What if school meals could feed children while also strengthening the food systems around them?

That question is at the heart of GFI’s newest research project located in Haiti’s Central Plateau. Last month, I traveled there to see the project taking shape firsthand. Together with Haitian farmers, community leaders, educators, researchers and humanitarian aid partners, we are studying whether the purchasing power of school meals can strengthen local agriculture, support more resilient supply chains, and help communities better withstand disruption and crisis, all while ensuring children receive reliable meals.

Today, even in agricultural regions like the Central Plateau, Haitian-grown food often costs more than imported food. Over the next two school years, the project will test whether purchasing locally grown food for roughly 48,000 students can increase farmer income and productivity, strengthen local supply chains, and ultimately bring costs down. We are also piloting shared infrastructure—including a Community Collection Center and a Resilience Hub school—to help communities keep food moving even when disruptions occur.

The way we are doing this work matters, too. Our Haitian partners are not subjects of the research; they are co-investigators whose expertise and priorities are shaping the project from the outset. Seeing that partnership firsthand was one of the most meaningful parts of my visit—and a reminder of how much we have to learn from those working every day to strengthen their own food systems.

You can learn more about how the project is taking shape—who we are working with and what we’re learning along the way—on our website. And in our newest brief, we introduce the “School Meals 3.0” model behind this work. I hope you’ll give both a look.

Stacy Dean
Carbonell Family Executive Director
Global Food Institute

How Corner Stores Can Expand Food Access

Our new policy brief, developed with DC Central Kitchen, highlights a proven strategy for expanding access to healthy, affordable food: strengthening the neighborhood corner stores. Drawing on 15 years of DCCK’s Healthy Corners program, the brief offers practical guidance for cities, funders, and practitioners looking to improve food access through existing neighborhood retail.

A Look at GFI's Work—and What's Ahead

Our new GFI Highlights Report 2025–2026 offers a glimpse of GFI’s work in action: partnering with communities and practitioners on research they can use, creating hands-on opportunities for students, and bringing evidence into policy conversations. It also reflects the many people and partners who make that work possible. We’re excited to continue helping build a healthier and more resilient food system.

What does it take to make healthy eating more achievable for all families? In a recent Washingtonian interview, GFI’s Priya Fielding-Singh discusses the new dietary recommendation that children under 11 consume no added sugar—and why ambitious nutrition goals need to be matched by policies that make healthier choices easier and more affordable.

That broader challenge is also at the heart of two recent GFI briefs: Changing the Default, which lays out policy options for reducing added sugar in children’s diets, and One Year Later, which examines how recent SNAP cuts are making it harder for millions of families to afford food in the first place.

Patrick O’Connell in Conversation with José Andrés & Tom Sietsema. On Friday, September 18, join chef and author Patrick O’Connell at GW’s Lisner Auditorium for a conversation about his new memoir with José Andrés and Tom Sietsema. The event is hosted by Politics and Prose at 6 p.m. E.T.

Food Tank’s Climate Week NYC Series. From September 20–25, Food Tank will host a week of conversations at WNYC’s The Greene Space on farmers, food waste, food security, and more—including a celebration of food policy icon Marion Nestle’s 90th birthday on September 24.

Farm Aid 2026. Happening Saturday, September 26, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, this annual music and food festival brings together artists, farmers, and advocates to support family farmers and spotlight the challenges they face.

Conversations on Food Justice: The People Who Feed Us. On Thursday, October 1, join Food & Society at the Aspen Institute and GFI for a virtual conversation from 1-2 p.m. E.T. about what it would take to build a food system that works better for workers—from stronger labor standards and wage policies to models such as employee ownership. 

2026 Global Child Nutrition Forum. From November 2–5 in Lusaka, Zambia, school meal leaders from around the world will gather for peer learning, technical workshops, and school visits under the theme “From Vision to Action: Achieving Ambitious School Meal Program Objectives.”

Fruitless Harvests. Across the country, fruit growers are facing devastating losses as warmer conditions bring earlier blooms that remain vulnerable to late-spring freezes. Civil Eats looks at what this year’s failed apple, peach, and plum harvests reveal about the growing risks climate change poses for perennial crops. Civil Eats

From Evidence to Action. A new guide from GW’s REACH Center offers practical advice for sharing research findings with community partners as research unfolds—not just after publication. The guidance emphasizes plain language, early feedback, transparency, and making findings useful to those most affected. GW REACH Center

Global Hunger Is Falling – But Unevenly. Global hunger declined for a third straight year in 2025, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World. But hunger remains above pre-pandemic levels, and 645 million people still faced hunger last year. The Washington Post

Who Gets to Define Ultraprocessed Food? The federal government has promised its first definition of ultraprocessed foods—a potentially important foundation for future food policy. This piece examines the delay, industry influence, and what’s at stake in getting the definition right. The New York Times

Bringing Virginia Farms to School Meals. Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed bipartisan legislation encouraging K–12 schools to purchase fresh ingredients from Virginia farmers, alongside a new statewide Farm & Forest Prosperity Plan—showing how public purchasing can create markets for local producers while bringing local food into schools. Commonwealth of Virginia

The Ripple Effects of SNAP Reductions. A new analysis traces how SNAP losses can spill into classrooms, school meal programs, and state budgets—and what reduced access to food assistance could mean for children’s health and learning. Emory University Rollins School of Public Health

Published online at NationalFoodMuseum.org. 

Curious how your diet stacks up—for your health and the planet? The National Food Museum’s new Food Impact Meter asks 16 quick questions about what you eat, then gives you health and environmental scores along with personalized feedback. Give it a try and see where your plate lands.

We want to lift up your work and share information about events, opportunities to collaborate or whatever you think is important to share. Email us at globalfoodinstitute@gwu.edu. 

Do you know someone who would be interested in this newsletter? Forward to a friend!