Late last month the San Francisco Unified School District became the second school district in the nation—following Los Angeles Unified School District—to adopt the GFPP and in doing so has committed to providing higher-quality and more sustainable food to the children of San Francisco.

Farm Forward promotes food choices that minimize farmed animal suffering, and our partnership with the Center enables us to leverage the buying power of institutions and governments to change the way America eats and farms. By helping major groups like San Francisco schools move their supply chains to higher-quality providers we are improving the availability of better animal products to average consumers.

One of the ways we’re already leveraging large organizations is throughBuyingPoultry—our guide to identifying and purchasing higher-welfare poultry—which has emerged as an invaluable tool for institutions seeking to improve their supply chains. Just like consumers, large institutions need guidance and expertise to help them identify products and practices that align with their values. BuyingPoultry is leading major groups to make better purchasing decisions. This will ultimately impact overall demand for higher-welfare products, and our partnership with the Center is doing the same. Perhaps Alexa Delwiche, Executive Director of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, put it best when she said:

“Our work with schools and other public institutions not only aims to improve conditions today but helps establish new cultural norms around the treatment of farmed animals. Ultimately, as institutions work together they will play a major role in building new models of farming for the future.”

We applaud San Francisco for adopting the policy and for taking the first step toward improving animal welfare within their supply chain. Farm Forward is working hard to expand this important work to include even more schools, universities, and businesses in our fight to end factory farming and improve welfare for billions of animals.