The Edible Schoolyard

What The Edible Schoolyard does

The Edible Schoolyard Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1995 by chef and restaurateur Alice Waters that uses organic school gardens, kitchens, and cafeterias as a vehicle for public education. Its core on-the-ground operations are the flagship Edible Schoolyard Berkeley — a one-acre garden and kitchen classroom at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School educating over 1,000 children annually — and the Edible Schoolyard Stockton Community Farm, established in 2015. These sites anchor the organization's broader programmatic model, which has been formally evaluated through a UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health three-year study.

The organization's underlying "technology" is a freely distributed, web-based educational resource platform at edibleschoolyard.org, comprising a vetted curriculum library, fillable PDF lesson plans, video-based instructional content, the interactive Network Map of edible education programs, and the 16-week "Cooking with Curiosity" distance learning curriculum. Professional development is delivered through annual in-person Summer Training in Berkeley and free virtual workshops via Zoom. Through the Alice Waters Institute sub-brand, the organization has expanded into district-level school food reform, notably partnering with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and Shared Plate Strategies on Farm to School procurement.

The business model is philanthropic rather than commercial. All curriculum, lesson plans, and training materials are free to end users with no paywalls, gated content, or fee-based services. Revenue is generated through individual donations, foundation and grant support (historically including the Chez Panisse Foundation), modest earned income from publications and seminars, and corporate sponsorships. The organization is independently governed, has no parent company or institutional investors, and has earned a Charity Navigator 4-star rating. Its primary customers/beneficiaries are K-12 schools and districts, individual educators and advocates, families and home learners, and other edible education nonprofits.

Name

The Edible Schoolyard

Legal name

The Edible Schoolyard Project

Website

https://edibleschoolyard.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Edible Schoolyard Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1995 by Alice Waters that uses organic school gardens and kitchens to deliver free edible education curricula, professional development, and school food reform programs to K-12 schools, educators, and families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Edible Education and School Garden Programs

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Meal Program Compliance & Administration (NSLP/SBP, Reimbursements) (EDAEAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainability, Waste Reduction & Composting Programs (EDALADAL), Central Kitchen & Commissary Operations (Batch Cooking, Satellite Serving) (EDAEAEAG)

Keywords

• Edible education programs
• School garden curriculum
• Garden and kitchen classroom
• Farm to school initiative
• Nutrition education resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: The organization is primarily funded through contributions from individual donors. Donations support programmatic and operating costs of the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley, annual training programs, and the online resource library.
2. Foundation and Grant Support: Funded through foundation grants and institutional grant support, historically including the Chez Panisse Foundation and other grant-making organizations.
3. Earned Income — Publications and Seminars: Earned income through sale of publications, training seminars, and professional development programming delivered both in-person and virtually.
4. Corporate Support: Corporate donations and sponsorships from businesses aligned with the organization's mission, including event-based partnerships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Edible Schoolyard Project operates one-acre garden and kitchen classroom programs at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley and at a community farm in Stockton, California, delivering hands-on edible education to students. The organization complements these on-site programs with a freely accessible online library of standards-aligned curricula, lesson plans, and training resources, an interactive global Network Map of edible education programs, and annual Summer Training plus virtual professional development workshops for educators.

Product overview

The Edible Schoolyard Project is a nonprofit organization that operates a suite of educational programs and resources focused on edible education—using food from garden to kitchen as a tool to teach academic curriculum, health, community, and environmental lessons. The core offerings include the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley (a one-acre garden and kitchen program at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School), the Edible Schoolyard Stockton Community Farm, and the Edible Education 101 program. Supporting these on-the-ground programs is a comprehensive Edible Education Curricula for grades 6-8, the Cooking with Curiosity curriculum (a 16-week distance learning curriculum for grades 3-12), and a freely accessible Resource Library containing vetted lessons, teaching practices, and program tools. The organization also operates an interactive Network Map connecting edible education programs worldwide and provides Training Programs including annual Summer Training intensives and virtual workshops. Through the Alice Waters Institute, the organization partners with school districts to advance farm-to-school initiatives and school food reform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Edible Education Curricula

