What’s Cooking in School Cafeterias? Real Food with Real Ingredients

Campbell Union School District is cooking up tasty meals and green initiatives.

Long gone are the days of grey school lunches with mystery meats. Students in Campbell Union School District are now enjoying meals such as chicken risotto and farm-fresh produce.

While the favorite meals amongst students remains chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers, and pizza, the Child Nutrition Services (CNS) Department has committed to making these popular meals as clean as possible by using organic ingredients, scratch cooking, and sourcing products with the fewest, most natural ingredients.

Did you know that CNS does not serve breakfast food with a total sugar content above 13 grams? State law says that added sugars cannot exceed 10%. Campbell is not adding any additional sugars to its breakfast items.

Did you know that the cereals served by CNS are 51% whole grain and have 25% less sugar than the  cereals you purchase at the supermarket?

Changes Happening at the State Level

On Monday September 15, 2025, a list of new educational bills headed to the governor’s desk. Among them is Assembly Bill 1264 which would adopt regulations for ultra-processed foods (UPFs) - any food or beverage high in saturated fats, sodium, or specific added sugars or sweeteners. If signed, this bill would require schools to begin phasing out harmful UPFs by January 1, 2028. This law will require no action from Campbell USD as its focus on cleaner eating has been happening for years now. 

Knowing that ultra-processed food has harmful effects such as a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, Campbell USD has a commitment to eliminating ultra-processed food for healthier outcomes and has been ahead of several state laws that have such regulations.

Partnerships for Cleaner Eating

The Child Nutrition Services Department works with both Food for Thought and the Department of Agriculture to source produce from farms within the San Jose/central valley area which allows the produce to move from farm to table in three days or less. Additionally, Food for Thought works in partnership to provide an on-campus farmers’ markets for the students. This opportunity allows for an educational component where students learn about nutritional value and stretching a dollar as they have school bucks to spend on produce. 

The student farmers’ market September schedule:

• Marshall Lane, Sept. 24 beginning at 8:30 a.m.
• Village, Sept. 24 beginning at 11:00 a.m.
• Forest Hill, Sept. 25 beginning at 8:30 a.m.
• Rosemary, Sept. 25 beginning at 11:30 a.m.
• Lynhaven, Sept. 26 beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Please watch your school’s calendar for additional student farmers’ market locations, dates, and times.

Going Green

In addition to cleaner eating, CNS also made changes to reducing plastic waste. This initiative includes transitioning away from spork packages that were included in all meals regardless of what was being served to compostable utensils that students take only the utensil needed. To further reduce the District’s plastic consumption, CNS is moving from serving condiments in individual packets to a pump station. These are specialized condiment pumps due to the lower sugar content ketchup and other condiments we serve.

To deepen the go green initiative, Sherman Oaks is piloting a plated meal service which allows for fresher, more appealing meals while reducing the use of plastic and food waste. Based on the learnings from the Sherman Oaks experience, CNS plans to roll out the program at each of the middle schools in the coming years and then the elementary schools.