Largest philanthropic investment in Eat Real’s history will expand its K-12 certification program and launch research on the health and behavioral benefits of improved school nutrition
SAN FRANCISCO, March 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Eat Real, a national children’s health nonprofit committed to putting real food on the table at school, at home, and in local and national policy, has received a three-year, $3 million donation from Dohmen Company Foundation, a private foundation guided by a vision of ‘life without diet-related disease.’
The multi-year commitment marks Eat Real’s first investment of this scale and will support the national expansion of Eat Real’s data-driven K-12 certification program, which provides school food leaders with the framework and analysis to make their menus more nutritious, delicious, and responsibly sourced.
Through this funding, Eat Real and Dohmen Company Foundation will develop research initiatives to evaluate the impact of school food on students’ behavior in and out of class, as well as their mental and metabolic health. Paired with Eat Real’s industry-leading data insights, the goal is to drive catalytic change by connecting measurable improvements in diet quality to measurable outcomes in the health and overall well-being of our nation’s children.
Why this matters:
- 30 million children in the U.S. rely on school food for approximately 50% of their daily calories—and for many children, it’s 100%*
- 67% of their calories come from ultra-processed foods**
- 1 in 5 U.S. children is considered obese, but this figure rises to 1 in 3 in lower income neighborhoods***
- Kids today have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and fatty liver disease****
“The stakes couldn’t be higher for our children,” says Nora LaTorre, CEO of Eat Real. “What’s so incredible about this partnership between Dohmen Company Foundation and Eat Real is that both organizations share the same purpose: we both exist to eradicate diet-related disease. And we both believe in the power of public schools—America’s largest restaurant chain—as the place to make change happen.”
The three-year investment reflects Dohmen Company Foundation’s strategy to prevent diet-related disease by transforming the school food ecosystem.
“Our partnership with Eat Real builds upon our critically important tipping point strategy of providing nutritious school meals and food education to improve health and prevent diet-related disease for children and their families,” said Rachel Roller, President and CEO of Dohmen Company Foundation. “We are proud to support an organization that has demonstrated the ability to drive measurable, sustainable, and scalable nutrition reform nationwide.”
The investment will help Eat Real expand its program to directly reach an additional 1 million students nationwide, while influencing the habits of as many as 5 million students over the three-year period. Particular emphasis will be placed on expanding Eat Real’s reach in high-need states — including Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin — and deepening its capacity to serve high-impact districts with enrollments of 100,000 students or more.
More details on the upcoming research findings and program expansion will be shared in the coming months.
About Eat Real
Eat Real exists to prevent diet-related illness before it starts. Its K-12 certification program—reaching more than 1 million students nationwide—gives school nutrition leaders the insight, data, and support they need to make their meal plans more nutritious, delicious, and responsibly sourced. As the only doctor-led children’s health nonprofit in the school food space, Eat Real drives nutrition access, public awareness, and state and national nutrition policy to put real food on the table for our nation’s kids.
About Dohmen Company Foundation
With more than 165 years of healthcare experience, Dohmen has found a way to combine the rigor of business with the heart of philanthropy. After exiting the life science industry in 2018, Dohmen shareholders transformed the multi-generational family-owned business to a private foundation. Today, Dohmen Company Foundation advances its vision of life without diet-related disease in three powerful ways via: its investment fund focused on accelerating the growth of for-profit social businesses with proven food solutions that improve human health, traditional grant making dedicated to increasing the impact of charitable organizations aligned with our vision, and through research and public awareness of the surging rates of diet-related disease that threaten our national wellbeing. For more information, please visit dohmencompanyfoundation.org.
* Source: JAMA
** Source: Tufts Daily (Tufts University)
*** Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
**** Source: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
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SOURCE Eat Real Certified, Inc
