Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nutrition Policy Institute policy team, Christina Hecht and Ken Hecht, have partnered with a Stanford University research team and two San Joaquin Valley community-based organizations, Dolores Huerta Foundation and Cultiva La Salud, to help improve access to school meals using an iterative process of investigation, sharing back and discussion, and policy advocacy. The partnership's work has led to local policy wins in response to parent concerns, for example, adjusting meal service practices during the pandemic to accommodate families' needs, and reducing the amount of flavored milk provided to school children. Their work has supported the development and implementation of California's School Meals for All program as well as federal-level advocacy for a limit on the amount of added sugars permitted in school meals. The team has conducted their work in both Spanish and English and Spanish-language versions of their policy briefs are now available online. Check out both versions:

• School Meals: Kids Are Sweeter with Less Sugar / Comidas Escolares: Los Niños Son Más Dulces con Menos Azúcar
• Parent Voices: School Meals for All / Voces de los Padres: Comidas Escolares para Todos
• Parent Voices: Local Foods for School Meals / Voces de los Padres: Alimentos Locales para las Comidas Escolares
• Parent Voices: Summer EBT / Voces de los Padres: Transferencia electrónica de beneficios (EBT) de Verano

This work was supported with funding from the American Heart Association Voices for Healthy Kids, The Center at Sierra Health Foundation and the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund, Stanford Medical Scholars Program, Stanford Pediatric Resident Research Grant, and Share Our Strength No Kid Hungry. This work also received a United States Public Health Service 2021 Excellence in Public Health Award.