The students at Circle City Prep aren鈥檛 big fans of squash 鈥� no matter which type their school chef makes. But they do like brussels sprouts.

Tracey Couillard, lead chef at the school, leans on her days working in Indianapolis restaurants to come up with ways to cook with vegetables and fruits that might be new to the students.

It鈥檚 all about 鈥渕aking sure we are intentional about what we are offering, and not just throwing spaghetti at a wall to make it stick,鈥� said Couillard, who started her job a year ago.

The school鈥檚 kitchen is a , a nonprofit formerly known as the Patachou Foundation which aims to make sure all students have access to good food. The organization partners with schools to have cafeterias that serve fresh and scratch-made foods. At Circle City Prep, Couillard leads a kitchen team of six other people to prepare scratch-made food for breakfast and lunch for more than 430 students that include fresh vegetables and fruits as well as daily salads.

What students are eating is also getting attention at the statehouse where house lawmakers from public schools that participate in a 鈥渇ederally funded or assisted meal program.鈥� The bill also requires schools to post a menu and ingredients online.

At Circle City Prep, Couillard said the fresh foods help students build healthy habits both inside and outside of school. And it鈥檚 led her to build relationships with students too.

鈥淪ometimes kids will be in a sad spot and ask if I can have lunch with them, so then I sit with them and let them talk and let them share their feelings because there are a lot of big feelings between kindergarten and eighth grade,鈥� she said.

Chalkbeat talked to Couillard about her daily routine, what makes her cafeteria special, and the biggest thing she鈥檚 learned on the job.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What led you to become the lead chef at Circle City Prep?

I was in the Army National Guard for 20 years, and after I retired from the guard, I started working in restaurants around Indianapolis and did that for about 12 years.

This opportunity popped up at a time when I needed a change, and I honestly didn鈥檛 know if it was going to be for me. Working in restaurants with adults is very different than working in a school kitchen with kids from kindergarten to eighth grade as your primary customers

But the kids are the best part. I鈥檝e got kids that come into my office when they are having a bad day, and they build Legos while I鈥檓 working on something. I鈥檝e got a couple of kids who come in after school and do extra practice on their reading.

I get a lot of joy and feel like I鈥檓 actually doing something helpful and making a positive difference in kids鈥� days.

Tell me about the meals you make at the school.

It鈥檚 mostly all from scratch and we do a lot of our own sauces. We鈥檙e very mindful of sodium, fat, and sugar to make sure we are serving good healthy foods for the kids to eat. Students have fresh vegetables and fruit. Every day they have a different salad option.

I started a program at the beginning of the school year to introduce them to new fresh fruits and new fresh vegetables, just trying to broaden their horizons.

At first, they were apprehensive because it鈥檚 something new but now, the kids get really excited about it, they are really invested in it.

How has the food made an impact on students?

They eat more vegetables now when they are coming through lunch, and that鈥檚 just good fuel for their bodies and their minds. They鈥檙e more willing to try something new too. It鈥檚 shocking to me how many kids I see with salads compared to last year because it鈥檚 just different exposure.

When they ask their people at home to cook something we had at school and it doesn鈥檛 taste the same, they鈥檒l ask if I can share a recipe with their parents on how we do it so it tastes like it does here, which is really cool.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My day starts between 6:30 and 7 a.m. I check out the breakfast stations and make sure they are set, and oftentimes I鈥檒l be walking the halls while the kids are coming in, touching base with them and making sure they are getting their breakfast.

I sit in on late breakfast. There are kids that come in late almost every day so they are already a little behind the curve. I sit down with them, make sure they have a good breakfast and their mind is set to jump in and go to class. I鈥檓 trying to be a positive touchpoint for them when they are starting their day.

In between breakfast and lunch, we are prepping. And at lunch, I鈥檓 helping kids move through the line, making sure that they have all the items they need on their tray to have a good meal.

What do you want people to know about what it鈥檚 like to have a cafeteria that emphasizes fresh foods?

They have to look at the kids as they are an investment. We are able to run a fully staffed kitchen and feed breakfast and lunch to more than 430 kids a day, and we are operating a scratch-based kitchen in the black.

