Students Rally to Recover Excess Food!

Almost 90 people came together to share ideas, solve problems, and build community at the April 4 meeting of the Student Food Recovery Task Force! 

Dan Zauderer of Grassroots Grocery and Naomi Greengold of FoodRecovery.org kicked off the meeting celebrating the amount of excess food being rescued and the power of this youth-led movement. “We’re better as a community, together,” said Dan.

Advice from Student Food Recovery Champions

One of the great things about the Student Food Recovery Task Force meetings is the opportunity to hear from different students about what’s working at their schools, how they started clubs, and what they’ve learned.

Eva Paulovic presented on ManeMeals, Marymount School of New York’s Food Recovery Initiative (learn more about Eva’s story here). She offered an inside look at starting ManeMeals, getting organized, and the steps to take to start your own food recovery effort. 

Next up, we heard from Maya Puterman, founder of Fresh Opportunities. She has secured a grant to provide funding for meal packaging supplies for five independent schools! 

Finally, Grassroots Grocery interns Aiyana McDonell and Senna Camp brought a college student perspective to the food recovery movement. They shared about Hamilton Harvest, the food rescue club at Hamilton College. “Food recovery efforts don’t have to stop when you graduate high school,” said Senna. 

“I enjoyed hearing the students speak about their experience starting a club. As a cofounder of a food recovery club at my school some of their tips were helpful, and also let me consider new options for the future of my club,” said student reporter, Joie Berhe-Lumax. 

Attn: Public School Students! 

After the student presentations, we took some time to learn more about food recovery in public schools. Does your public school have a sharing table? If not, that’s a great place to start food recovery at your school! Sharing tables are a place for students to leave unopened, uneaten food they don’t want, so other students can access it. Some of our public school food recovery champions have successfully launched efforts to share the surplus from their sharing tables with community fridges.

Breakout Room Brilliancy

Since public and independent schools have different policies about food rescue, we split into two breakout rooms to ask questions, share successes and challenges, and brainstorm solutions. 

Joie joined the public school room. “In our room we discussed resources, share tables and getting sharing tables started at your school, the Good Samaritan act, and general tips for starting a club like this,” she said. The students also heard about the Museum School’s sandwich packing day, and Joie and her fellow-leader Harrison shared about starting the food recovery club at Brooklyn Tech.

In the independent school breakout, students discussed ways to work with administration and address concerns about legal issues around sharing food. Students advised each other on teaming up with faculty, explaining the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, and labeling food. They also shared experiences about working with specific school caterers and discussed ways to reduce plastic waste in food packaging. 

Want to do more? Become an Ambassador!

After we returned from the breakout rooms, Dan introduced Laura, who coordinates the Grassroots Grocery Teen Ambassador program. This is an opportunity to take on a leadership role and commit your time and talent to advance the Grassroots Grocery mission in your community. 

This selective program is designed for high school students eager to collaborate with like-minded student leaders from neighboring high schools and communities. Teen Ambassadors will meet (virtually) each month to share ideas and gain the tools needed to become a meaningful local representative. Learn more and/or apply here. 

The Next Meeting is May 9!

“The meeting gave me lots of ideas for the future of my club and my future in food recovery, bringing a share table to my school, and how the work can continue into my college career,” said Joie. 

The next Student Food Recovery Task Force Zoom meeting is scheduled for May 9, at 7:30 PM. You can register now!

“Come with questions, as there are plenty of people with experience with this type of club to help you get an answer!” Joie advises.

To learn more about student food recovery, hear from students involved in this work, and get helpful resources to start your own club, head on over to the Student Food Recovery Task Force page!