Calling all School Food Directors! Nationwide, school cafeterias use billions of single-use plastics each year. School Food Directors are perfectly placed to end this expensive, wasteful practice and open major institutional pathways to healthier and more sustainable alternatives. Please join Dr. Katie Wilson, Executive Director, Urban School Food Alliance (USFA) & Johannes van der Pool, Child Nutrition Services Director, Fremont Unified School District (California), to learn how school food directors can tackle cafeteria plastics in packaging, foodware or both. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) and Cafeteria Culture (CafCu) are thrilled to present two leaders in the growing environmental and public health movement to reduce school cafeteria plastics.
Featured Speakers
Dr. Katie Wilson
Executive Director, Urban School Food Alliance
Read Dr. Wilson's Bio
Dr. Wilson has a passion for child nutrition and has dedicated her career to improving access to healthy food for all children and their families. She has spent 23 years as a school nutrition director, 5 years as the Executive Director for the Institute of Child Nutrition, 2 years as the Deputy Under Secretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the United States Department of Agriculture, appointed by President Obama and is presently the Executive Director of the Urban School Food Alliance. Katie has shared her expertise throughout the United States and around the world as an invited speaker, and an academic guest lecturer. She also served on the 31st Standing Committee on Nutrition at the United Nations and is on the Board of Directors for the international group, Eating City.
Johannes van der Pool
Director of Child Nutrition Services, Fremont Unified School District
Read Johannes' Bio
Johannes van der Pool, RDN, is the Director of Child Nutrition Services for the Fremont Unified School District. Johannes has been involved in K-12 food service for 5 years, working as a consultant manager and procurement agent with several Bay Area districts before joining the Fremont Unified School District. With students nutritional well-being as the top priority Johannes has embarked upon multiple efforts to enhance the quality, variety, and sustainability of the meals offered to students by partnering with organizations like the Nutritional Policy Institute, Centers for Environmental Health, and Plastic Free Restaurants.