School Lunch Delivery Services

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3 parent questions ▼
Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Parent Q&A

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  • School lunch for private schools

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    Oct 19, 2023

    I’m looking for a school lunch program for my daughters private elementary and middle school in Berkeley. The school has tried School Foodies, Choice Lunch and School Eatery without success.
     

    They are a small school and cannot meet the 40 meals/day requirement some of these programs have. What delivery service does your school use? The previous postings are old and the companies recommended are no longer in service. Thanks!

    Oct 19, 2023

    Our small school uses Murachi, a local Japanese restaurant, and it’s good!

    Oct 25, 2023

    Our school uses Nourish You--the kids love it.

    Oct 25, 2023

    Our son, now in HS, had years of delicious and healthy meals from Flo’s Friendly Foods. His first time was in Montessori preschool and then again at the private middle school he attended. 
     

    Both times we were impressed by the variety, value and customizable options (sides, toppings, and size meal) of Flo’s Friendly Meals. I gave them 5 stars! 

    Nov 1, 2023

  • School lunch delivery at your public school?

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    Feb 26, 2020

    Hi, has anyone set up a school lunch delivery service at your child’s public school? The school lunches at my son’s school are not very delicious or nutritious and there are so many awesome looking businesses that are making and delivering school lunches. Wondering what it was like to set it up at your school and if you have, can you recommend one in particular for the East Bay? Especially looking for one that uses sustainably sourced meat and dairy. Thanks!

    Feb 26, 2020

    Save your time; this will never fly in a unionized environment.  I suggest you work at the district level to change the menus. 

    Mar 3, 2020

    What the previous poster said. This isn't possible a public school setting given union and federal lunch program restrictions--nor should it be, if you can imagine a scenario in which the higher income students started purchasing specially-delivered (and perhaps healthier/tastier) school lunches, while the students who rely on free and reduced price lunches continued to eat the cafeteria fare. It would create huge equity issues, and I don't know of a district or principal that would agree to it. I do know of a few schools where parents have provided supplemental food for lunch like a salad bar where they do the fundraising and then provide the food to all kids. That might be a path to explore, if your school's PTA is interested or you're willing to spearhead it. And as the first poster suggested, work with your school district to see how change can happen at the district level. Oakland Unified is getting ready to open a new central kitchen, for instance, to provide fresher food to schools. Other districts may already be exploring similar solutions and would appreciate your advocacy and help.

    Mar 4, 2020

    A couple of resources to help you improve school lunches district-wide with organic and local ingredients are the National Farm to School Network (http://www.farmtoschool.org/) and California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF: https://www.ccof.org/). 

    Mar 4, 2020

    Having a private lunch delivery service at a public school is problematic. Most importantly, because it would identify & stigmatize children who are receiving free or reduced price lunch — kids who couldn’t afford the special lunch that wealthier kids are buying. The free lunch program operates on very specific nutrition rules & at a very low cost. It’s important not to undermine it, or to discourage low income children from eating their school lunch. 

    Mar 4, 2020

  • Vendor or food truck for public school lunches

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    Feb 13, 2019

    My daughter goes to a small public high school in Oakland where the lunches are so distasteful (shipped in from a central kitchen sealed in individual packets) that the kids never eat them. We are looking for local food trucks/and or small food vendors who might be interested in coming to the school (it is in the Pill Hill area) one or two days a week to sell lunches.  We anticipate a fairly high level of interest from students.  If you know of anyone who might be interested in a gig like this, I'd be really excited to hear from you.  Thanks!

    Feb 13, 2019

    Have you tried reaching out to Off the Grid? They do lots of events all over the Bay and might be able to advise you on how to make this happen. 

    Feb 20, 2019

    Hi, 

    I hope you will speak to your principal first & consider what is legal and ethical, first. The school lunches are free to kids from lower income families. If there are paid lunches that are cooler — that ostracizes students who cannot afford to buy them. This is the kind of thing that increases the separation between rich & poor. 

    (Anyways, teens with money will always choose a bag of chips over a healthy lunch.) 

    Feb 20, 2019

    There are some companies that do school lunches where the parents pre-order and the food gets delivered to each classroom. My child has attended schools that used Flo's Friendly Foods (https://flosfriendlyfoods.com) and My Green Lunch (https://mygreenlunch.com). Of course this requires the administration of the school being ok with this.

    Feb 20, 2019

    Our school has used this provider:

    https://mamabearlunch.com/

    The kids love the hot lunches and other options like the yogurt and granola parfait.  We requested no sweets or packaged chips to be included and they can accommodate that as well.

    Feb 20, 2019

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Hot Lunch Providers for East Bay Schools

Nov 2011

We have two children in a local private school and searching for recommendations for hot lunch providers that cater to schools in the East Bay. What provider is your child's school using? Are you/your child happy with the menu options and taste? Is it organic and seasonal? How is the service, ordering process and pricing? Thanks in advance! Lisa

The school where I work, Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, has used Kid Chow for the past three years after trying out several other companies. Kid Chow has a widely varied menu with an emphasis on local, seasonal, natural ingredients with lots of organics. Portion sizes are age-adapted so that a kindergartener and a ravenous eighth grader don't get the same amount of food. Most of their packaging is recyclable or biodegradable. They have a 7 to 10 day order turnaround time, which is less flexibility than some other hot lunch programs, but it helps them minimize waste when ordering ingredients. You can learn more and view menus at www.kidchow.com. Jennifer M

Lunch caterer for preschool

Feb 2009

My soon to be three year old daughter attends a new preschool in Berkeley (near Aquatic Park) that is looking for a caterer to deliver hot lunches to their 20+ preschoolers. Because the size of the school is small yet, they do not qualify for a lot of the school lunch programs that are out there currently. The school has a capacity for up to 60+ children so there will be growth but until then, the parents are packing lunch for each child daily. We would love it if the children could participate in a hot family style meal for lunch so that they can share lunch together. Right now, my daughter doesn't eat her lunch but rather wants to eat the other kids' lunches. Anyone know of a company or caterer who is interested in a yet small but rapidly growing preschool? I would love to not have to pack uneaten lunches every day! Thank you! Sarah

Our school uses www.choicelunch.com . They serve healthy and nutritious hot/cold meals, drinks and snacks and use biodegradable containers and utensils. Their prices are reasonable and portions are adequate for most kids. Their menu is varied and my kids can usually find something they like. Ordering and cancelling is real easy to do at their website. We?ve used 3 other vendors and looked at 4 others before going with them. No problems and I highly recommend them.

Lunch delivery for small school?

Oct 2008

My son is in a small private school which doesn't have the facilities to make a school lunch daily. Last year when we were traveling he was in a similarly sized school which had a company that brought lunches in daily. Parents received a menu at the beginning of the month and checked off which dates they wanted the calendar meal for their child, paying in advance for these. Is there a program like this in the East Bay that anyone recommends (specifically close to Berkeley)? Thanks, Joanne

My son's elementary school (in Lamorinda) uses Children's Choice for hot lunch delivery. My son loves it...there are several entree choices each day (must be ordered ahead of time) that are healthy, organic and fresh plus fruit, snack and drink. Check their website at www.choicelunch.com...I'd suggest contacting them to see if they might be able to provide similar services at your son's school. Andrea

One preschool we attended used Choice Lunch. www.choicelunch.com We were happy with the variety and service. anon

Our school uses Kid Chow http://www.kidchow.com/ Very convenient online ordering, great variety of healthy foods, and my 2nd grader loves it. We used it at the Cal Bears summer camp too.

our school is using this program right now: http://www.kidchow.com/ anon