On September 28, the White House will convene a Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. It’s the first gathering of its kind in more than 50 years, and its goal is to set the course for U.S. food policy for the rest of the decade. What’s at stake? Nourishment and empowerment—physical, emotional, and intellectual—and justice for our kids.

What we feed our children, and what we teach them about food, shapes how they feel, how they learn, and how they grow. Like many parents, I learned that lesson on my child’s first day—when my baby cried out for the comfort, connection, and nourishment of his first food. What took me far longer to realize is how far we are as a nation from ensuring the basic right to nourishment for every child—and from passing the common-sense policies that would get us there.

The reality is stark: Our food system discriminates. Amid the systemic racism and structural poverty that were exacerbated during the peak of COVID-19, food insecurity rates for Black households rose to nearly 22 percent—triple the rate for white households. And the impact of hunger isn’t limited to the immediate reality of an aching empty belly. Research shows that children who suffer from nutrition insecurity or diet-related disease attain less education, experience more sick days, advance less in their careers, are forced out of the workforce earlier, and die younger, with fewer of their dreams fulfilled.

If we are to shift this trajectory and see food become a part of what bends the arc toward justice for the kids who are counting on us, schools are the clear place to focus our attention. There are seven times more school cafeterias than there are McDonald’s in America, making schools our largest—and most influential—restaurant chain. Schools are where kids spend half their waking hours and sometimes eat half their daily nourishment.

But if we approach food policy right, we have a chance to do more than nourish kids’ bodies. We can nourish their minds and hearts, too. Teaching kids about food in hands-on, experiential ways through school gardens and cooking lessons is a powerful way to reinforce academic concepts, bringing science and math to life with seedlings and measuring spoons. Mealtimes can be more than a chance to fuel up, too; it can be a chance to explore another culture or feel celebrated for their own, as well as a pause during a busy day to build community, nurture social skills, and connect across lines of difference. For schools looking to find ways to reach kinesthetic learners who need to move their bodies and those trying to create a sense of belonging for their diverse populations of students, food is far more than fuel. It’s the most underutilized tool in the pencil box.

What, then, does a food policy agenda look like that would create a future where every child, in every school, experiences the joy and power of food?

1. Make school meals free for every child to remove the stigma and shame that keeps so many families from accessing this needed resource. Schools don’t charge kids to board a school bus or pick up a piece of chalk, so why do we charge many of them to eat?

2. Fund food educator positions to give kids the kind of immersive, experiential learning and skill-building experiences that happen through gardening and cooking.

3. Invest in the infrastructure of school kitchens that support cooked-from-scratch, freshly prepared food, elevating school meals while making the supply chain more accessible to local farms, small-scale BIPOC producers, and other values-based sources.

4. Support talent pipelines for a new generation of leaders in the fields of food education and school nutrition, with a focus on investing in professionals who reflect the cultures and identities of the communities they serve.

The upcoming White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health is a critical opportunity to build a food system that takes care of our kids by nourishing their health, education, and sense of belonging. Now is the moment for philanthropists and advocacy organizations like FoodCorps to raise our voices as one. The 30 million children who rely on school meals every day are counting on us. They’re kids. We’re the grownups. And we owe it to them to show how much we care.

Curt Ellis is the co-founder and CEO of FoodCorps, and a member of a Task Force informing the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.