Breakthrough Moment for Joyn Foods As Blended Meat Comes to School Lunches

US startup Joyn Foods has earned K-12 approval in South Carolina, enabling it to sell its mycelium-enhanced blended meat to schools across the state.

With kids’ nutrition in sharp focus in the national health discourse, one mushroom-championing company has earned a vital breakthrough to help make school meals healthier.

Joyn Foods (formerly Mush Foods) has been approved on the South Carolina Purchasing Alliance (SCPA) bid, enabling school districts statewide to purchase its blended meat products through streamlined procurement.

The startup combines beef with mushrooms and mycelium to make blended meatballs, burgers and mince under the 50Cut label, helping lower the environmental impact of meat and offering better nutritional outcomes.

In tastings at K-12 schools in South Carolina’s Berkeley County, students chose its blended meat over conventional beef, with the 50Cut meatballs approved by 96% and burgers by 92%.

“Even more impressive, our most disconcerting eaters in K–2 rated [it] 84% positive,” said Leah Botko, food and nutrition services director for RSU 23 Old Orchard Beach Schools. “50Cut hits the mark for students looking for a more sustainable burger without sacrificing taste.”

Joyn Foods’s 50Cut impresses school chefs

To make its blended meat, Joyn Foods first grows mycelium on organic substrates in a circular process that involves using upcycled food waste from agricultural sidestreams.

The controlled, flightless environment means its solid-state fermentation tech can enable mushroom roots to grow above ground in just eight days – for context, it takes at least a year to farm cows for meat, and about four months to grow soybeans.

Once harvested, the mycelium is then blended with a variety of roasted mushrooms to enhance moisture and umami, and is combined with different types of meat – including beef, chicken and pork – at a 30-50% inclusion rate.

The mushrooms and mycelium boost the nutritional attributes of meat – they provide a source of complete protein, are rich in potassium, iron, calcium, and vitamin D, and are a source of dietary fibre (which is missing in animal proteins). 50Cut also allows food producers to lower the saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium content of their meat products.

Plus, the innovation dramatically curbs the climate footprint of meat, since 50Cut uses over 95% less land and 99% less water than beef.

On a culinary level, it behaves like 100% beef in preparation and service, and thus requires no chef retraining or equipment changes, allowing school districts to integrate the blended meat into familiar menu items.

“As a K-12 chef committed to serving meals that are both healthy for students and responsible for the planet, 50Cut’s burgers and meatballs stand out for their high-quality ingredients, exceptional flavour, clean labels, and reduced fat and sodium content,” said Jason Hull, chef and director of culinary services at Marin Country Day School. “Most importantly, the taste resonates with students.”

School lunch approval a big win for blended meat

The bid approval is a milestone for Joyn Foods, since gaining K-12 approval is a rigorous process. It typically calls for detailed product specifications, compliance with USDA meal pattern requirements, competitive pricing validation, and proven student acceptance through taste tests.

According to the startup, many products never make it past the initial review or the pilot tasting stage, so passing student testing is a critical driver of statewide purchasing decisions, signalling sustained adoption potential.

The National School Lunch Program serves nearly 30 million meals every school day across the US. And collectively, schools are one of the largest buyers of ground beef in the nation, so even a small formulation change can impact millions of meals annually.

“Schools don’t have room for compromise. They need food students actively choose, that fits tight budgets, and works operationally,” said Joyn Foods founder and CEO Shalom Daniel. “These results show blended protein can meet real-world performance standards – not just sustainability goals – at scale.”

The unlocking of statewide purchasing opens up a “pathway for broader adoption” via additional school purchasing cooperatives that are exploring blended meat solutions, Joyn Foods said. It comes months after the Trump administration cut funding for food assistance programmes, making it harder for children to access nutritious food, in contrast with the MAHA movement’s promise of healthier food for kids.

Blended meat itself has emerged as an explosive category, as increased consumer acceptance paves the way for wider distribution. Many options are geared towards kids, such as Perdue Farms’s Chicken Plus range or Disneyland’s blended beef burgers.

Today, 85% of Americans say nutrition is the top priority for their children’s diets, but the same number struggle to get their kids to eat healthier food. And three in four agree that blended meat can get their young ones to eat healthier, according to research by Food System Innovations.

As it makes its foray into schools, Joyn Foods will hope to build on its success in foodservice, where 50Cut is available as part of blended burgers by Pat LaFrieda, empanadas by Nuchas, and sausages by Dufour Gourmet.