HOUSTON — Betti Wiggins is a driving force in helping students in the Houston Independent School District access fresh produce. The Packer and the Texas International Produce Association honored Wiggins, the school district’s nutrition services officer, with the 2025 Healthy Living Award.
Raised on a farm in southern Michigan, Wiggins developed an appreciation for fresh, locally sourced food at a young age.
A distinguished leader in school nutrition, she is renowned for transforming food services in urban school districts.
Wiggins held positions in various school districts, including Ann Arbor, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., before transforming Detroit’s school nutrition by introducing fresh, locally sourced foods and eliminating processed foods, as well as establishing the Detroit School Garden Collaborative, which created more than 80 student-run gardens to foster food literacy and community engagement.
“Spurred by a 2009 report on Detroit’s high rate of childhood obesity, [Wiggins] started spending more money on quality ingredients, partnering with local farmers to buy and serve fresh produce like jicama and snap peas,” said TIPA President and CEO Dante Galeazzi. “Out went chocolate milk and hot dogs — what Wiggins calls ‘carnival food’ — replaced by foods that reflect the diversity of the students, like hummus and curried rice.”
As the nutrition services officer for Houston ISD, Wiggins oversees meal programs for more than 280,000 students throughout 287 schools. She helped implement salad bars in elementary schools, ensured free meals for all students and introduced the Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Program.
Wiggins has also established a food literacy curriculum and school gardens to inspire a solid understanding of healthy nutrition and food sourcing.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, Wiggins was recognized for her impact on child nutrition as one of Time magazine’s “50 Most Influential People in Health Care” in 2018.
The International Foodservice Manufacturers Association also presented Wiggins with its Silver Plate Award, coming only second to chef Wolfgang Puck.
Galeazzi lauded Wiggins for her willingness to always advocate for more access to fresh produce in schools, noting she has recently worked with TIPA to advance a proposed legislation to increase the amount of money she can pay farmers to increase the amount of Texas-grown fresh produce in Houston ISD’s meals.
“Betti is a vocal and passionate individual who is not shy about pushing congressional representatives or federal government agencies to do more to advance healthy eating and fresh produce over processed foods in schools,” Galeazzi said.
Wiggins, in accepting the award, said she loves collaborating with the farmers she works with.
“Anybody that depends upon the sun, the moon, the stars, the water table, to do their job and to feed America, you can’t have anything but respect for them,” she said. “And throughout the years, I have this affinity that they’re helping ensure my kids get good food and healthy food to put on their trays.”
Wiggins encouraged those in the fresh produce industry to continue to advocate for expanded access to fresh produce and healthy meals for children.
“I tell my people, even in my work, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the table,” she said. “We need to be assured that that, that the farmers recognize the important role they play in health. I’d rather have my kid eat avocado that’s creamy and good and delicious, as opposed to a candy bar that’s creamy, sugary and not in the best interest of their health.”
Wiggins said she sees herself, and the school meals that her team provides, as an extension of the types of foods children have access to at the family dinner.
“That won’t happen unless the food is available to me, and right now it’s not available to me because of policy and need, and it’s your responsibility as a farmer, grower, manufacturer to ensure that I have that opportunity,” she said.
