Bio
Trained as a chef with degrees in Culinary Arts, Foodservice Management and Administration, Stephen O’Brien and his team offer breakfast, lunch and afterschool meals to 1.1 million students daily. Mr. O’Brien is a force for innovation who has shattered every stereotype of schools meals. Over 1,000 schools now have salad bars and over 100 school gardens partner with kitchens to grow greens. Since 2009, Mr. O’Brien has been on a mission to remove polystyrene trays from New York City schools. Next year, all schools will use compostable trays, eliminating 150 million polystyrene trays annually from the City’s waste stream. Mr. O’Brien also helped create the Urban School Food Alliance, a partnership of food service directors from the largest urban school districts in America. Committed to working together, all six districts will begin to use these compostable trays. Says Eric Goldstein, Director of the Office of School Support Services, “Stephen’s leadership with the Alliance is an example of the tangible, forcible impact he is having on food policy not just in New York, but nationwide. He is the person who is always instituting change.”
