Meet Aaron Smith

Board Director
Aaron Smith is the Director Of Culinary Services for Seattle Public Schools. Aaron holds a Marketing Degree from Illinois State University and attended Le Cordon Bleu. Early in his career he worked for the Google Affiliate marketing department before serving as a community outreach specialist for AmeriCorps. Aaron’s first position in school food was as district chef for Rockford Public Schools. He then served as assistant director for Hamilton County, Tennessee where he was responsible for all operations, which include strategic planning, department compliance (state and federal), increasing efficiency within the department.
Aaron is passionate about school nutrition because of the opportunity to help expose students to nutritious meals and to different cultures through food. He believes that school lunches can be used as another form of education for students.
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The latest news and headlines from Urban School Food Alliance
TIME: Why It’s So Hard to Make School Lunches Healthier
Aug 25, 2025
Students at the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District in California dine on locally sourced fruits and...
IDFA: Dairy Companies Slash Added Sugars by Nearly 60% in School Milk as New School Year Begins
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“The Urban School Food Alliance applauds the work of the IDFA and milk processors for continuing to put student...
Local10: What’s for lunch this year at Broward County public schools?
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“We prepare healthy, balanced meals so that our students have that every school day,” Broward County Public...
FSD: K-12 operators share their best practices when operating a feeding site during a disaster
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When disaster strikes, school nutrition teams are often the ones on the frontlines feeding those in the...