You can run a successful school kitchen without using all of the processed foods, it takes practice, and it takes a certain amount of skill that maybe you wouldn鈥檛 expect from a school cafeteria.

But it鈥檚 an investment in the future. You are building healthy food habits and eating habits and trying to develop healthy relationships for kids with food. I鈥檓 teaching kids that good food can taste good.

What do you want to do next?

I would love to have a hydroponic garden in the cafeteria space. I would love to have a little green space where we can grow veggies and fruits and things like that. Because we serve salads every day, so how cool would it be to have lettuce growing in our cafeteria? The kids could see this is what is actually nourishing our bodies and this is how it grows to develop more of that connection of where does the food come from and how does it get to our plate.

What have you learned doing this job?

You don鈥檛 understand how much of an impact you can have on somebody else鈥檚 day. And you don鈥檛 always see that impact with adults, but it鈥檚 really easy to see that with kids. You can see their whole day shift with just a 鈥淗ey, how are ya? You good?鈥�

You give them two minutes and those little time investments make a difference. That鈥檚 the biggest thing I鈥檝e learned because it鈥檚 not hard to make somebody smile and share a little joy.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

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In 2010, United States lawmakers passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which aimed to tackle both childhood obesity and hunger by making school meals more nutritious. Two years later, the Department of Agriculture updated its guidance for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program, or NSLP, in accordance with the law. Whereas schools could previously serve fat-free, 1 percent, 2 percent, or whole milk and be eligible for federal reimbursement, now they could only recoup meal costs if they ditched 2 percent and whole milk, which were thought to be too high in saturated fat for kids.

Representative Glenn 鈥淕.T.鈥� Thompson has been on a mission to change that. The Republican legislator representing Pennsylvania鈥檚 15th congressional district believes the 2010 law sparked across the board. 鈥淲e have lost a generation of milk drinkers since whole milk was demonized and removed from schools,鈥� he told a local agribusiness group in 2021.

Between 2019 and 2023, Thompson introduced the 鈥� a bill that would allow schools to serve whole milk again under the NSLP 鈥� three times without success.

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In January of this year, he reintroduced the bill 鈥� and inspired a group of animal welfare, environmental, and public health organizations to push for a vegan countermeasure. This month, a bipartisan group of legislators put forward the , or FISCAL, Act, which would expand the definition of milk under the NSLP to include plant-based options. Currently, schools participating in the NSLP can offer milk substitutions to students with a note from a parent or doctor 鈥� but the FISCAL Act is promoting a world where vegan milks are offered freely, alongside cow鈥檚 milk.

If students end up replacing their daily cow鈥檚 milk with a plant-based alternative, this has the potential . But you won鈥檛 hear supporters of the FISCAL Act talking up the climate benefits of plant-based milk in the halls of Congress. Instead, they鈥檙e focusing on the health benefits of soy, oat, and other vegan drinks for students who can鈥檛 digest or simply don鈥檛 want cow鈥檚 milk.

鈥淢ost of this nation鈥檚 children of color are lactose intolerant, and yet our school lunch program policy makes it difficult for these kids to access a nutritious fluid beverage that doesn鈥檛 make them sick,鈥� said Senator Cory Booker, a Democratic co-sponsor of the bill. This focus on student health 鈥斅燼nd the absence of any environmental talking points 鈥� reflect the eternally tricky politics around milk in U.S. schools,聽which have become even more complicated in President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term.

Milk has compared to other animal proteins, like beef, pork, poultry, and cheese. But dairy production still comes with 鈥斅爉ainly from the food grown to feed cows, as well as methane emitted via cow burps and manure. In 2020, researchers at Pennsylvania State University found that through their burps 鈥斅爉eaning, all told, dairy cows are responsible for 2.7 percent of the U.S.鈥檚 total greenhouse gases.

Nondairy milks 鈥斅爁ortified drinks like soy, almond, oat, and rice milk 鈥斅�, but all of these plant-based alternatives use less land and water than cow鈥檚 milk to produce, and result in fewer emissions.

