Re: [External] Fw: Meet the 10 School Food Renegades of 2025

Thank you for the shout-out, May! 

I am so honored and thankful for this opportunity to shine the spotlight on all of the amazing (and trailblazing) work we are doing in Michigan to create healthier and more resilient children and local food systems!!!

Elissa

On Tue, Oct 14, 2025 at 10:05 AM Tsupros, May <tsupros1@msu.edu> wrote:

So excited to see our very own Elissa Penczar on this list!! Congrats, Elissa, keep up the amazing work. You're an inspiration to us all :) 

May Tsupros  (they/them)

Director, Farm to Institution Programs 

Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems 

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Natural Resources Building, Room 312A

480 Wilson Rd., East Lansing MI

Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg–Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. The University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. Read here by land acknowledgements are not enough. 

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From: Chef Ann Foundation <info@chefannfoundation.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2025 9:47 AM
To: Tsupros, May <tsupros1@msu.edu>
Subject: Meet the 10 School Food Renegades of 2025

 

This National School Lunch Week, we're celebrating School Food Renegades who are challenging status quos... ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

No images? Click here Meet the 2025 School Food Renegades This National School Lunch Week, we're celebrating School Food Renegades who are making an impact in the lives of children and their communities. Chef Ann Cooper became known as the "Renegade Lunch Lady" when she sought to chip away at deep-rooted institutional systems to reimagine school food.  Of course, Chef Ann is one of countless School Food Renegades across the country challenging status quos to move us closer to a world where all children not only have access to healthy and satisfying meals every day, but are equipped to cultivate positive relationships with food for themselves, their communities, and the planet. Learn about some of these School Food Renegades — and consider reaching out to the other Renegades you know to celebrate them this National School Lunch Week!   Read more     "I envision a time, soon, when being a chef working to feed children fresh, delicious, and nourishing food will no longer be considered renegade." —Chef Ann Cooper       Meet the School Food Renegades!     Kendal Chavez Deputy Secretary Early Childhood Education & Care Department (New Mexico) Marion Elder School Nutrition Director Dinwiddie County Public Schools (Virginia)     Allison England Food and Nutrition Services Director Oceanview School District (California) Alexandra Epstein-Solfield Child Nutrition Director Ellensburg School District (Washington)     Jennifer Gaddis, PhD Associate Professor University of Wisconsin-Madison (Wisconsin) Jacob Gallogly Food Service Director Windham Central Supervisory Union (Vermont)     Bob & Anna Knight Farmers Old Grove Orange Farm (California) Elissa Penczar Career & Technical Education Food System Coordinator Career Tech Center (Michigan)     Robin Rinehart Food Services Manager Antelope Union High School District (Arizona) Jane Schmitz Program Director From Now On Fund   Learn how these School Food Renegades are transforming school food         Share    Tweet    Share    Forward  Chef Ann Foundation 1495 Canyon Blvd, Ste Main Boulder, CO 80302 - 5386 You are receiving this email because of your connection to healthy food, school food programs, and child nutrition. Preferences  |  Unsubscribe

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Elissa Penczar
CTE Food Systems Coordinator

"The health of a nation is determined by the health of its food system, and that starts in the communities where we live and work."

– Marian Wright Edelman

Muskegon Area Intermediate School District

CTE Services

200 Harvey Street
Muskegon, MI 49442

epenczar@muskegonisd.org

231-767-2692 (fax)

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MIFARMTOSCHOOL is a listserv that links farm-to-school stakeholders and practitioners in Michigan, from school food service directors and school administrators to growers and distributors. Content posted to MIFARMTOSCHOOL does not necessarily reflect the views of Michigan State University or the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems.