School Food Waste - Food Rescue

Carmel Elementary Rescues 67,000 Meals in 9 Years

5/9/2017

9 years ago Cindy Baney and Diane Braun had a vision. Elementary school children could raise awareness for Food Rescue, and learn the concept of everyone working together doing a small thing making a big difference. After Carmel Elementary's 9th Hats for Hunger day to benefit Food Rescue, the Elementary has raised $4,500 since 2008, and funded 67,000 meals being rescued during the last decade. Kindergarten students who were a part of the first Hats for Hunger are now ready to move onto high school next year! Thanks to Thanks to Carmel Elementary, principal Megan Klinginsmith, Carmel Clay Schools, Cindy, and Diane for all of your support over the years! In 2014, Carmel Elementary became one of the first schools in Hamilton County to join the K-12 Food Rescue and the #foodisnottrash movement by donating their unopened, unpeeled, and uneaten food to a food pantry instead of feeding a landfill.

Our new system has been working for us up here in Alaska. From the first day it was a hit!!! I was expecting some resistance from teachers who don't care to have food in the classrooms and also problems with garbage on the playground but.....none so far. The high school "hungry boys" love finding the fixings for PB & jelly sandwiches from the K-5 crew. A huge problem, that I cannot fix at this time is the recess timing. It IS after lunch and a LOT of kids will come in and dump their trays just to get outside. Maybe next year. All in all... it was welcomed as a great idea and the school news crew is going to be doing a section on your program...hopefully before school closes for the summer but if not we will be off to a great start next year. We are out the 27th of this month. I'm currently working on getting a summer food program started because I know a lot of our kids do not get to eat well at home. This has only been my 2nd year running the kitchen and I've made MANY changes to our waste problem. I've been in contact with a member of the Sustainable Southeast group that is working on a partnership with the tribal authority to help run an aquaponics site. Also...UAS in Sitka is doing a study on using recycled cardboard to grow mushrooms!!!! He is getting me that contact info soon. I'm soooo excited because mushrooms are seriously my passion!!! I'm already setting up to grow shiitake and other gourmet (but really medicinal) mushrooms at home using alder that has already been dropped around the island. I'm also going to set up at the school to sell and actually make money with our lunch program. I'm looking forward to working with K-12 Food Rescue your fabulous project and help change the habits of our locals. Please feel free to contact me with any more info you may have or just to check on our progress.

Sincerely,

Tricia Clough

STATE DIRECTOR'S OF STUDENT LEADERSHIP