A once-in-a decade opportunity to improve childhood nutrition.

School meals are the primary source of nutrition for more than 30 million American children. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommended critical updates to the standards, and their friends at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) stepped up to advocate for these achievable and important changes.

Seven November collaborated with the Center for Science in the Public Interest on a five-state effort to increase awareness of and support for the USDA’s proposed updates. We crafted site-specific messaging, recruited and trained local spokespeople, and led an earned media campaign in each geography.

By targeting specific policymakers in their hometowns with messages of local impacts and deploying influential local messengers, the resulting campaign measurably influenced the national conversation around childhood nutrition.