Sun-Maid has partnered with the National School Boards Association in an effort to address food insecurity among children.

An estimated 12 million students in the U.S. regularly attend school hungry, and one in six children can’t perform at their full potential in the classroom because they lack consistent access to affordable, nutritious foods, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Sun-Maid, consisting of 750 raisin grower families in the Central Valley, is the first food brand to partner with the National School Boards Association (NSBA), with plans to work collaboratively toward providing all students access to the same nutritional resources.

Sun-Maid’s collaboration with the NSBA includes sponsorship of the 2020 NSBA Annual Conference, which consists of hosting educational sessions and focus groups for school board member attendees. Additionally, Sun-Maid will provide nutrition-based expert commentary to articles featured in NSBA’s ASBJ Brief publication. The brand is also identifying potential initiatives with NSBA around STEM/STEAM, food insecurity and policy change to make a difference for America’s public school students.

“We know it can be challenging to ensure children are eating their healthiest each and every day, which is why we’re tackling nutrition through our commitment to delivering snacks that kids crave and moms approve,” said Harry Overly, Sun-Maid’s CEO and president, in a statement. “Through our relationship with the NSBA, we’re excited to have a direct impact in schools by arming K-12 students with better choices today and educating them on how to make those same decisions tomorrow. We look forward to changing the way schools think about nutrition together.”  

The NSBA has been leading an effort to support and enhance public education for nearly 80 years. It consists of 49 state associations and the U.S. territory of the Virgin Islands, which represents more than 90,000 school board officials who serve more than 50 million public school students.