Values-Aligned Purchasing Collectives
Our program helps school districts join forces to buy better food for students. We combine capacity building, stakeholder engagement, training, and hands-on technical assistance to help districts develop the internal systems, skills, and confidence needed to participate in collective purchasing.
Currently, this program is available in California and Arizona.
- We are accepting new members in Arizona. If you’re interested in learning more, fill out our Arizona form.
- We are not currently accepting new members in California. If you’d like to learn more about future opportunities, fill out our California interest form.
Values-Aligned Purchasing Collectives
Our program helps school districts join forces to buy better food for students. We combine capacity building, stakeholder engagement, training, and hands-on technical assistance to help districts develop the internal systems, skills, and confidence needed to participate in collective purchasing.
Currently, this program is available in California and Arizona.
- We are accepting new members in Arizona. If you’re interested in learning more, fill out our Arizona form.
- We are not currently accepting new members in California. If you’d like to learn more about future opportunities, fill out our California interest form.
What are values-aligned foods?
Products or ingredients that are grown, raised, produced, or manufactured in ways that uphold ethical, environmental, and social principles. These principles include, but are not limited to: support for local economies, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, fair labor practices, supply chain transparency, and racial equity.
Some examples of values-aligned foods include products or ingredients that are local, organic, sustainable, regenerative, humane, or made by independent producers or owner-operated businesses.
In practice, this means that districts consider factors beyond the lowest price to make purchasing decisions in line with their values. They may choose to buy local apples, pasture-raised beef, and organic milk because these foods support students’ health and benefit the planet.
What are values-aligned foods?
Products or ingredients that are grown, raised, produced, or manufactured in ways that uphold ethical, environmental, and social principles. These principles include, but are not limited to: support for local economies, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, fair labor practices, supply chain transparency, and racial equity.
Some examples of values-aligned foods include products or ingredients that are local, organic, sustainable, regenerative, humane, or made by independent producers or owner-operated businesses.
In practice, this means that districts consider factors beyond the lowest price to make purchasing decisions in line with their values. They may choose to buy local apples, pasture-raised beef, and organic milk because these foods support students’ health and benefit the planet.
Our Goals
Increase the purchase and use of values-aligned foods in K-12 school meal programs
Increase the availability and affordability of these foods
Build lasting partnerships between districts and values-aligned food businesses
Boost demand for foods produced using regenerative agriculture practices
Strengthen regional food systems and value chains
Want to learn more about our approach to values-aligned procurement? Explore our nine-step values-aligned procurement framework.
Our Goals
Increase the purchase and use of values-aligned foods in K-12 school meal programs
Increase the availability and affordability of these foods
Build lasting partnerships between districts and values-aligned food businesses
Boost demand for foods produced using regenerative agriculture practices
Strengthen regional food systems and value chains
Want to learn more about our approach to values-aligned procurement? Explore our nine-step values-aligned procurement framework.
What You’ll Gain
Chef Ann Foundation plays an active role in the co-creation, implementation, and evaluation of collectives. Our experts help you every step of the way with:
- Setting up the collective: We help districts navigate legal rules and agreements through customized technical assistance.
- Monthly meeting facilitation with each collective: We work with collectives to develop a procurement strategy, research products, draft, post, and evaluate solicitations, and engage vendors.
- Quarterly virtual community of practice sessions: We facilitate training for school staff across the state to share best practices.
- Ready-to-use tools: We provide menu planning, forecasting, and procurement resources, and scratch-cooking recipes on The Lunch Box.
- Ongoing evaluative support: We help you analyze procurement data to improve your sourcing strategies.
What You’ll Gain
Chef Ann Foundation plays an active role in the co-creation, implementation, and evaluation of collectives. Our experts help you every step of the way with:
- Setting up the collective: We help districts navigate legal rules and agreements through customized technical assistance.
- Monthly meeting facilitation with each collective: We work with collectives to develop a procurement strategy, research products, draft, post, and evaluate solicitations, and engage vendors.
- Quarterly virtual community of practice sessions: We facilitate training for school staff across the state to share best practices.
- Ready-to-use tools: We provide menu planning, forecasting, and procurement resources, and scratch-cooking recipes on The Lunch Box.
- Ongoing evaluative support: We help you analyze procurement data to improve your sourcing strategies.
Scratch Cooking Opens the Door to Better Food Purchases
Scratch cooking is key to getting more value-aligned foods into school meals. When school districts build the skills and invest in the infrastructure to cook from scratch, they gain the flexibility and capacity to purchase more values-aligned foods.
We understand the transition to scratch cooking is a gradual, continuous process rather than an all-or-nothing approach. Our program helps school districts identify where they are along our scratch-cooking continuum and provides strategies to increase their purchases of a broad range of value-aligned foods.
Scratch Cooking Opens the Door to Better Food Purchases
Scratch cooking is key to getting more value-aligned foods into school meals. When school districts build the skills and invest in the infrastructure to cook from scratch, they gain the flexibility and capacity to purchase more values-aligned foods.
We understand the transition to scratch cooking is a gradual, continuous process rather than an all-or-nothing approach. Our program helps school districts identify where they are along our scratch-cooking continuum and provides strategies to increase their purchases of a broad range of value-aligned foods.
Vanessa Zajfen
Senior Director of Procurement
First farm-to-school specialist to work at the San Diego Unified School District in California, and a former farm-to-school regional lead at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Yousef Buzayan
Procurement Specialist
Former farm-to-cafeteria program manager with experience providing technical assistance to food producers and food service operators on supply chain logistics and regulations.
Emily Bonenfant
Senior Coordinator of Values-Aligned Procurement
Former farm-to-school educator and coordinator for a food access and farming nonprofit.
Lea Howe
Senior Director of Sustainability Programs
Former director at a health equity nonprofit with expertise in designing programs to support sustainable food systems and the implementation of values-aligned institutional food service models.
