For advertising information visit www.samplerpublications.com or call 859.225.4466 | March 2014
FOOD BITES
By Angela S. Hoover, Staff Writer
Compostable Lunch
Trays Piloting In Select
Public Schools
A handful of schools are switching
to compostable lunch trays as part of a
pilot project of the Urban School Food
Alliance. The new trays are made from
sugar cane and cost about 15 cents each.
Traditional lunch trays cost 4 cents, but
are not biodegradable and are often
made from petroleum byproducts.
Alliance member schools believe the
sugar cane trays’ cost will decrease when
more institutions enter into contracts.
The schools plan to sell the compost the
trays generate to help offset the current
price increase. The Alliance has created
a first of its kind partnership between
six big-city school systems in Chicago,
Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
and Orlando. These cities’ combined
purchasing power has helped to create
a new market for sustainable food and
lunchroom supplies. Together, these
schools spend about $530 million on
food and food supplies annually. The
New York City Education Department
will spearhead the supplier review bids,
allowing the other member school
districts to sign up with the same deal
without needing to further negotiate
individually. New York needs 850,000
trays for at least 1,200 schools. If all goes
as expected, the trays will be in place in
all six school districts by September.
Underground
Growing Yields Zero
Carbon Crops
Zero Carbon, brainchild of Richard
Ballarf and Steven Dring of London,
is utilizing abandoned underground
spaces to grow crops. Spaces 100 feet
underground like WWII bomb shelters are equipped to grow sustainable
food hydroponically. Years of work will
culminate in a 2.5-acre farm starting
up fulltime in March. Yields will hit
restaurants and markets by summer.
The first batch of subterranean produce
will include broccoli