The Coalition for Healthy School Food and George Brown Polytechnic are proud to present a four-part public webinar series exploring how leading cities around the world are advancing universal school food.
Featuring lessons from Seoul, London, Berlin, and New York City, the series highlights innovative policies, strong public leadership, and practical ideas to help nourish children and youth.
This series builds on past webinars on school food in France, United Kingdom, Japan, US, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Brazil, Scotland (see links below).
Join us to learn how cities are building healthier futures through school food.
To view a webinar, click on one of the tabs below (Berlin, Seoul, London, or New York).
Each tab contains the webinar recording and related resources.
The Coalition for Healthy School Food and George Brown Polytechnic are hosting a webinar called New York City, United States: Universal School Food Programs — Lessons for Canadian Cities.
Join us for a discussion on New York City’s universal school meals program. Speakers will explore how it developed, how the city works with local farmers and community partners, and the challenges and lessons that may be relevant to Canadian cities.
Date: September 30, 2026
Time: 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET
Location: Free virtual webinar (Zoom)
What you’ll learn:
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How New York City developed its universal school meals program
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How the program is organized and delivered
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Key challenges in improving meal quality and sustaining the program
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Lessons for Canadian cities and communities
Watch the webinar
Dr. Pamela Koch
Mary Swartz Rose Associate Professor of Nutrition and Education;
Faculty director, Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy in the Health Studies & Applied Educational Psychology Department, Teachers College, Columbia University
Dr. Pamela Koch is the Mary Swartz Rose Associate Professor of Nutrition and Education and the faculty director of the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy in the Health Studies & Applied Educational Psychology Department at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Pam conducts research with schools and communities to give people power to demand healthy, just, sustainable food. She translates her research into curricula for school teachers, recommendations for policy makers, and resources for advocates.
She has evaluated many school-based programs that improve school meals, create school gardens, conduct cooking sessions, and promote food justice. She teaches courses on sustainability of the food system, social and psychological determinants of food choice, and the process of food and nutrition education, all done through a sustainability and equity lens.
She has also taught an online professional development course for educators attended by over 800 educators with her current course Food Education in the Classroom (Food-E) conducted in partnership with FoodCorps. Her work contributes to increased access to nutritious, delicious and sustainable food for all.
Nancy Easton
Executive Director and Co-Founder
Wellness in the Schools
(WITS)
Nancy Easton is the Executive Director and Founder of Wellness in the Schools (WITS). Since founding WITS in 2005, Nancy has grown it from one classroom at the Ella Baker School (NYC PS 225) into a national organization that now reaches more than one million students in over 2,000 schools nationwide.
Nancy is a forward-thinking, entrepreneurial leader, lending her passion and expertise to expand the WITS wellness vision, both personally and professionally. As a parent in NYC public schools, she helped to build a rooftop greenhouse for her children’s school. In 2019, as WITS’ visionary, she started ScratchWorks, a collective that supports school districts to cook from scratch.
As a thought leader, Nancy is a regular commentator and speaker on school food and child wellness and has been recognized for her leadership. First Lady Michelle Obama honored her at the launch of Chefs Move! to Schools, acclaimed chef-food activist Jamie Oliver named her a Food Revolution Hero, and Ann Cooper, the “Renegade Lunch Lady,” designated her as a Lunchbox Hero. In 2020, Nancy was named one of the 2020 Top Women in Metro New York Foodservice & Hospitality. Nancy received a 2025 Spirit of NYC Mayoral Impact Award and a 2025 Hunter Food Policy Changemaker Award for her innovative work.
Before founding WITS, Nancy spent 15 years as a teacher, mentor, and school leader at the New York City Department of Education. She was a partner of The Learning Project (TLP), a nonprofit that designs and manages schools, where she co-founded and directed TLP One Middle School.
Nancy holds a Master of Education from Bank Street College of Education, an Administration and Supervision certification from Fordham University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University, where she was a three-sport athlete. Nancy is also a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and has her certification from the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.
Nancy is a founding board member of Girls on the Run Manhattan (GOTRM). She serves on the board of the Samara Fund and on Friends of Princeton Track, from whom she was awarded the 2013 Larry Ellis Alumni Award for her distinctive service to track and field and cross-country. Nancy was awarded the 2025 Changemaker Award from the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center and the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Policy & Education for her work transforming school environments to increase access to nutritious food and physical play for public school students across the country.
