LOCAL CONTEXT

The San Francisco Unified School District, which serves 6 million meals per year and spends $11 million on food annually, unanimously approved the district’s participation in the Good Food Purchasing Program on May 24, 2016. This was followed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passing a resolution urging the Sheriff’s Department (jails) and Department of Public Health (hospitals) to conduct a Good Food Purchasing Baseline Assessment on June 27, 2018. Most recently the Board of Supervisors, *unanimously passed* an ordinance codifying the jails and hospitals goals for improving food purchasing over the next 5 years in order to become a Good Food Provider.

HIGHLIGHTS

In less than two months time and with leadership from Teamsters Joint Council 7, a coalition of cross-sector organizations worked together to cultivate leadership from school board members, including lead author Commissioner Sandra Lee Fewer, along with co-sponsors Board President Matt Haney, Commissioner Shamann Walton, and Commissioner Rachel Horton, collect letters of support from over one dozen organizations and turn out an impressive cross-sector group of speakers to the board hearing including a student leader, high school teacher, and farm worker, as well as labor and animal welfare advocates and more. Public comment was followed by enthusiastic endorsements and support from the board members.

The San Francisco Unified School District began working with the Center for Good Food Purchasing in fall 2016 to conduct a baseline assessment of how their current food purchases align with the Good Food Purchasing Standards and develop a multi-year action plan, as outlined in the Board resolution. By the end of the 2020–2021 school year, SFUSD will have spent more than $2.8 million, or 37% of its food budget, on food that meets or exceeds the baseline criteria for the GFPP. Read more about this progress in SPUR’s article ‘How Are San Francisco Schools Doing on Their Commitment to Better Food?

San Francisco County Hospitals will meet the baseline by January 2023
San Francisco County Jails will meet the minimum by January 2022

The three largest purchasers in San Francisco will earn a Good Food Provider seal by January 2023.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED

Lead Partner:
  • SPUR (San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association)
Local Supporters:
  • ASPCA
  • Bi-Rite Market
  • CUESA
  • Community Alliance With Family Farmers
  • Farm Forward
  • Food Chain Workers Alliance
  • The Humane Society of the United States
  • Mission High School
  • Natural Resource Defense Council
  • Real Food Media
  • Roots of Change
  • Slow Food San Francisco
  • Teamsters Joint Council 7
  • Union of Concerned Scientists
  • United Educators of San Francisco

MEDIA