Broward County Public Schools Joins Urban School Food Alliance

Group Expands to Seven of the Largest School Districts, Serving More Than Three Million Students

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Feb 28, 2017, 08:01 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Urban School Food Alliance (the Alliance), a coalition of the largest school districts in the United States that includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami-Dade, Dallas and Orange County in Orlando, is pleased to announce that it will expand its membership to seven with the addition of Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) in the greater Fort Lauderdale area in Florida. The sixth largest school district in the United States and the second largest in the "Sunshine" state, BCPS serves more than 225,000 students in traditional public schools. Its addition will expand the Urban School Food Alliance's collective student reach to nearly 3.1 million children and the group's total annual budget to $592 million in food and food supplies.

"We're excited to join the Urban School Food Alliance," said Mary Mulder, director of Food and Nutrition Services at BCPS. "The Alliance has already implemented a number of groundbreaking initiatives that further improve the quality of school food and the health and wellness of students. We want to build on our success in this area and contribute to this forward-thinking, action-oriented group."

The Urban School Food Alliance formed in 2012 to address the unique needs of the nation's largest school districts. The nonprofit group allows the districts to share best practices and leverage its collective purchasing power to drive school food quality up and costs down through socially responsible practices. Together, its districts serve more than half a billion meals annually.

"We're excited to welcome BCPS to the Urban School Food Alliance," said Eric Goldstein, chairman of the Alliance and chief executive officer of School Support Services for the New York City Department of Education. "BCPS embodies the leadership and the vision of the Alliance, which is critical to all of our districts' successes in serving healthy high quality nutritious meals to students to help them excel in school."

BCPS is the first school district to join the original six district members of the Urban School Food Alliance. The Alliance invites interested urban districts with a student enrollment of at least 50,000 to join the group.

The Alliance has achieved a number of unprecedented procurements since its inception. Before many of the nation's leading restaurants even called for healthier poultry in their menus, the Alliance already adopted a policy to help school districts move toward an antibiotic-free standard for companies to follow when supplying chicken products to its schools. The initiative is part of the Alliance's unwavering focus on providing public school students in Alliance districts with healthy, nutritious meals. In addition, the Alliance has rolled out the use of compostable round plates at cafeterias, removing 225 million polystyrene trays from landfills every year to ensure sound environmental practices.

About the Urban School Food Alliance

The Urban School Food Alliance was created by school food professionals in 2012 to address the unique needs of the nation's largest school districts. The nonprofit group allows the districts to share best practices and leverage their purchasing power to continue to drive quality up and costs down while incorporating sound environmental practices. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas as well as Miami-Dade, Orange County and Broward County in Florida, together offer service in over 4,765 schools to 3.1 million children daily. This translates to more than half a billion meals a year. The coalition aims to ensure that all public school students across the nation receive healthy, nutritious meals through socially responsible practices. To learn more about the Urban School Food Alliance or to support its work, please visit www.urbanschoolfoodalliance.org.