Schools Reduce Food Waste, Improve Menus through“ No Thank You” Box March 13, 2015
Schools Reduce Food Waste, Improve Menus through“ No Thank You” Box March 13, 2015
Acting within the framework of federal and state regulations, Des Moines Public Schools are reducing food waste and improving their menus by placing“ No Thank You” boxes in ten elementary and middle school cafeterias. The district’ s goal is primarily to avoid food waste by serving healthy food that students choose to eat and secondarily to redirect unwanted, healthful food to help students who need it.
The No Thank You boxes are placed near the cafeteria doors next to the garbage cans and give students the option of returning uneaten food items such as apples, bananas, and unopened cereal bowls. The returned food is inspected for integrity, washed, and given to the school nurse, who distributes it to students who are hungry or need to take food with their medicine. In partnership with the Food Bank of Iowa, the district is including some of the rescued food in its Backpack Buddies program.
In addition to rescuing unwanted but wholesome food, a primary objective of the No Thank You Box program is to improve the school menu by discovering and replacing the food items that are most often returned. Administration already knows from production figures how many of each food item is taken, but production figures alone do not show how many of the items taken are actually consumed. The No Thank You Box helps bridge this gap by indicating how many items are taken but not eaten.
A common concern with school food rescue programs is that students will decide not to eat food that they would otherwise consume so that they can share it with others. The Des Moines Public Schools addressed this concern in two ways:
1. They do not advertise to their students what happens with the rescued food. Students know that the food doesn’ t go into the garbage, but they are not told that it goes to the school nurse for distribution to kids who might be hungry.
2. The name“ No Thank You Box” was deliberately chosen instead of a“ Sharing Table” name, in order to downplay the generosity aspects of the program.
Additional suggestions include: � �
Because the primary goal is to improve the menu so that less food needs to be rescued, it is important not to evaluate school food rescue programs solely based on the amount of food rescued. Partnerships and collaboration are essential for this type of work. Outside partners include the Food Bank of Iowa and the FoodCorps VISTA program. Internal partners include school administration, food service personnel, nurses and teachers.
For more information about the Des Moines Public Schools food rescue program, please contact Ms. Amanda Miller at amanda. miller @ dmschools. org or 515-242-8308.
Page | 52