Make your estate gift today to support our work for climate-friendly school food, people, and the planet. Make my estate gift today

Dear Andy,

At Friends of the Earth, we believe that ensuring children have access to pesticide-free, organic, and plant-based food is not just a nutrition issue. These meals affect their long-term health, academic performance, and the resilience of our environment. That’s why we launched our climate-friendly school food program in California. Since 2020, thanks to FOE and our partners, California public schools went from purchasing zero organic produce through the USDA’s Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to purchasing nearly $3.5 million in organic fruits and vegetables last year.

This monumental achievement stems from strategic, systems-level work led by Friends of the Earth and our statewide partners, who examined the structural barriers to organic school meals and set out to unwind them. Working in partnership with the California Department of Education, FOE engaged directly with vendors contracted by DoD Fresh to discuss and uplift the demand for organic produce. At the same time, we connected with hundreds of schools across the state, encouraging them to request and purchase organic from their prime vendors.

Your gift can fuel our work to support climate-friendly food, people, and the planet.

Since organic options were added in fall 2021, more than 466 California school districts have gained access to organic items through DoD Fresh, a government program that provides affordable fresh produce to schools. Thanks to our advocacy, over 36 different organic fruits and vegetables — from berries and broccoli to greens, grapes, and tomatoes — have been added to vendor catalogs. Not only are districts now buying millions of dollars of healthy organic produce each year for their students, they are also helping to support the economic viability of dozens of organic farms with their purchases. This is especially important now with so many small farmers struggling to survive.

Across California, we work with more than 100 school districts, offering critical technical support to help them serve more organic and plant-based food. Now, FOE is preparing to take our model of climate-friendly school food nationwide. We have helped pass policies to support and incentivize plant-based school meal options in DC, California, Illinois, and Washington State. We have also built relationships with state-based organizations eager to replicate aspects of our California program in Washington and Arizona, with other opportunities emerging in Minnesota, Michigan, and New York.

Help us work for people and the planet by making a gift in your will today!

But we can’t continue this critical work without your help, Andy. We invite you to consider including Friends of the Earth in your estate plans, to help fuel our work to ensure every child has equal access to nutritious, organic food for decades to come. It’s easy – click the link above to see how you can make your legally binding will and include a gift to Friends of the Earth, all in about 20 minutes.

Standing with you,
Friends of the Earth

P.S. Have you already made an estate gift to Friends of the Earth? Please accept our thanks! Tell us about your gift HERE.