About LEAF

In response to California’s child obesity epidemic, the California Legislature passed Senate Bills 19 and 56 entitled the Pupil Nutrition, Health and Achievement Act of 2001. The cornerstone of SB 19/56 is the establishment of nutrition standards for competitive foods and beverages sold on school campuses during the school day. Competitive foods and beverages are those items that are not sold as part of the school meal program, but rather are sold as individual items by various campus venues such as student stores, vending machines and snack bars. They also include items sold à la carte by school food service departments. Because they had not been regulated previously, these foods frequently have consisted of high sugar and/or high fat snack foods and beverages of otherwise minimal nutritional value compared to the nutritionally balanced school meals that are subject to government regulation.

In order to pilot test the implementation of SB 19/56, the California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division with funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), established the Linking Education, Activity and Food (LEAF) program that awarded grants to 16 middle and high schools in 9 California school districts. In addition to implementing SB 19/56, the schools were instructed to implement policies to promote the consumption of California grown fresh produce in accordance with the Buy California initiative of 2002. The schools also were encouraged to develop and implement an array of related policies to improve student nutrition and fitness. Each school was awarded approximately $200,000 to cover a 21 month implementation period from January 2003 through September 2004.