Food to learn, grow, and thrive

California is home to more than 9 million children, yet far too many struggle to access the nutrition they need to learn, grow, and thrive. The reality is stark—more than one in four California households with children (25.8%) experience food insecurity, with even higher rates among Black (28.7%) and Latino (31.2%) families. 

Our state has made historic investment in Universal School Meals and the SUN Bucks program to fight this childhood food insecurity. Yet many children are still going hungry because students do not have adequate time to eat these meals.

2026 Focus

In close collaboration with the Second Harvest Food Bank, we are building partnerships to co-create and develop a policy proposal that codifies CDE’s recommendations on minimum seated time standards for school meals. This proposal would ensure students receive at least 10 minutes of seated time for breakfast and 20 minutes for lunch after being served, ensuring the state’s investment in Universal School Meals can fully benefit California's children.

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Check out our SUN Bucks webpage!

Follow along for updates, Frequently Asked Questions, and opportunities to call our leaders to actions.

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April 22, 2021 • Tia Shimada
Child Nutrition Waivers Extended through June 2022 What this Means for California Kids On April 20th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) extended several child nutrition waivers for schools and child care. The waivers are available nationwide through June 30, 2022. Additional guidance regarding implementation was issued earlier this month. We anticipate that California administrators will soon provide details about the implementation of the waivers [...]
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Thanks to your advocacy, more children will receive free school meals next school year

April 8, 2021 • Angeles Nelson
Nourish California commends the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its decision to extend nationwide Community Eligibility Provision deadlines. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal program that enables schools to serve free meals to all students in high-poverty schools. The economic effects of COVID-19 mean more schools are now eligible to apply for CEP and many schools can receive increased reimbursement through CEP. [...]
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School Meal Math – And Some History

January 25, 2021 • George Manalo-LeClair
A look back and a look ahead at the movement to serve meals to all students for free School Meal Math – and a Little History Let’s start with a math problem:  What is 58 x 1,100? Answer:  Too many.  Read on. At the turn of the century (the year 2000), Nourish California staff were challenged to make it easier for low-income students to [...]
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Every Kid, Every Day

Food to learn, grow, and thrive.

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