These Two Moms Unite To Transform The Way Americans Eat

Co-founders Revolution Foods

Courtesy Revolution Foods

Childhood obesity in America has significantly increased in the past 3 decades. According to 2015-2016 reports by the Center For Disease Control And Prevention  1 in 5 children between the ages 6 and 19 years old are obese, tripling the number of obese children reported in the 1970s. This trend and its impact on learning  inspired Kirsten Saenz Tobey and Kristin Groos Richmond to set out on a mission to transform the way students are fed by starting Revolution Foods.

Before founding Revolution Foods, Richmond who previously had a career in corporate finance had co-founded the Kenya Community Center for Learning. She also served on the White house Council for Community Solutions.  Tobey  was a teacher, researcher and garden educator with Earthjustice, the School for Field Studies, and Phillips Academy at Andover. She had also led experiential educational programs in the US and Ecuador.

Tobey and Richmond  met at Haas School Of Business, University of California, Berkeley where Revolution Foods was founded in 2006. According to the company they currently serve nearly 3 million healthy meals per week to students in 30 cities across 15 US states.

Both Richmond and Tobey were named by the Schwab Foundation and World Economic Forum as Social Entrepreneurs of the Year for 2015. They were also listed among Fortune’s 40 under 40 for 2013, identified as Time Magazine’s Education Activists of 2011, and co-named Entrepreneur of the Year by New Schools Venture Fund in 2010

The two shared their mission and the impact they are having across American communities here.

Olayanju:  It is quite inspiring to read about what you are doing? What motivated you to start your company?

Tobey: Kristin and I had been educators before business school and saw first-hand what kids were eating every day and how this affected their abilities to learn. We were inspired by the idea that how and what kids were eating directly connected with their ability to succeed in school. One and a half years later in 2006, Revolution Foods was born. We know that growing healthy minds begins with fueling healthy bodies, so we spoke with school leaders, teachers and families to see how we can fill the needs to properly nourish students. Today, Revolution Foods serves over 2 million clean-label, chef-crafted and kid-inspired school meals each week in 15 states. During this process, we both became mothers and recognized how challenging it could be to put dinner on the table each night.

Olayanju: Tell us more about Revolution Foods?   

Richmond: Revolution Foods began with a school lunch program in the Bay Area and now offers breakfast, lunch and supper programs in district and charter schools, early childhood programs, and in after school program programs across the country. Revolution Foods is the only company on a national level to offer a clean label supply chain, which enables us to provide a great balance of real foods and composition of nutritious,