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CWK works with farms across New England to turn surplus, B-grade and underutilized crops into custom, ready-to-eat menu items for colleges, hospitals, K-12 schools, cafes and corporate catering menus. We’re leveraging our food manufacturing capacity to divert food waste, strengthen supply chains, improve climate resilience, create jobs, and bring more locally-made, minimally processed food to the market.
K-12 schools function as the largest restaurant chain in the United States, serving over 30 million meals every day. According to the CDC, school meals represent as much as 50% of a student’s daily nutritional intake.
Yet much of what lands on a student’s plate today is highly processed, pre-packaged, and sourced from industrial supply chains.
Low Participation Rates: The NIH estimates that fewer than 40% of income-eligible high schoolers and 50% of middle schoolers participate in free lunch programs—largely due to food quality.
The MA Landscape: In Massachusetts—one of nine states guaranteeing universal free school meals—participation averages 65% for lunch and 25% for breakfast.
Childhood Hunger: Feeding America estimates national child food insecurity at 20%, mirrored locally by Greater
Boston Food Bank data showing 37% of Massachusetts children are food insecure.
Massive Scale: Serving over 30 million meals daily, K-12 schools function as the nation’s largest food service network.
Essential Nutrition: School meals provide over 50% of the daily calories kids consume.
Statewide Investment: In Massachusetts, taxpayers invest $180M+ annually to guarantee free breakfast and lunch to 900,000 students.
The Opportunity & Challenge: While school meals have gotten significantly better—offering fresh salad bars and diverse, culturally inclusive menus—preparing high-quality meals daily for nearly a million kids remains a massive challenge for under-equipped school kitchens.
Meeting District Needs with Custom Culinary Solutions School districts want creative, cost-effective ways to bring local and culturally diverse options to their menus. CWK provides the solution. We leverage our large-scale kitchen capacity to manufacture ready-to-use products—like veggie fritters, pesto, and custom sauces—that seamlessly complement in-house meal preparation and elevate school food programs.
School districts want creative, cost-effective ways to bring local and culturally diverse options to their menus. CWK provides the solution. We leverage our large-scale kitchen capacity to manufacture ready-to-use products—like veggie fritters, pesto, and custom sauces—that seamlessly complement in-house meal preparation and elevate school food programs.
“Every day, millions of kids eat breakfast and lunch at their school—and every meal is an opportunity to shape more than a child’s health and learning. School meals influence what farmers grow, how we steward the land, where public dollars go, and the food system we build for generations to come.”
