Urban School Food Alliance welcomes Gwinnett County Public Schools to membership

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2024 – The Urban School Food Alliance, a collaborative of the largest school districts in the United States, is pleased to announce that it will expand its membership to 19 districts with the addition Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS).

“We are excited to welcome GCPS to the Alliance,” said Dr. Katie Wilson, Executive Director of the Urban School Food Alliance. “Their dedication to advancing school nutrition and their innovative solutions for large-scale food programs will strengthen our efforts to ensure that students across the country benefit from nutritious and sustainable food options.”

GCPS is the largest school district in Georgia, with more than 182,000 students across 135 campuses. GCPS School Nutrition serves 30 million meals each year across all programs, with an annual procurement budget of nearly $80 million.

“Being a large, urban school district presents challenges and opportunities that are unique to large-sized school districts,” said Ken Yant, Executive Director of School Nutrition at Gwinnett County Public Schools. “Joining the Urban School Food Alliance allows us to collaborate, engage, learn, and share best practices with other large school districts across the country. We are continually looking for ways to enhance and improve our program so that our students have access to quality nutritious school meals every day, and this provides us with a tremendous opportunity to elevate our program for our students.”

The Urban School Food Alliance is a data-driven nonprofit founded in 2012 by school nutrition professionals with a mission to change the landscape of child nutrition through strategic procurement, evidence-informed practices, and by leveraging its collective voice to advocate for policies that support programs and students. The Alliance is dedicated to fostering a collaborative environment where members can learn from one another and drive positive change.

“As one of the largest and most diverse school districts in the country, GCPS brings new perspective and valuable experience to this incredible group,” said Dr. Wilson.

In addition to a robust farm to school program that served more than 1.4 million pounds of local produce during the 23-24 SY, GCPS School Nutrition has created new programs to include employees in planning and decision making in recent years. It established three menu councils, representing elementary, middle, and high schools, to provide input and expertise during the menu planning process.

“We have found it is critical to get their buy-in with the menu planning on the frontend, since they are the ones who implement it at the local school level,” said Yant.

School Nutrition also formally established a Manager’s Advisory Council comprised of 20 managers and the central office team. This allows leadership to hear directly from managers and address any issues or concerns that may arise in schools.

“They are great partners as we continually work to improve program efficiency and effectiveness,” said Yant. “During the annual back-to-school in-service, we publicly recognize these employees for their contributions to our program.”