Under the NSLP, schools cannot be reimbursed for the cost of meals unless they offer students milk. The Center for a Humane Economy, an animal welfare and environmental group backing the FISCAL Act, calls this America鈥檚 鈥�.鈥� In 2023, student Marielle Williamson for not allowing her to set up an informational table about plant-based milk unless she also promoted dairy. Subsidized school lunches have been described as 鈥溾�� for farmers鈥� products; this is all but acknowledged when legislators like Thompson blame school lunch for the decline of the dairy industry. Indeed, in a recent Senate agricultural committee hearing over the whole milk bill, Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said, 鈥淣ot only do school meal programs reduce hunger and promote learning, they also support our local farmers and ranchers at a time when it鈥檚 probably the very worst time I鈥檝e seen in decades鈥� for farmers.

The animal welfare groups backing the FISCAL Act argue schools need more flexibility to meet the needs of students with lactose intolerance. Consumption of milk has fallen consistently since the 1970s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Economic Research Service. That change is thought to be the result of shifting diets, as well as perhaps a reflection of America鈥檚 growing racial and ethnic diversity. It is estimated that , the protein found in milk and many other dairy products. These rates are higher in Black, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American, and Jewish communities.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had so much marketing to tell us that the milk of a cow is, you know, nature鈥檚 perfect food, and it clearly is not,鈥� said Wayne Pacelle, the head of Animal Wellness Action, an advocacy group that opposes animal cruelty and supports the FISCAL Act.

Pacelle acknowledged the climate impact of the dairy industry: 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a truth that cows are big contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.鈥� But he noted that arguments related to the climate are unlikely to sway the debate over school lunch beverages. 鈥淭he Republican Congress is not really so attuned to that,鈥� he said.

As a result, his group and the others pushing for the FISCAL Act aren鈥檛 talking much about the environmental considerations of drinking cow鈥檚 milk. This aligns with under the second Trump administration, as producers and manufacturers figure out which talking points are most appealing to leaders like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has .

The Republicans pushing for whole milk in schools are talking up the health and economic benefits of whole milk, an argument that came into sharp relief during a Senate agricultural committee hearing in early April. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, who drank from a tall glass of milk before addressing the committee, referenced the term 鈥淢ake America Healthy Again,鈥� or MAHA, when making his case. The movement, popularized by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., taps into wellness, environmental, and food safety concerns in the general public and offers solutions based . Marshall, a co-sponsor of the whole milk bill in the Senate, said MAHA is 鈥渁bout whole foods, and I think we could categorize whole milk as part of鈥� that framework.

While Republicans and Democrats alike may be sidestepping the dairy industry鈥檚 environmental impact and spending more time talking about student health, there is one environmental consideration that鈥檚 caught the attention of advocates of both whole milk and plant-based milk. That鈥檚 food waste, a . Forty-five percent聽of the because students don鈥檛 take them. When students do grab milk at breakfast, a fourth of those cartons still wind up unopened in the trash.

Krista Byler, a food service director for the Union City Area School District in northwestern Pennsylvania, spoke at the Senate agricultural committee hearing and said serving whole milk in her schools helped milk consumption go up, ultimately reducing the amount of milk wasted.

鈥淚 hated seeing such an exorbitant amount of milk wasted daily in our small district and was hearing stories of even bigger waste ratios in larger districts,鈥� Byler said in her written testimony.

A similar case has been made by Pacelle and other supporters of the FISCAL Act, who argue students will be more likely to drink 鈥斅燼nd finish 鈥斅爐heir beverage at school if they have the option to go plant-based.

Recently, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids bill passed a House agriculture committee vote. If it passes a full House vote, it could then move on to the Senate. Meanwhile, the FISCAL Act is still in committee in both houses of Congress.

Pacelle said the best chance the FISCAL Act has of passing is if its provisions are included as an amendment to the whole milk bill 鈥� framing it not as a rival measure, but as a complementary effort to create more choice for students. 鈥淢oving it independently is unlikely because of the power of the dairy lobby,鈥� said Pacelle, 鈥渁nd the G.T. Thompsons of the world.鈥�

This article originally appeared in at . Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at .

