The Austin Unified School District hosted a celebration of the district’s hard work and Good Food Leader: Silver achievement alongside the Center for Good Food Purchasing, officials from the Texas Department of Agriculture and the City of Austin, farmers and vendors providing ingredients for the event’s featured dish, and other key partners. The inspiring event, held at Bowie High School on Oct. 20, showcased purchasing strategies and community collaborations instrumental in AISD’s success.

“We are proud to earn Good Food Leader: Silver status to show that school meals can do far more than just nourish students,” said Caroline Juarez, purchasing coordinator at Austin ISD. “At Austin ISD, we prioritize values-based procurement to make sure our food purchasing efforts reflect our community’s values. This recognition validates the hard work of our food service team and our commitment to sustainable, equitable sourcing.”

AISD’s eighth Good Food Purchasing Program assessment since joining the program in 2016 analyzes $14.6 million spent during the 2024-25 school year. The district’s self-operated food service program features a food service team of more than 500 staff serving more than 65,000 students through 105 school kitchens, working with a designated procurement team and warehouse, enabling them to contract directly with more than 50 vendors and facilitating supplier diversification and local sourcing.

During the 2024-25 school year, Austin ISD invested nearly $2.7 million in local and community-based economies, including $228,000 spent with historically underutilized businesses. Procurement strategy and contracting language were key in this effort, while also supporting 80 percent data completeness.

AISD achieved a massive reduction in carbon and water footprint, reducing carbon footprint per meal by more than 48 percent and water footprint per meal by nearly 29 percent while investing $259,000 in sustainable and regenerative products. The district’s daily plant-based options and protein blending practices, such as serving beef with lentils, contributed greatly to this success, along with the employment of waste reduction best practices. The district’s Inventory Control Specialist has advanced a model of efficiency focused on strategic menuing, waste reduction, and warehouse management, providing regularly updated usage reports so vendors have clear expectations and can bid accordingly.

Austin ISD’s Good Food Purchasing Program achievement is one of the strategies outlined in the Austin/Travis County Food Plan around values-based purchasing. Adopted in 2024, the Food Plan sets clear goals and strategies to move toward a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient food system and provides a coordinating structure for all food-related initiatives.

“When a school feeds students every day, every purchase is a choice: who grows the food, how it’s grown, how people are treated along the way, and what ends up on a kid’s tray,” said Amanda Rohlich, Food Policy Advisor with the City of Austin’s Office of Climate Action & Resilience. “AISD has made these choices with purpose year after year.”