School Food Procurement Solutions
Shared Plate Strategies helps you achieve your procurement goals with
control, confidence and ease.
We partner with school child nutrition leaders to navigate procurement, from strategy to Reviews and everything in between.
Our experts support Districts of all sizes and leaders of all experience levels to procure according to their values and unique operational needs.
To put it simply:
we save you time and money, all while supporting your program to provide better food.
Our Services
Bid Buddies Program: Procurement & Bid Support
Procurement Checkup
Farm to School Technical Assistance for School Districts
We take work off your plate: you focus on the kids, we’ll take care of the bids.
“Ben and Tim are the real pros when it comes to school nutrition procurement and all those rules and regulations. We started working with Shared Plate Strategies in early April 2023, and they've been a game-changer. They made the whole bid process feel like a breeze, and we managed to meet all our deadlines for five RFPs and one IFB.
What's even more remarkable is that Ben gave us training on proper procurement procedures, and connected us with local farmers. This has completely revolutionized how we source our fresh produce.
But what sets them apart is not just their expertise, it's how supportive they are. Whenever we had questions, they were on it – quick, thorough, and always following up. We can't thank this super-duper team enough! They're absolutely fantastic.”
Katrina Zhang, Child Nutrition Services Coordinator, Alum Rock Union Elementary School District
What our clients say
"Ben and the Shared Plate Strategies team have been a dream to work with this past year. We have had the pleasure of working with Shared plates for both event facilitation and professional development for our team.
During both instances Ben, Becca and David have gone above and beyond to make sure our needs were met. I appreciate their thoughtfulness and willingness to get creative when trying to figure out how to make our events impactful. Shared Plates truly helped create wonderful experiences for our team and I can't thank them enough.We can't do this work without amazing partners like Shared Plate Strategies!"
Christina Lawson, Food and Nutrition Services Director, Western Placer Unified School District
“I have tears in my eyes because I cannot believe what has happened with this Produce RFP; 9 out of the 10 bidders won all or most months…I do not know how to thank you enough for everything you did and are continuing to do for our program.”
Kristin Hilleman, Food and Nutrition Services Director, Capistrano Unified School District
We understand that school child nutrition programs strive to give students the healthiest AND tastiest foods possible.
We’re here to help you achieve your goals through more efficient, streamlined and innovative systems.
Our Mission
We build capacity for school districts and community-based organizations to systematically enhance food quality while bolstering local, regenerative food systems
Our Process
We begin by listening and understanding your needs in our free consultation call; we share advice and follow-up with relevant resources
Once we find alignment, we develop a plan that prioritizes your needs, working within your budget and timeline
Moving forward, we will meet regularly to check in on progress, maximizing your time while minimizing the email chatter. We work directly with you each step of the way to take as much off of your plate as possible.
As our project comes to a close, we package what we’ve worked on to give you an organized system when you’re ready to manage it yourself (we will be with you as long as it takes!)
After achieving goals together, we welcome you into the Clean Plate Club. This is our community of successful partners with whom we provide ongoing advisement on procurement decisions, updates to procurement procedures, policies, and other resources.