School gardens, culturally diverse foods, and options that reflect not only dietary restrictions but also students鈥� preferences: These are just a few of the things the Coalition for Healthy Food in Newark Schools hopes to see in the near future.

Now, thanks to a $3.8 million grant from Novo Nordisk, a health care and pharmaceutical company, these changes might be possible.

According to a press release announcing the coalition鈥檚 launch, the program鈥檚 first year will likely include the planting of more school gardens, further funding for partnerships with local farmers, and in-school nutrition education, among many other initiatives.

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The coalition will use the funding across three years with the first year serving as a baseline assessment to test the greatest needs.

Newark families have long complained about school meals, citing processed and unhealthy lunches. This is a step towards changing that.

The coalition, which officially launched on Oct. 26, is headed by the Greater Newark Conservancy, alongside partners Common Market, FoodCorps N,J., Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, R.W.J. Barnabas Health, United Way of Greater Newark, and the Urban Agriculture Cooperative.

The conservancy has worked to promote environmental, social, and racial justice in the Newark community since 1987, putting on family events centered around nutrition education, leading community garden initiatives, and between July and October, welcoming the Newark community to their expansive farm stand.

Over the course of its community work, the conservancy found that families were generally unhappy with the meals being served to children in Newark鈥檚 public schools.

In recent years, Newark鈥檚 school breakfast and lunch programs have been met with mixed reactions. While families have complained of processed, unhealthy meals, the N.J. Department of Agriculture has praised Newark鈥檚 meal services on several occasions.

In a , the N.J. Department of Agriculture food and nutrition division director Rose Chamberlain said, 鈥淭he Newark Public School District sets an excellent example of how a high-quality school lunch program can work.鈥�

But in October 2021, just days before the N.J. Department of Agriculture gave similar praise to Newark鈥檚 food programs, for their children, most notably through an .

The coalition is hopeful that some of the parents鈥� demands can now be met.

Between August and October of this year, the coalition surveyed a 100-person sample of community members, students, school staff, and food providers in order to assess the issues most pressing in Newark鈥檚 school cafeterias.

The survey showed that access to 鈥渇rom-scratch鈥� food in students鈥� lunches was the most requested change. Survey respondents took issue with the frequency at which students are served heavily processed meals.

Other common complaints included a lack of meals reflecting students鈥� cultures, insufficient nutritional education, and inaccessibility of green space or gardens.

Natasha Dyer, executive director of the Greater Newark Conservancy, said that over the next three years, the coalition will spend about half of the Novo Nordisk funding fortifying existing programs and the other half on piloting new initiatives.

For now, Dyer said, the coalition鈥檚 work will take place in a select number of schools: Hawthorne Avenue, Avon Avenue, Mt. Vernon, Lincoln, McKinley Elementary, Thirteenth Avenue, Harriet Tubman, and Peshine Avenue.

鈥淟uckily, our funding partner is allowing us the flexibility to adjust our plans as we go. Our goal in the first year is to assess our programming and figure out what works with the hope of leveraging policy in the district as a whole,鈥� said Dyer.

Sarah O鈥橪eary, the Greater Newark Conservancy鈥檚 director of youth and family education, said her personal hope is that the coalition鈥檚 work will get more students excited about health and nutrition.

O鈥橪eary said that when children are given the opportunity to try healthy food they do not normally eat, they often discover they like it. She said that cafeteria 鈥渢aste tests鈥� of seasonal vegetables are particularly fun for students who may not have access to certain foods at home.

鈥淔or example, kids love spaghetti squash! Then they go home and tell their parents about it and that can lead to healthier meals even outside of school,鈥� O鈥橪eary said.

Community gardens have a similar effect, said O鈥橪eary. Being surrounded by plants and green space, along with understanding the value of nutritious local produce, can be important for a student鈥檚 development.

鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting for kids to eat something they grew,鈥� O鈥橪eary said. 鈥淕etting to use tools and get their hands dirty to actually grow their own food is the best marketing for nutritious eating.鈥�

This was originally published in Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.