About Plant Based Culinary Advisors
Our Mission
We help K-12 school districts move from highly processed foods to scratch-made, plant-forward meals, without raising food cost or overloading kitchen teams.
We work with school nutrition departments to:
- Build plant-forward menus that students actually eat
- Implement plant-based menu items into existing menus
- Reduce dependency on animal protein
- Train kitchen teams to cook from scratch with confidence and consistency
- Lower food costs and cut waste
- Advocate for and support Farm to School initiatives
- Source local, seasonal ingredients responsibly
- Meet USDA meal pattern requirements
- Prepare for California’s AB 1264 and SB 1383 requirements
Meet the Chef
Sharron Barshishat is the founder of Plant Based Culinary Advisors and a chef with more than 20 years of experience, from fine dining and restaurant ownership to high-volume institutional food service. He trained at Le Cordon Bleu, completed an externship at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy, and holds CIA Pro Chef Level 3 certification.
As Senior Executive Chef at UC Irvine, Sharron led the dining program’s transition from processed food to scratch-made cooking, in an operation serving up to 15,000 meals a day. Under his leadership, plant-forward items grew to more than 30% of the menu and animal protein use fell by 50%. UCI Dining was ranked among the top 10 in the nation by Niche, and the program’s framework was later adopted by university dining programs nationwide.
Today, his focus is school food. Sharron believes every child deserves fresh, real food, and that school kitchens are where lasting change begins. He helps K-12 districts bring scratch-made, plant-forward meals into their programs, train and empower their kitchen teams, and prepare for California’s AB 1264. The goal is simple: healthier students, less waste, and kitchen teams proud of the food they serve.
Our Approach
School food is changing. California’s AB 1264 is phasing out ultra-processed foods, budgets are tight, kitchens are short-staffed, and families expect healthier meals for their kids. Most districts know where they need to go. The hard part is getting there while still meeting USDA meal patterns, staying within reimbursement budgets, and feeding thousands of students every day.
That’s the work we do. We start by looking at the whole program: menus and meal patterns, purchasing and vendor contracts, labor, equipment, waste, student participation, and regulatory requirements. Then we build a plan that moves the program forward at a pace your kitchens can absorb.
From there it gets specific. Costed, kid-tested recipes, not concepts. Production sheets your cooks can follow on a busy service. Sourcing that works with your existing vendors and local farms. Training on site, with your team, in your kitchen. And measurable goals agreed on up front, so you can see whether it worked.
We don’t do this work alone. We collaborate with school food organizations, Farm to School programs, local farmers, and nonprofit partners across California to bring districts proven resources, funding opportunities, and support. PBCA is a member of the Plant Powered School Meals Coalition and the Plant Based Foods Association.