Our Mission

To truly nourish children through school food.

School of Lunch was created from a simple belief: every child deserves nourishing, real food at school.

What began as a living school lunch model has grown into a movement of parents, schools, chefs, advocates, and donors working to create a more nourishing food culture for children.

Our Team

Hilary Boynton

Founder & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Hilary Boynton is the founder of School of Lunch and author of The Heal Your Gut Cookbook. A mother of five, Hilary first explored the transformative power of food through her own family’s health journey.

She went on to bring that philosophy into the school kitchen, where she developed a scratch-cooked, nutrient-dense lunch program at Manzanita School in Topanga, California.

That experience became the foundation for School of Lunch, through which Hilary now teaches, trains and supports parents, chefs and schools working to create a more nourishing food culture for children.

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Charles Barth

Charles Barth is a founding member and chief financial officer of School of Lunch and executive director of SōL West Foundation, the companion nonprofit dedicated to improving children’s nutrition.

Charles brings experience in food systems, local agriculture and school-based nutrition education. He operates Wildwood Heritage Provisions, sourcing food directly from farmers and artisan producers throughout Southern California, and has served on the CDFA/Certified Farmers Market Advisory Committee.

His work is grounded in a simple goal: helping schools and culinary leaders raise the bar for the children they serve.

Our Values

  • Food should be prepared and shared with care, joy and a sense of connection.

  • Nourishing food should be accessible to every child, especially those who need it most.

  • Let the mission guide the decisions, even when the easy answer is something else.

  • The kitchen is a place to learn, experiment, share skills and build confidence.

  • Great food starts with great ingredients, thoughtfully prepared.

  • Know your farmers, support local food systems and use your voice to champion them.

  • Respect food and resources by cooking from scratch, using what we have and wasting less.

  • Build relationships between children, schools, farmers and the land that feeds us.

  • Never lose sight of what matters most: giving children food that truly nourishes them.

The Story of School of Lunch

It started at home.

For Hilary, it started at home. As a mother of five navigating health challenges within her own family, she began to question the way we think about food, nourishment, and healing. That experience led her deep into traditional cooking practices, ancestral nutrition, fermentation, and the belief that food could be far more than fuel. It could be a foundation for health.

Hilary eventually documented much of what she learned in The Heal Your Gut Cookbook, but the deeper lesson stayed with her: changing the way we eat can change the way we live.

She became a lunch lady.

Hilary saw a disconnect between the care families could put into nourishing children at home and the food children were being served throughout the school day. Rather than advocate from the sidelines, she rolled up her sleeves and stepped into the kitchen herself.

In 2017, Hilary began leading the lunch program at Manzanita School in Topanga, California. What started as an effort to feed children better became a living experiment in what school food could be.

Manzanita became the model.

The kitchen centered on scratch cooking, nutrient-dense ingredients, seasonal and locally sourced food, fermentation, strong relationships with farmers and producers, and a culture of care around the table.

The work wasn't just about changing a menu. It was about changing a school's relationship with food and learning what it actually takes to feed children well every day.

Most importantly, Hilary wanted to know whether children would actually joyfully eat the food.

School of Lunch was born.

As interest in the Manzanita model grew, Hilary realized the work could travel beyond one kitchen. School of Lunch was born to share what had been learned—and to help others put those lessons into practice.

The model became a training program.

In 2019, the School of Lunch Training Academy (SOLTA) began bringing parents, chefs, school leaders, advocates and other change-makers into the experience, teaching the philosophy and practical foundations behind the model.

The ripple began.

One school became a model. The model became a training program. And the training created a growing community of people ready to bring the work into their own schools, kitchens and communities.

Today, School of Lunch has three connected ways to extend that work:

Training equips people with the knowledge and skills to begin.
Consulting helps schools turn those ideas into lasting operational change.
SōL West Foundation expands access through pilot programs, tools, resources and partnerships.

The vision is simple.

A future where every child is served nourishing, beautiful, thoughtfully prepared school meals—and joyfully eats them.