Plant Powered School Meals Coalition (PPSMC), a national coalition dedicated to expanding nutritious, climate-friendly, plant-based foods and non-dairy milk options in K-12 school cafeterias, is excited to announce its selection as a 2026 Food Justice for Kids Prize grant recipient. The prize, which is funded by Newman’s Own Foundation, Humanitix, The Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and the Hunger to Health Collaboratory, supports nonprofits and Tribes in the United States that are working to ensure all children can access, learn about, and engage with nutritious, culturally relevant food at school and in communities.

More than 1,000 organizations submitted applications–nearly double that of the inaugural prize in 2024. During the application review process, more than 125 external reviewers representing different communities, lived experiences, issue areas, and sectors helped inform the selection of the new cohort, alongside staff from the four co-funding organizations. Plant Powered School Meals Coalition was one of 14 selected to receive grant funding.

Over the next two years, the Plant Powered School Meals Coalition will receive up to $100,000 to accelerate its efforts to make nutritious, delicious plant-based meals and beverages more accessible to students nationwide. Through policy advocacy, coalition building, and leadership development, the funding will support the coalition’s work to transform school food systems by breaking down barriers to plant-based options and ensuring more students have access to meals that meet their dietary needs and preferences. Expanding these options is a critical step toward advancing nutrition equity, reducing the environmental impact of school meals, and giving students greater choice in what they eat.

In particular, the grant will provide additional support to the Student Wing and Youth Fellowship by funding its first-ever full-time youth coordinator. The coordinator will serve as the backbone of the coalition’s youth leadership development, increasing its organizational capacity, centering and supporting student-led campaigns, and expanding its ability to influence institutional and state policy. Overall, the coordinator will ensure the coalition's initiatives are sustainable, expand, and have greater impact.

“For too long, school meals have been built around a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't reflect the diverse needs of the nearly 30 million children who rely on them every day,” said Eloísa Trinidad, a founding member of the Plant Powered School Meals Coalition and Executive Director at Chilis on Wheels. “Every child deserves to walk into their cafeteria knowing there is something nutritious, delicious, and culturally appropriate for them to eat. Expanding plant-based options is one of the greatest opportunities we have to improve children's health, address longstanding inequities, and reduce the environmental impact of our food system. This award is an exciting recognition of the growing movement to rethink what school food can look like, and an investment in making healthier, more inclusive meals the norm, not the exception.”

Since its founding in 2020, the Plant Powered School Meals Coalition has worked to expand access to nutritious, plant-based meals and beverages in K–12 schools through policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, and youth leadership development. The coalition has helped advance federal legislation to expand plant-based options and contributed to a major 2025 policy victory that removed longstanding barriers to accessing nondairy milk in schools. Through its Plant Powered Youth Fellowship, launched in 2022, the coalition empowers 14 students annually from across the country to advocate for healthier, more inclusive school meals. Since its founding, fellows have led local campaigns to bring plant-based options to their own cafeterias by working directly with school nutrition departments to expand plant-based offerings, leading to groundbreaking commitments from school districts, inclusion of plant-based nutrition in wellness and climate curricula, and the creation of nutrition inclusion councils in their schools. In 2025 alone, fellows brought 35 plant-based options to their school cafeterias, expanding food access for thousands of students nationwide. After finishing the fellowship, many fellows have chosen careers in public health and climate, and many have since created their own organizations, conferences, and initiatives focused on food justice and food systems transformation.

“The Food Justice for Kids Prize supports innovative leaders and organizations growing the next generation of food citizens,” said Alex Amouyel, President and CEO of Newman's Own Foundation. "We're honored Humanitix, The Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and the Hunger to Health Collaboratory joined the Prize to advance food justice and child nutrition for all.”

To learn more about Plant Powered School Meals Coalition, go to https://www.plantpoweredschoolmeals.com/

To learn more about the Food Justice for Kids Prize, visit foodjusticeforkids.org.

About The Food Justice for Kids Prize

The Food Justice for Kids Prize supports nonprofits, Tribes, and schools in the United States and its territories that are working to ensure all children can access, learn about, and engage with nutritious, culturally relevant food at school and in communities. This year’s Food Justice for Kids Prize, which will grant $1.4M over two years to 14 organizations, is a collaboration between Newman's Own Foundation, Humanitix, a ticketing platform that dedicates 100% of profits to charity, The Henry P. Kendall Foundation, which aims to foster a resilient and healthy food system in New England, and the Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC), which uplifts innovative food and nutrition work that advances health equity.

Media Contact: Jessica Christopher, jessica.christopher@curatorpr.com, 610-945-8615 (PT)