Six school districts were recently honored as this year’s outstanding leaders and innovators in the California school food system. The awards, part of the Center for Ecoliteracy’s California Food for California Kids initiative, were presented June 28. State Secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross gave the conference keynote address to an energized group of more than 120 participants, including teachers, educators, administrators and food service professionals. The award winners listed here shine a bright light on a suite of simple but powerful ideas at the heart of sustainable education. Leadership Award for Innovating Farm to School Culture: Gary Petill, Nutrition Services Director; Fred Espinosa, Manager of Acquisitions and Production. The second largest district in the state, San Diego Unified has taken a whole-systems design approach to improving school meals. Procurement, food waste, deeper investment in staff, and connecting school garden crops with the cafeteria are just some of the ways their efforts are truly embodying their motto “Healthy Food, Successful Students.” As a model district for the Center for Ecoliteracy’s Rethinking School Lunch Guide, San Diego Unified is leading by example. Farm Lab and the DREAMS Campus: Mim Michelove, Founding Director of Farm Lab; Julie Burton, Coordinator of Innovation and Farm Lab Development; Lea Bonelli, MS, RDN, Child Nutrition Director. Through the creation of Farm Lab’s DREAMS Campus, a 10-acre farm where kids are able to learn outside of the classroom in an immersive setting children discover the impact of food on their health and the environment by doing place-based learning, design thinking, and research. They can also boast of having become the first USDA Certified Organic school district in the country.  Student Culinary Training: Ed Burke, RD, Director of Food Services. As Director of Food Services, Ed Burke has been a one-of-a-kind innovator for his district’s student culinary training efforts. Soon after joining the California Food for California Kids Network, his California Thursdays meal garnered attention from the press, showcasing the importance of what children eat during their school day. Burke is committed to California-grown ingredients, farm-to-table education, and the importance of CTE for high schoolers — many of whom struggle academically, but excel in his kitchen.  Fresh and Sustainable Kitchens: Brandy Dreibelbis, Director of Nutrition Services. Brandy Dreibelbis has been instrumental in helping the district launch a self-operating food service program, open a new central kitchen, and complete the first of 15 planned finishing kitchens throughout the district. The newly branded NOSH – Napa’s Operative for School Food Health — is the first self-operating food service program at Napa Valley Unified in over 32 years.  Foothills Fresh Program with Sierra Harvest: Brett McFadden, Superintendent, Nevada Joint Union High School District; Monica Daugherty, Superintendent, Nevada City School District; Aimee Retzler, Co-Director of Sierra Harvest. When two school districts and a local nonprofit joined forces, their efforts resulted in Foothills Fresh, a program that has been called a triple win for farmers, kids and the schools. It utilizes the facilities and talent at Nevada Joint Union High School District to freshly prepare meals for delivery to smaller districts in Nevada County, including Nevada City School District.  Riverside Food Hub: Adleit Asi, Director, Nutrition Services; Scott Berndt, Specialty Crop Food Hub Coordinator. The Riverside Food Hub is the first produce aggregation and distribution program ever run by a school district. This multi-sector partnership between public health, school districts, the city, and local institutions leverages existing resources like the district’s nutrition services warehouse, cold storage, and delivery trucks to provide promotion and distribution for a network of local farmers, and provides consumer education that makes the case for purchasing locally-grown foods. School kids proudly proclaim their meals are, “grown where I grow!”