A mother of three, a lifelong athlete and competitive triathlete (including the Ironman distance), Nancy brings the same energy and discipline she models at home to her mission of creating healthier schools nationwide. When she’s not posting miles on Strava, she can be found on a Citi Bike in NYC, riding to meetings from the Bronx to Brooklyn.
Nelson Quiles
Senior Director of Policy, Partnerships and Communication, New York City Public Schools Office of Food and Nutrition Services
Nelson Quiles is Senior Director of Policies, Partnerships, and Communication in the NYC Department of Education's Office of Food and Nutrition Services (OFNS).
He is an accomplished leader with over 20 years of experience with the OFNS. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 2006, Nelson joined OFNS and steadily took on roles with increasing responsibility, impacting the daily food service for thousands of NYC students.
Nelson started as a School Food Service Manager, overseeing meal service at five schools. He then became School Food Service Training Manager, training hundreds of new kitchen staff. For 10 years, Nelson served as a District Supervisor, managing operations in 40 schools and focusing on food safety, staff development, and community engagement.
In January 2022, Nelson became Chief of Staff, responsible for citywide initiatives and fostering collaboration across the OFNS leadership team and external partners. In 2024, he was promoted to Senior Director of Policies, Partnerships, and Communication.
In this role, Nelson continues to shape policies, enhance partnerships, and drive communication efforts, ensuring NYC students receive nutritious and safe meals, maintaining the district's leadership in student nutrition services.
Stephen O’Brien
Founder and President, SOBX2 Consulting, Formerly of NYC Public Schools.
Stephen is a nationally recognized leader in school foodservice, sustainability, and strategic partnerships.
He helps school districts and industry partners design innovative programs that advance healthy, sustainable, and efficient foodservice operations nationwide.
Prior to consulting, Stephen was a director with New York City Public Schools for over 33 years.
He holds a Masters inPublic Administration from Baruch College City University of New York, a Bachelors of Science in Foodservice Management and an Associates degree in Culinary Arts, from Johnson & Wales University.
Over 418 million children in at least 166 countries receive free or subsidized school meals at school, according to the School Meals Coalition. Canada remains one of the only members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)—and the only G7 country—without a national school food program. We, members of the Canadian Coalition for Healthy School Food in partnership with George Brown College, are eager to learn from global experts and leaders about how their school food programs are structured, financed, monitored, and innovated to bring back best practices for the creation of a world-class National School Food Program.
In 2022, the Coalition began a webinar series exploring how other countries implement their school food programs, how they are funded and cost-shared, and how they are monitored by different levels of government and external stakeholders. The series focuses on pre-pandemic and cornerstone practices that sustain innovative and comprehensive school food programs. However, it also examines key aspects of pandemic-driven improvements, investments, and program expansions.
Past webinar
The webinar "School Food in France: The Evolution Towards Healthier and More Sustainable School Canteens" on December 8 looked at the current state of school food in France, its implementation and challenges, and then how key players from different backgrounds are working to revolutionize canteens for healthier meals, greater child satisfaction, and reduced food waste.
France's school food program webinar
Past webinar
United Kingdom's school food program webinar
The "UK's School Food Program: Conceptualization, Underlying Policies and Implementation" gave us the opportunity to learn from experts and leaders from England about how their school food program operates to bring back innovative best practices to inform the creation of a world-class School Food Program in Canada.
Panelists include:
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Myles Bremner, CEO of Bremner consulting
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Stephanie Slater, Founder and Chief Executive at School Food Matters, Vice-chair of Sustain
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Naomi Duncan, Chief Executive at Chefs In Schools
Japan's school food program webinar
The "Japan's School Food Program: Conceptualization, Underlying Policies and Implementation" webinar on June 29th delved into the development of school food programs (SFPs) in Japan, how they are funded and their underlying policy mechanisms, as well as how they are implemented and monitored. It also discussed how international policies/acts influenced SFPs in Japan and regional differences in program modalities.
