Liz Accles of Maplewood was recently named a Newmanitarian by the Newman’s Own Foundation for her work with Community Food Advocates.
“Newmanitarian” is a term and campaign launched by Newman’s Own Foundation.
Newman’s Own Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation started by Paul Newman, which—alongside Paul—has donated more than $600 million to helping kids who face adversity since 1982.
Each month a “Newmanitarian of the Month” is highlighted, with the honor going to individuals and organizations who are making a difference.
Maplewood’s Liz Accles, executive director at Community Food Advocates, has been named June’s Newmanitarian. With a 30-year career in pursuit of social and economic justice, Accles built the Community Food Advocates “Lunch 4 Learning” campaign that successfully advocated for free school meals for New York City in 2017.
Community Food Advocates co-led The New York Healthy School Meals for All Coalition, as New York fully funded Universal free meals in May 2025—a monumental win for 2.7 million students and their families across the state.
“Amazing,” said Accles, in response to the award. “It’s absolutely thrilling. The Newmanitarian award was a wonderful honor and recognition, not just for me but for our whole team who works so hard.”
Accles believes that lack of access to quality, plentiful food and our inequitable food systems are rooted in economic disparities based on race, gender, and class. Food justice is finding concrete, broad reaching solutions to upend these inequities.
She also believes that school mealtimes should be a central place for socializing and feeling good. Community Food Advocate’s Cafeteria Enhancement Experience (CEE) is an innovative, highly cost-effective model that modernizes and transforms the cafeteria experience for students.
“Transforming from drab and institutional settings to warm and welcoming,” said Accles. “They can pick from casings. Depending on the school setting, not every kid wants to be in the cafeteria, but those meals can be taken to other places. The goal is to make it a friendly, valued place that has an impact on the environment.”
Accles notes that the school meals are highly regulated.
“If you take a slice of pizza, it’s practically whole wheat, nothing’s fried. There are no pork products. There are no processed cold cuts. They were taken off the menu. There’s been efforts around plant-forward days. That’s something the city’s figuring out,” she said. “There are salad bars in almost every cafeteria. It’s not what people have in their minds about their own experiences around school food. The food is healthy.”
And with healthy foods comes a challenge.
“There’s this constant challenge between fresh, whole foods, and things that are healthier versions of what kids eat outside of school. It’s a dynamic tension,” Accles said. “You want the kids to enjoy the food and eat it and make opportunities for kids to try new things.”
She hopes that New Jersey will adopt Universal free meals as well. Accles said, “Parents of all income levels, preparing lunch is time consuming. There is a relief for many parents who don’t have to worry about that anymore. Very few parents, even those that are very health conscious, are measuring nutritional ingredients the same way Universal is.”
Accles was educated in New York City public schools and is a graduate of Brooklyn College. She lives with her wife and two dogs in Maplewood.
To learn more about Community Advocates for Food, visit: https://www.foodadvocates.org/
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