Fresh, Healthy and FREE School Lunches that kids LOVE? Yes, Please!
What Do Students Eat at Aveson Schools in Pasadena?
At Aveson Schools (TK-12th grade), every student across our five Pasadena campuses eats breakfast and lunch for free, and the food is nothing like the cafeteria trays some parents remember from their own school days. Our kitchen staff cooks from scratch every day, and families often ask us what actually ends up on the plate. Here's the full story of our free student meals program, from the food itself to the kitchen it comes from.
"The school lunches are good! And I'm really glad that they can still cook and feed us." — Zayden Martin, 6th grader at AGLA
Scratch-Made Meals, Every Day
Our kitchen staff cooks for over 850 students each day, and the menu reflects real thought and variety. Think Asian-inspired curries, dressings and sauces made in-house, and dishes kids actually ask for seconds of. Nothing is frozen or pre-packaged. The team builds menus around real ingredients and skips the shortcuts.
Student feedback shapes the menu directly. Our kitchen staff regularly hears from students about what's working and what isn't, and they use that feedback to adjust recipes, test new dishes, and cut down on food waste.
Gardens Are Part of the Curriculum
Gardening has long been woven into how Aveson students learn. From TK through 12th grade, students grow plants from seed, care for them as they develop, and eventually harvest what they've planted. Watching a tomato or a jalapeno go from seed to something you can hold in your hand teaches patience and responsibility in a way a worksheet never could. It's one more example of how Aveson connects academics to hands-on, real-world experience.
The Story Behind Our New Kitchen
If you're new to Aveson, you may not know how our current kitchen came to be. Within two weeks of losing our school buildings in the Eaton Fire in January 2025, the humanitarian organization Mercy Chefs stepped in to help us find a new kitchen space. Their support felt like a lifeline during an incredibly hard stretch for our community. Today, our kitchen operates out of the former Cordon Bleu Culinary School building in Pasadena, where our staff plans, prepares, and delivers breakfast and lunch to 850 students across five campuses every day.
Cooking for our students in the months after the fire gave our community something to hold onto. As Kristin Kennedy, Director of Aveson Food Service, put it:
"Food is central to healing. It touches the soul."
And as Aaron Gerwer, Executive Director at Aveson Global Leadership Academy, said:
"It's not just about nutrition. It's about feeling like the place you are a part of values you."
Providing free, nourishing meals is one concrete way Aveson shows students, families, and staff that they belong here.
[VIDEO EMBED PLACEHOLDER: Short clip of Aveson kitchen staff preparing meals or students in the garden]
A Few Things Families Often Wonder
Are meals really free for every student? Yes, breakfast and lunch are free for all TK-12 students across every Aveson campus.
Where is food prepared? All meals are cooked from scratch at our central kitchen in the former Cordon Bleu Culinary School building in Pasadena.
Can students give input on the menu? Yes, kitchen staff regularly ask for and act on student feedback.
If your family is considering Aveson Schools, come see our kitchen and campuses for yourself. We're currently enrolling for the 2025-26 school year, and we'd love to share a meal with you.