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,000+ children educated annually at the Berkeley site
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Sightglass CoffeeminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 7 May 2026Sightglass Coffee, a San Francisco-based specialty coffee roaster, is debuting its first Regenerative Organic Certified coffee, Grizzly Peak Blend, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Edible Schoolyard Project. The partnership marks Sightglass's first new café opening in Berkeley at UC Berkeley's Helen Diller Anchor House.
• UC Berkeley / Helen Diller Anchor HouseminorOthers · 7 May 2026Sightglass Coffee's Berkeley café is located on the ground floor of UC Berkeley's Helen Diller Anchor House, where a portion of rent supports housing and scholarships for transfer students, and proceeds from the Edible Schoolyard Project partnership benefit from the café opening.
• Food TankminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 29 December 2025The Edible Schoolyard Project was listed among 126 food and agriculture organizations to watch in 2026 by Food Tank, an organization highlighting sustainable, equitable, and resilient food and agriculture systems.
• Founding Edible Schoolyards (FESYs)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 September 2025Eight founding edible schoolyard organizations are celebrated and supported by Alice Waters as models for how edible education can thrive across the country. The Edible Schoolyard Project hosts virtual gatherings for all FESY organizations to share knowledge and coordinate.
• Conscious KitchenminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 September 2025The Alice Waters Institute partnered with Conscious Kitchen to host Farm to School Culinary+Procurement Workshops across California, bringing together Food Service Directors and organic-regenerative farmers and producers.
• The Henry Ford MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 March 2025The Alice Waters Institute partnered with The Henry Ford museum to host an evening highlighting the Farm to School movement, beginning with a farm-to-table dinner at LULU, Alice Waters' Los Angeles restaurant. The event featured produce from Dickinson Family Farms and brought together community members and food system leaders.
• Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2025The Alice Waters Institute's School Supported Agriculture team, along with partner Shared Plate Strategies, brought together LAUSD and four regional food hubs for a two-day Farm to School planning gathering as part of the district's CDFA Farm to School grant. This is a core partnership for expanding the school food model to a major urban district.
• Shared Plate StrategiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2025Shared Plate Strategies (SPS) is a key partner in the Alice Waters Institute's School Supported Agriculture work, collaborating on Farm to School procurement and planning workshops with school districts.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Chef Ann Foundation: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on school food reform, providing tools like The Lunch Box to help districts transition to scratch-cooked meals. Directly comparable mission to the Edible Schoolyard Project's School Lunch Initiative, with overlap on grant-funded school food transformation and K-12 nutrition programming.
• Whole Kids Foundation: A nonprofit founded by Whole Foods Market that funds school salad bars, beehives, and garden grants, and runs the Healthy Teachers Program. Highly comparable to the Edible Schoolyard Project in supporting school gardens and food education, with similar funding sources (corporate support, individual donations) and K-12 audience.
• FoodCorps: A national service organization that connects kids to healthy food in schools by placing AmeriCorps members to teach hands-on lessons in gardening, cooking, and nutrition. Operates a similar nonprofit model to the Edible Schoolyard Project — free programming, K-12 audience, garden-based education — but at a larger geographic scale across multiple states.
• National Farm to School Network: A national information, advocacy, and networking hub that connects schools, farms, and communities to farm-to-school programming. Closely aligned with the Edible Schoolyard Project's Alice Waters Institute and School Lunch Initiative work, sharing a mission of getting fresh, local food into schools and educating children about where food comes from.
• Common Threads: A national nonprofit that provides cooking and nutrition education to children, families, and educators, with a focus on underserved communities. Directly comparable to the Edible Schoolyard Project's Cooking with Curiosity curriculum and kitchen classroom programming, sharing a hands-on, K-12 food education model.
• LifeLab: A nonprofit providing garden-based education programs and resources for schools, with a focus on professional development and curriculum aligned to academic standards. Highly comparable to the Edible Schoolyard Project's curriculum library, training programs, and garden classroom model.
• Green Bronx Machine: A nonprofit operating school gardens and farmstands in under-resourced schools in the South Bronx, with a mission similar to the Edible Schoolyard Project's Stockton community farm — extending garden-based food education to communities with limited access to fresh food. Comparable target audience (K-12) and educational mission.
• Slow Food USA: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocating for good, clean, and fair food for all, with educational programs including school gardens and food culture initiatives. Shares the Edible Schoolyard Project's emphasis on food education, organic practices, and food justice, with overlapping donor and partner networks.
• Wellness in the Schools: A national nonprofit that partners with public schools to provide nutrition education, scratch-cooked meals, and active recess programs. Directly comparable to the Edible Schoolyard Project's School Lunch Initiative — both work to transform school food culture through partnerships with school districts and hands-on programming.
• Center for Ecoliteracy: A nonprofit founded by Zenobia Barlow that supports ecological education and school sustainability, publishing books and resources like "Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea" in collaboration with the Edible Schoolyard Project. Highly comparable mission, audience, and resource-library model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/esyproject
• Facebookfacebook.com/EdibleSchoolyardProject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dafigo
• Instagraminstagram.com/edibleschoolyard/?hl=en
• Xx.com/edibleschoolyrd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Edible Schoolyard