden starter kits to 1,200 schools across the nation who are inspired to start growing food at school.

Learn more and request seeds or apply for a garden grant here.

Why School Lunch is on Pause

A note from Robin April 24, 2024

School Lunch was originally planned for April 2024 in Los Angeles however we were not able to find a public school where I could immerse myself in eating 30 days of school lunch. We have paused this campaign until we can find a school that can accommodate me to immerse in this project during a future school year.

In the meantime the team and I are working on an extensive School Lunch Resource Guide that explores our school lunch food system.

This guide will help answer the questions: What’s in the school lunches? How and where is it grown? What is the impact that it has on Earth? Who controls this food system? What is the impact this food has on our children’s bodies? What are the challenges and barriers to transforming the system? This guide will share what schools across the nation are doing to improve their school lunches, including the work of children, parents, teachers, school administrators and community activists who are dedicated to positive reform in the public school lunch system. We hope to release this guide in the summer of 2024.

For those interested, I’ll share a bit more on why this campaign is on pause. When I brought on a team to pursue this project in the Fall of 2023, I was certain that we’d find a school that was excited for me to eat school lunch with them for 30 days. After all, I am contacted by many schools that want me to visit them!

I choose Los Angeles to be in close proximity to media for the campaign and because my team is located here. LA turns out to be one of the most challenging locations I could have chosen. We spoke with many schools and we had many that were interested and even multiple that seemed certain. None came through in the end.

I was so sure from the beginning that we’d find a school, that we had moved forward on multiple areas of production. We put in hundreds of hours of research and work ready to begin April 1st with a school. It just didn’t happen. It’s as simple as that, a misjudgment on my part.

I feel confident there are many schools that would love for me to join them for 30 days of school lunch. I am now opening this opportunity to any public school nationwide that serves the National School Lunch Program. I’d like to do this project in a future school year. If you are part of a school and are interested in Robin eating school lunch with you, please email us.