A publication in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior by Nutrition Policy Institute researchers and collaborators exploring school food authorities perspectives on the impact of deimplementing Universal Free School Meal policies was voted by the journal as a Best Paper finalist.
All articles in a year published by the Journal were evaluated by a committee who selected the top articles to be voted on by their Board of Editors. Articles were evaluated for the importance of the problem addressed, their contribution to knowledge and understanding, innovativeness and creativity, quality of the research design, and quality of the writing and presentation of the report. The Journal will be acknowledging this accomplishment at the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior 2026 International Conference in Washington, DC during the Awards ceremony on Friday, July 31, 2026 from 4:30- 5:30 p.m. ET.
The article, Impact of Deimplementing Universal Free School Meals: School Food Authority Perspectives, was published in November 2025 by Juliana F.W. Cohen from Harvard and Merrimack College along with NPI researchers Monica D. Zuercher, Dania Orta-Aleman, Christina A. Hecht, Ken Hecht, Lorrene Ritchie and Wendi Gosliner and Leah E. Chapman from Merrimak College, Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, from Arizona State University, Deborah A. Olarte from New York University, Anisha I. Patel from Stanford University, Michele Polacsek from University of New England, and Marlene B. Schwartz from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut.
Learn more about the study, which was funded by a grant from Healthy Eating Research and California General Fund SB 170. Learn more about NPI’s School Meals for All research.