Famed chef and food activist Alice Waters on Wednesday helped announce a year-long healthy foods pilot program at Peres Elementary School in Richmond.
The program is set to bring The Conscious Kitchen’s locally-sourced, health-focused meals to the menus at Peres as well as Madera Elementary in El Cerrito for the 2017-18 school year.
It’s part of a new partnership with the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) that received unanimous approval by the Board of Education. The partnership allows The Conscious Kitchen to fundraise alongside Peres and Madera in support of the healthy foods pilot program.
The agreement marks an expansion for The Conscious Kitchen, which launched about three years ago at a school in Marin City. The program, founded by Judi Shils, executive director for Turning Green, works to transition school meals from the pre-packaged, heat-and-serve brand to those that are “fresh, local, organic, seasonal and non-GMO.”