Real Food for Kids

Chefs Feeding Families (CFF) is a collaborative between Real Food for Kids and the hospitality industry to provide chef-inspired plant-forward meals and meal kits to families facing nutrition insecurity and create employment opportunities in D.C.-area restaurants. Launched at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to complement school meal distribution, the program continues to serve children and families throughout the Greater Washington Region with nourishing foods and nutrition literacy collateral to support healthy eating behaviors.

The Chef Exchange Program (CEP) aligns the sister industries of hospitality and school food through sharing best practices, increasing chef-inspired, plant-based and plant-forward options on school menus, and better engaging students and families to increase school meal participation. The program pairs school nutrition professionals with chefs from the hospitality industry to collaborate on new recipes and share best practices, resulting in recipes that can be produced in schools, restaurants and homes. The program seeks to blur the lines between school food, restaurant food and home food to create a culture of healthy food.

The SNAP Ambassador Program (launched in June 2021) trains individuals in key community positions, such as school social workers and multi-lingual liaisons, affordable housing resident managers, food pantry staff and volunteers, to provide information on SNAP, address misinformation and fears, and support residents with the SNAP enrollment process. Following certification through an online training SNAP Ambassadors volunteer at enrollment clinics and outreach events as well as support families within schools and housing settings. The program serves as outreach for the Department of Human Services.

Advocacy - Real Food for Kids advocates for and has won positive changes to school food policies and has generated institutionalized support for our goal of healthy school food as a critical component of children's wellness and academic success. Current activities focus on increasing access to healthful foods and integrating nutrition education inside and outside school walls to build a population of healthy eaters.

Fresh Food Explorers - is an eight-week nutrition education program for preschoolers from low income communities, at greater risk of developing obesity and related health conditions as a result of diet. The program focuses on building a greater acceptance of vegetables to increase consumption at school and at home. A series of video lessons is paired with hands-on activities to reinforce lesson concepts and food literacy, complemented by parent educational materials to support increased consumption of vegetables in the home.

Culinary Challenge - Now in its tenth year, the Real Food for Kids Culinary Challenge is an opportunity for students to play a change-maker role in improving what's on the menu in their cafeterias. This five-month intensive co-curricular program between RFFK and Family and Consumer Sciences educators puts Middle and High School students in the shoes of the school nutrition professionals to create a healthy, delicious, and appealing lunch, breakfast, or snack that meets strict USDA nutrition and cost guidelines. The Challenge culminates in a district wide competition. Winning dishes are adapted by school districts throughout the D.C. region and served to thousands of students. High standards of taste, presentation and originality have inspired our restaurant partners to adapt winning dishes for their own customers.