Students at Hawthorne Elementary enjoy lunch together. With the start of the 2026-27 school year, every Seattle Public School (SPS) student can now access free breakfast and lunch at school!
Universal free school meals districtwide close a food access gap for thousands of students across Seattle, as shared by Mayor Wilson and Superintendent Shuldiner in September. It also expands our Healthy Food in Schools partnership with SPS. The initiative provides more high-quality meals to students so every child is nourished and ready to learn.
Families can visit the SPS Culinary Services webpage to learn more about the school meal program. Even though all schools will offer free school meals to all students, every family should still fill out the SPS Child Nutrition Education and Benefits (CNEEB) form. The form helps SPS run universal free meals and ensures schools receive funding and resources.
Our office is working with SPS, the Mayor, students, and community partners to support universal free school meals districtwide. Keep reading for a behind-the-scenes look at how Seattle provides tasty, nourishing school meals.
Ensuring access to good food at school
At schools across Seattle, kids are picking up lunches featuring tofu from a nearby small business in veggie yakisoba, locally made tortillas for tacos or burritos, farm-fresh apples, and much more.
Student leaders have made clear that healthy school food is essential for kids to feel safe, included, respected, and ready to learn.
“Food security is safety,” said Sabi Yoon, a recent student representative on the SPS School Board, when Seattle announced universal free school meals earlier this year. “After speaking with students from diverse communities and backgrounds, we learned that being safe can also mean knowing if they will have access to a healthy meal at school, or even a meal at all.”
SPS is now serving roughly 20,000 meals daily with more healthy, culturally relevant, scratch-cooked options. Students are also shaping meal options. SPS and our office convene a student advisory group with nine students from eight high schools to give feedback on meals.
Continued student and family engagement will help SPS identify things like food preferences, which menu options students like and don’t like, and cultural dishes.
SPS kitchen staff fuel students
Cafeteria managers, cooks, and SPS Culinary Services staff serve nutritious meals daily with care. Their work is central to universal free meals, and SPS’s newly renovated central kitchen helps staff prepare and serve more meals this year.
SPS purchases ingredients from local farms and food businesses. Ingredients change with the menu — last spring, menus featured locally sourced collard greens, lentils, yogurt, tortillas, and kimchi.
We support SPS’s efforts to buy local and sustainably sourced foods through Seattle’s Buying with Purpose initiative. The initiative helps City departments, community partners, and educational institutions like SPS purchase food that supports Seattle’s local food systems.
Culinary trainings, supported by federal grants, including a US Department of Agriculture Farm to School grant with OSE, help staff prepare more meals using local ingredients. SPS works with national and Seattle-based chefs to develop menus that reflect student preferences.
“Every student deserves a meal they are excited to eat and that helps them succeed in the classroom,” said SPS Culinary Services Director Aaron Smith. “Our commitment to quality means listening to students, investing in our staff, using fresh and local ingredients whenever possible, and continually improving our menus so we can serve meals that are nutritious, relevant, and enjoyable.”
In 2027, SPS will get Eat Real Certified to recognize progress toward nutritious, culturally relevant, sustainable school meals.
Establishing universal free school meals in Seattle
Students and community organizations, such as FEEST, have long advocated for fresh, free, culturally relevant school meals for all students. Several years ago, federally funded programs allowed SPS to offer universal free meals districtwide. When those ended, SPS expanded universal meal access to groups of eligible schools, reaching students at over 50 Seattle schools in 2025.
Yet a big gap remained at the remaining 51 schools in Seattle.
About 25,000 students attend schools where access to federally funded meals is limited to only those meeting family income requirements. Federal standards don’t account for Seattle’s cost of living. Every school, regardless of neighborhood, has students who experience food insecurity. Universal meals help ensure that all students, especially those from low-income families at every school, can access a healthy meal at school without stigma, shame, or judgment.
This summer, the Mayor and City Council announced $3.6 million in City funding to expand universal free school meals districtwide to the remaining 51 SPS schools during the 2026-27 school year, supplementing federal and state funds. Beginning next school year, 2027-28, the voter-approved Every Child Ready: Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise (FEPP) Levy will fund universal free school meals and other programs that support students and families.
Washington State lawmakers are also working towards universal free meals statewide through the new “Millionaire’s Tax”, which is on the November ballot and would replace the City’s temporary funding starting in fall 2028.
Curious what’s on the menu this week at your kid’s school? Check out SPS Culinary Services “Menus and About Our Food” page, with new interactive menus for each Seattle school.