Key Takeaways
- Two-day virtual summit held November 5–6, 2025.
- Invited audience: HMI School Food System Transformation Challenge Cooperators, Grantees, Recognition Awardees, USDA, and State Agencies.
- No attendee limit per invited organization. Bring as many team members as can join.
- Session recordings will be made available to registered attendees after the event.
About the Summit
The Fall 2025 Virtual Summit is the culmination of multiple years of coordinated work across the HMI community. It brings together the full network of partners: districts that received grant funding to modernize their operations, school food authorities that have earned Recognition Awards, the cooperators leading school food system transformation projects, and the State Agency and USDA staff supporting the work nationally.
Unlike past in-person summits, this one is fully virtual. That change opens attendance to entire nutrition teams at each invited organization, not just one or two delegates, and removes travel as a barrier for the smallest and most rural awardees.
Who Attends
HMI Cooperators
Teams leading school food system transformation challenge projects funded through the cooperator program.
Grantees
Small and rural districts that received HMI sub-grants to upgrade kitchens, train staff, and expand capabilities.
Recognition Awardees
SFAs formally recognized for sodium and added-sugar reduction, nutrition education, or scratch-cooking innovation.
State Agency & USDA Staff
Program administrators and technical assistance leads who support districts across the country.
Format and Sessions
The two-day schedule mixes plenary sessions for the full community with breakouts organized by role and topic. The agenda is built on what attendees asked for after the Fall 2024 summit, which drew more than 700 participants.
- Day 1 plenary — cross-program progress report, award round highlights, and a keynote on what's next for school nutrition after the current grant cycle.
- Role-based breakouts — separate tracks for directors, chefs, procurement leads, and communications staff.
- Peer workshops — awardee-led sessions on specific operational wins, from scratch cooking rollouts to school garden programs.
- Day 2 planning blocks — working sessions on sustaining changes past the grant period and on building the case for continued investment.
Past Summits
Highlights from previous summits are archived for reference. The Fall 2024 event was the first national convening of the full HMI community; the Spring 2024 event focused on workshops and farm-to-school programming.