Food Equity And the Avocado Problem: CPA Co-op's Food Service Program

It all started with an avocado. I was a teacher in Detroit with a classroom door that didn’t lock and an unavoidable open door policy. Students sought refuge from the lunchtime fray in my quiet classroom, and thus our “Lunch Bunch” was born. 

Rarely did my students bring cafeteria food with them. Their roulette wheel of excuses included: “That food is nasty” or “I couldn’t even tell what it was” or “All I like is the salad.” Some would skip lunch altogether, as I watched others eat starchy or sugary snacks with little to no nutritional value. 

One day I treated myself to an avocado as students worked and relaxed. I salted it just a bit, and was ready to spoon it directly from the rind when I looked up and saw a dozen eyes watching my every move. “What in the heck are you eating, Ms. Legel?” They asked me. An avocado! You know, guacamole? Like on a taco? 

Blank stares across the board. I dutifully scooped just a bite for each of my curious pupils and was met in kind with a resounding: Um. Thanks, but no thanks.

That year we endured shootings outside that kept us on lockdown, power outages and boiler issues; students slept in cars and went in and out of correction centers. But it is this avocado story that first springs to mind when I think of my students and the inequities they faced on a daily basis.

Food Equity And the Avocado Problem

As a purchasing co-op, we have long heard about this program from our charter school leaders. School food service can be expensive and a heavy administrative burden. In its genesis, food service in schools was intended for large multi-facility school districts. Today, many of our DC charter schools are single-site or small-network and don’t have the same central office capacity. Charter schools want to offer delicious and nutritious food that students will enjoy, but challenges and frustrations remain.

The avocado problem--here defined as the lack of access to nutritious foods in low income schools--is pervasive. In 2018, Feeding America found 81,400 people are food insecure in DC. Half (47%) of DC students are identified as at risk of poverty and food insecurity (TANF, SNAP, experiencing homelessness, CFSA). And while a number of initiatives have attempted to address the impact of poverty in the region, food deserts still remain. With so many students dependent on school for more than just an education, these nutrition programs take on additional significance. 

It’s not just CPA and school administrators that care about school lunch - students are passionate about what they’re being served. They want food that looks and tastes good, that keeps them nourished for a day of active learning, and they miss their chocolate milk! We’ve all heard school lunch horror stories, and may even have some of our own. Students once described their lunch (chicken nuggets) as “both soggy and hard at the same time” and school lunches are notorious for being stereotypical slop. This leads to abysmal participation rates, reduced federal funding, and can be connected to academic achievement. 

In response to these issues, CPA Co-op began exploring the possibility of building a food service program in 2019 in partnership with schools, vendors, non profits, and the state agency. We began with a simple question: Is there a way to support schools in getting better food at affordable prices so that more students in DC are eating healthier? Midway through 2020 and nearing the end of the first group RFP process, the answer is a resounding yes.

Here’s the timeline of how we built CPA Co-op’s Food Service Program

This spring, we launched a group RFP for food services in DC. It hasn’t been easy or straightforward (coordinating taste tests amidst COVID-19 was a particular challenge), but with the RFP coming to a close, CPA’s purchasing group has taken a significant step toward increasing food equity for charter school students in DC. And in directing this RFP process, I am excited to build pathways for more schools and more students to have access to nutritious foods, hopefully even avocados.

Food for Ongoing Thought

Want to talk about food equity and stay up to date with the latest on CPA Co-op’s food service program? Email me at: shelby@cpa.coop