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Board approves one-year contract with Revolution Foods amid widespread parent and student complaints about meal quality
Summary
The board voted to approve a one-year, best-value contract with Revolution Foods to provide prepared meals (not to exceed $12,971,685) after extended public comment documenting widespread dissatisfaction with meal taste, plate waste and perceived quality at several schools; staff committed to stronger monitoring, plate-waste studies and kitchen upgrades.
The San Francisco Board of Education voted June 12 to award a one-year contract (with possible annual renewals) to Revolution Foods for district prepared meals, approving a not-to-exceed contract amount of $12,971,685.
District staff described a competitive procurement process: three proposals were received, and Revolution Foods was named the lowest best-value bidder after a scoring method that combined price, a community taste-testing panel, vendor commitment to the board-adopted Good Food Purchasing framework (they committed to Level 3) and experience. Staff said the RFP included nutritional, procurement and wellness-policy requirements.
A large group of parents, students, teachers and community advocates gave public comment, many sharply critical of meal quality at multiple schools (notably Rooftop, Booker T. Washington, Malcolm X and others). Testimony included claims of spoiled fruit, warm milk, unappealing entrée items and substantial plate waste; students and parents said children frequently do not eat the provided lunch and bring food from home instead. Speakers urged more scratch cooking, regional kitchens and better community-driven menu design.
Board members pressed staff and the vendor on accountability: plate-waste studies funded by a USDA grant and conducted with UC Berkeley are underway and will report in July; district plans include redesigning regional kitchens under the 2016 facilities bond (McAteer culinary center and two regional kitchens on a 2019-2021 timeline) and hiring culinary staff and a manager to expand scratch-cooking capacity. Staff said the procurement attracted only three responsive bidders and that a gap in alternative providers meant a contract was needed to preserve summer and school-year meal service for roughly 30,000 meals per day districtwide. Staff recommended a one-year approval with benchmarks and monthly monitoring.
Revolution Foods— regional partnership manager said the company is hearing the complaints and pledged to expand school-level engagement, diversify menus and bring an award-winning chef onto the team to refresh recipes. Board members asked for publicly accessible fulfillment logs, complaint tallies, results of taste tests and the UC Berkeley plate-waste study; staff agreed to provide those data and to return with progress updates before any multi-year renewal.
The board recorded a roll-call vote approving the contract and noted it was a one-year award with the possibility of renewal contingent on performance and board review.
