OneKitchen: $500 Million Allocated for KIT Funding in California

Last month, our California OneKitchen Coalition experienced its first major advocacy win as a coalition! On June 30th, Governor Newsom officially signed $500 million in funds for California’s Kitchen Infrastructure and Training program (KIT) into next year’s budget. 

California’s KIT program allows school districts to invest in infrastructure upgrades to school kitchens. This includes, but is not limited to, renovating school kitchens, providing updated training to school cooks and chefs, increasing freshly prepared school meals, purchasing from more California farmers, and investing in better school nutrition. 

Our California Coalition Action Partner, Kelsey Nederveld, shared what this funding means for her school district in Sacramento: “The district will likely receive $4.5m to increase scratch cooking initiatives, allow for recruitment and culinary development for staff, and make the necessary infrastructure improvements to kitchens and cafeterias to increase meal counts.” 

The OneKitchen California Coalition spent the better part of the past year learning and understanding how school food operates in its current state, and how KIT funding can transform it. They established a relationship with the Sacramento Central Kitchen, touring their operation. Chefs also connected with School Food Service Directors (FSD’s) to speak directly to those impacted by this funding. They learned straight from the source how powerful and crucial this funding is for school district kitchens across the state. 

Chefs then took this knowledge and used it to host a ticketed school meal-inspired lunch with key stakeholders in Sacramento to show how KIT funding can transform school food, just blocks away from the state capitol. The lunch was made with similar ingredients accessible to school systems who benefit from KIT funding, and served on school lunch trays. 

Kelsey Nederveld moderated a powerful panel in front of hundreds of people at the first-ever Terra Madre Americas, along with Alice Waters, Kat Taylor, and chef Ann Cooper. They spoke about California’s role as one of the leading states offering universal free school meals and what’s possible when you invest in school food programs like KIT. 

Finally, the chefs participated in a legislative Day-of-Action at the state capitol. OneKitchen chefs held sixteen meetings with legislators, which involved thought-provoking conversations about school lunch and the role of the culinary community in shaping food systems change. 

Last year, $145 million was allocated for KIT funding. 90% of school districts reported that KIT funding directly increased student access to school meals. 77% of CA school districts previously stated that they need additional capital to finish transitioning to fresh, on-site scratch cooking - a need that will be addressed next year with the additional $355 million increase in KIT funding signed into the budget. Furthermore, it’s estimated that for every $1 spent by school districts on California agricultural products, $1.40-$2.10 is generated in local economic activity! 

While we celebrate this win as a coalition, we look ahead to a future where KIT funding is made permanent, and governments invest in regular maintenance of school kitchen infrastructure. Our coalition will continue to advocate for the future of our community!