Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Chef Ann Foundation Awards Grants to Purchase Bulk Milk to 15 K–12 Districts

  • By Matt Jones
  • 09/10/24

The Chef Ann Foundation recently announced that it has awarded 29 grants to 15 school districts around the U.S. to go toward purchasing milk in bulk instead of single-serve containers. The Bulk Milk program is in its second year and provides recipients with the equipment, training, and materials required for schools to make the shift, according to a news release.

The USDA requires U.S. schools to provide milk with every breakfast or lunch served via the National School Breakfast and School Lunch programs, the news release reports. Single-serving milk containers have become one of the most significant contributors to food and packaging waste in schools, the news release reports. Bulk milk dispensers allow students to pour their own desired amount, cutting down on both the 45 million gallons of liquid milk discarded annually in schools, as well as their containers.

“We had more than 360,000 fewer cartons go into the landfill last year,” said Beth Brewster, Supervisor of Food Services at Caroline County School in Maryland. “There has been less [liquid milk] waste as well, since the students only take the amount they want and actually drink it.”

According to the news release, the grants were awarded to Petersburg School District, Alaska; Willows Unified School District, Calif.; Ocean View School District, Calif.; San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, Calif.; Shady Creek Outdoor School, Calif.; Santa Clara Unified School District, Calif.; Weld County School District, Colo.; Colorado Charter School Institute, Colo.; Cannon Falls Independent School District, Minn.;  Minneapolis Public School District, Minn.; Explore Academy Charter School, N.M.; Ithaca School District, N.Y.; Groton Central School District, N.Y.; Franklin Special School District, Tenn.; Suffolk Public School District, Va.

Funding for the grant came with support from Elevance Health Foundation and the Posner Foundation, the news release reports.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Vanderbilt to Partner with ABM for Campus Preservation and Modernization

    Vanderbilt University recently announced that it has selected ABM Performance Solutions for a preservation and modernization project at its New York City campus, according to a news release. ABM will deliver its end-to-end ABM Performance Solutions (APS) model to manage critical operations during renovation and maintenance.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • Moline-Coal Valley School District to Consolidate Two Schools into New Facility

    The Moline-Coal Valley School District in Moline, Ill., recently broke ground on a new elementary school that will consolidate the students and staff from two existing schools, according to local news. Robert Ontiveros Elementary School will serve as the new home for Lincoln-Irving Elementary School and Willard Elementary School.