Panelists include:
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Mayumi Uejima-Carr (上島カー 真弓), President, Table for Two USA
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Katsura Omori (大森 桂), Phd., Professor, Academic Assembly, Yamagata University
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Rie Akamatsu (赤松 利恵), RD, DrPH, Ochanomizu University, Faculty of Core Research, Natural Science Division, Professor
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Betty T. Izumi, PhD, MPH, RD, Associate Professor, Program Director, MPH in Health Promotion, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health
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Alexis Agliano Sanborn, director and producer of Nourishing Japan, AM Harvard University (East Asian Studies) and MPA, New York University
US's school food program webinar
The "US's School Food Program: Conceptualization, Underlying Policies and Implementation" on May 4 delved into the development of school food programs (SFPs) in the United States, how they are funded and their underlying policy mechanisms, as well as how they are implemented and monitored. It also discussed how international policies/acts influenced SFPs in the United States and regional differences in program modalities.
Panelists include:
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Lacy Stephens - Program Director, National Farm To School Network
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Janet Poppendieck - PhD & author of Free for All: Fixing School Food in America
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Marisa Cheung - Acting Deputy Associate Administrator, USDA Food and Nutrition Services
Germany's school food program webinar
The "Germany's School Food Program: Conceptualization, Underlying Policies and Implementation" on October 26 delved into the development of school food programs (SFPs) in Germany, how they are funded and their underlying policy mechanisms, as well as how they are implemented and monitored. It also discussed how international policies/acts such as EU policies influenced SFPs in Germany and regional differences in program modalities.
Panelists include:
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Ulrike Arens-Azevedo
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Ernestine Tecklenburg
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Tim Björstrand
Denmark's school food program webinar
"Denmark's School Food Program: Conceptualization, Underlying Policies and Implementation" on August 25 delved into the concept of school food in Denmark as well as its implementation and monitoring guided by the Danish nutritional guidelines and framing education. We also explored the use of school food as a tool for formation and involvement.
Panelists include:
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Line Rise Nielsen
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Astrid Dahl
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Emil Kiær Lund
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Morten Kromann Nielsen
italy's school food program webinar
“Italy’s School Food Program: Funding, Underlying Policy Mechanism and Implementation” webinar on June 24 delved into the development of school food programs (SFPs) in Italy, how they are funded and their underlying policy mechanisms, as well as how they are implemented and monitored. It also discussed how international policies/acts such as EU policies influenced SFPs in Italy and regional differences in program modalities.
Brazil's national school food program: PNAE
The Brazilian National School Food Program (PNAE), created in 1955, is one of the largest social programs in the world, providing meals to over 42 million students in the country’s public schools.
The webinar, co-hosted by The Betinho Project at Ryerson's Centre for Studies in Food Security, Food Secure Canada and the Coalition for Healthy School Food talked about Brazil’s National School Food Program, its structure, its benefits and how it's helping the country reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the webinar, we learned that thanks to the program, food security problems were alleviated, with the families in need getting local fresh food delivered to their homes, assisting the country with SDG-2 (Zero Hunger).
In addition, PNAE highlights the importance of local family farms. The model ensures that these farms, including those of marginalized groups (Indigenous, Quilombolas, low-income farmers, etc.), receive the right local support. This contributes to Brazil's SDG-1 (No Poverty).
scotland's school food program
Featuring three experts on Scotland’s school food program, the webinar talked about the policy, structure and outreach of the Scottish school meal program, its delivery and implementation modality. The Scottish government has required schools to offer balanced and nutritious diets to pupils since 2008, and free school meals have been offered to primary 1-3 pupils since 2015. Currently, the Scottish schools offer 350,000 meals per day on average and among them, 145,000 meals are offered to children entitled to receive free school meals. Also, the webinar highlighted how the Scottish school meal program is helping the country tackle child poverty, build healthier communities and attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr. Rachel Engler-Stringer's Research videos
In 2022, Dr. Rachel Engler-Stringer's research team created three videos on the organization and characteristics of school food programs from exemplary countries - Finland, Japan and France.
Their purpose is really to detail how these countries’ programs work as information for governments in Canada.
See the three research videos below.
Global Perspectives on School Food
Explore inspiring initiatives and research from school food programs around the world.
This section highlights innovative models—from scratch-made meals and local procurement to food education and thoughtful dining environments—that support children and youth to thrive in healthy, inclusive, and sustainable school food systems.
By sharing these global examples, we aim to inform pan-Canadian dialogue and strengthen the development of school food programs that reflect the needs and realities of students in Canada.