STANFORD, Calif., Aug. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Eat Real and the Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group are thrilled to announce a first-of-its-kind research partnership to study how serving real food at school changes nutrition, behavior, and communities. This partnership is made possible through a grant from Ardmore Institute of Health.

The health of our kids is declining rapidly — much of which is attributed to the increased availability and marketing of ultra-processed foods and systemic challenges that make healthy habits hard to maintain. Thirty million kids in the U.S. rely on school food for over half of their daily calories. By improving food served in schools, we can change the trajectory of their futures.

Eat Real and Christopher Gardner, PhD, Director of the Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group, will assess how improvements to school nutrition — based on Eat Real Certified standards — can enhance student performance and well-being, while also influencing nutrition habits.

Key components of the study include:

• Evaluating school menus and alignment with Eat Real's certification standards
• Observing behavioral and academic shifts in students who attend schools in Eat Real Certified districts

"Through this partnership, we're advancing a vision that goes beyond food security to highlight the equal importance of nutrition security, ensuring every child has access to food that enables them to thrive," said Christopher Gardner, PhD, Director of Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group. "By providing a blueprint of what works, we're aiming to help schools and policymakers take meaningful steps to transform school meals across the country."

Eat Real hopes to show that nutritious school meals support student health and create a ripple effect in families and communities. Professor Gardner's goal is to show impact at a larger scale, demonstrating how institutional food systems change can advance both public health and climate outcomes.

"This partnership is a first step in our mission to drive real change through research partnerships, knowing we can improve the learning and development of kids when they eat nutritious meals," said Nora LaTorre, CEO of Eat Real Certified. "We couldn't be more proud to partner with Stanford to conduct the science and generate the data to assess and improve the health of school lunch!"

About Eat Real
Eat Real believes that school food is the key to creating impactful food systems change. U.S. school cafeterias serve over seven billion meals per year. By making those meals nutritious, delicious, and responsibly sourced, we can change the trajectory of our kids' health and curb the rise of diseases caused by overconsumption of ultra processed foods.

About Dr. Christopher Gardner / Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group
The Stanford Nutrition Studies Research Group, led by Christopher Gardner, PhD, conducts cutting-edge research on the health impacts of food and nutrition to drive systemic change for optimal human and planetary health.

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SOURCE Eat Real Certified, Inc