Urban School Food Alliance Launches District Pilot Project to Revolutionize School Food Procurement for Healthier Meals

Efficient procurement serves as a powerful lever for driving meaningful outcomes in school nutrition programs.

WASHINGTON, October 13, 2025 – The Urban School Food Alliance (USFA), in collaboration with Partners for Public Good (PPG), announces the launch of phase three of its USDA Cooperative Agreement: the District Pilot Project aimed at transforming school food procurement practices to deliver healthier, more efficient meals to students nationwide.

Efficient procurement serves as a powerful lever for driving meaningful outcomes in school nutrition programs, enabling leaders and districts to achieve greater efficiency, improved student health, and significant cost savings. By streamlining processes and addressing inefficiencies, reforms can free up valuable dollars to invest in higher-quality, nutritious ingredients and meals, while also allowing staff more time to focus on strategic initiatives like market research, vendor partnerships, and innovative menu planning. The result is that more effective procurement leads to healthier eating habits and better academic performance for students.

This groundbreaking initiative will partner with five diverse school districts across the United States to test innovative procurement strategies during the 2025-26 school year. By addressing common challenges in school food systems, the project seeks to create scalable solutions that enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and promote nutritious meals for millions of children.

“School districts are on the front lines of feeding our nation’s students, and efficient procurement is key to ensuring those meals are healthy and sustainable,” said Katie Wilson, Executive Director of the Urban School Food Alliance. “Through this pilot, we’re not just identifying problems—we’re building real, actionable change that can be replicated across the country.”

The selected districts represent a wide range of sizes, locations, and demographics, ensuring the pilot’s findings will be broadly applicable:

• Epping School District (SAU14) in Epping, NH: A small rural district with under 1,000 students across 2 sites.
• School District of Holmen in Holmen, WI: A small suburban district serving 4,000 students at 6 sites.
• Meriden Public Schools in Meriden, CT: A midsize suburban district with 9,000 students and 13 sites.
• Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga, TN: A large suburban district enrolling 44,000 students at 68 sites.
• Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, FL: A large urban district with 225,000 students across 214 sites.

Each participating district will receive no-cost, customized technical assistance from procurement experts to diagnose challenges and design targeted pilots. Focus areas may include procurement rules, process improvements, revamping documents and templates, and specialized training. To support their efforts, districts will also receive $50,000 in grant funding from USFA, disbursed upon completing key milestones.

The pilot timeline is structured for maximum impact:

• Discovery & Design (September-October 2025): In-person site visits, stakeholder meetings, data collection, and procurement process mapping to identify opportunities.
• Implementation (November 2025-June 2026): Rolling out district-specific pilot ideas with ongoing data collection.
• Evaluation (June-September 2026): Data analysis culminating in a public final report sharing lessons, recommendations, and results.

Data collection and evaluation are central to the project, enabling districts to prioritize challenges, develop solution plans, and measure effectiveness. At its conclusion, USFA and PPG will release a comprehensive, public-facing report to guide other school districts and state agencies in adopting successful practices.

This initiative builds on insights from the first two phases of the USDA Cooperative Agreement, which gathered data on procurement challenges and opportunities. By fostering collaboration between federal, state, and local entities, the project aims to create a more cohesive national school food procurement system.

About the Urban School Food Alliance

The Urban School Food Alliance is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created by school food service professionals in 2012 to address the unique needs of the nation’s largest school districts. For more information about the Urban School Food Alliance, visit www.urbanschoolfoodalliance.org

About Partners for Public Good

Partners for Public Good is a nonprofit organization that helps state and local governments use key operational levers—such as procurement and budgeting—to drive public impact. For more information about Partners for Public Good, visit www.partnersforpublicgood.org

Media Contact: Melissa Mayer, Urban School Food Alliance, [email protected]