New guide helps schools recover surplus food

A new free guide aims to help schools cut down on wasted cafeteria food. Called "Sharing the Table: A Roadmap to Recovering Surplus Food in Schools," it comes from the Center for Green Schools, working with Oakland Unified School District and San Diego Unified School District, two districts known for their food waste programs. K-12 schools nationwide throw out hundreds of thousands of tons of lunch food each year, wasting not just food but the water and energy that went into producing it.

The guide walks districts through setting up or expanding food-recovery efforts: navigating the federal, state and local rules involved, getting district approval, running food share tables and donation programs, and writing standard procedures that bring together nutrition staff, facilities crews, school leaders and community partners. It also covers how to pilot a program, track whether it's working, and expand it across a whole district, plus ways to tie the effort into classroom lessons and student leadership. The guide includes real examples from Oakland and San Diego along with signage, templates and other tools other districts can borrow.

This isn't a homeowner program, but it may be relevant if you have kids in school or serve on a district committee — recovering surplus food can lower a district's waste-disposal costs, help feed food-insecure families, and support broader sustainability goals in your local schools. The guide is free to download for any district curious about starting or improving this kind of program.