Elementary school implements food-recovery program

Ever throw away that bruised banana and not think twice about it?

Students all over toss it, along with the milk or yogurt their mom packed, just because they aren't hungry. But those at McGowen Elementary School in McKinney are thinking more than twice.

They're doing something different.

"I started noticing full Lunchables and Snack Packs getting trashed," said Rachel Freeland, a McGowen parent who began volunteering in the school's lunch room about two years ago. "They're not going to eat it, but they don't know not to throw it away. It's really their only option.

"It really bothered me."

So much that she sought another option, which came to fruition this week. "Feed People - Not Landfills" got under way Tuesday at school breakfast. Those unopened juices and fruit cups will no longer go to waste.

Plastic bins, designated for foods like snacks and fruits, now sit by cafeteria trash cans, inviting hundreds of K-5 students with another option. A donated refrigerator and coolers store the extras until Freeland and other parent volunteers ship them to The Samaritan Inn twice a week.

Wednesday's shipment - the first of many - brought an entire cooler filled with milk.

"Anybody who's ever done one lunch duty - it just takes one - sees the waste," said Jennifer Little, McGowen Elementary principal. "It's sickening, really."

And it's not just in McKinney by any means. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) contends that more than one-quarter of all food produced for human consumption in America is wasted. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified discarded food as the largest or second-largest component of the country's solid waste, according to EPA's website.

To counteract such waste, and truly provide a better option everywhere, Congress passed into law in October 1996 the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. Signed by then-President Bill Clinton, and named after Rep. Bill Emerson (who pushed for the act but died before it was passed), the law encourages food donations to nonprofits through liability protection. Barring gross negligence, businesses and organizations that donate food are protected from legal liability that could arise from their donations.

But not many schools seem to be aware of such protection. "Red tape," particularly when dealing with food and related allergies, is a common caution in the education realm, Freeland and Little said.

Anticipating a dead end, Freeland simply Googled, "How to save food from being thrown in the trash," and Dranesville Elementary School in Herndon, Va., kept popping up. It and three other elementary schools in that area are saving food with a purpose with help from LINK Against Hunger, a 40-year network of churches and organizations that provides food and funds for the needy.

Lisa Lombardozzi of LINK, Inc. gave Freeland the rundown for bringing the program to McKinney. Bins, refrigerators and volunteers are all it takes - an ease so many still don't realize.

"It's really hard to find schools that are doing this," Freeland said. "I thought surely there are a lot of them, but there aren't. There are none around here that I'm aware of that do it."

Led by Freeland, the McGowen Green Team added "Feed People - Not Landfills" to its community outreach initiatives. Other more common programs like composting and park maintenance are still on the agenda, but likely aren't as impactful as food recovery.

Students are of course encouraged to eat all of their food and take home unopened items that don't need refrigeration, Little said. Those who get their breakfast and lunch from school are required to have an entrée and three side items, which is why so many trash at least one. With lunches as early as 10:15 a.m. at many schools, some just aren't hungry enough.

McGowen students' hearts have supplanted their lack of hunger, though their eagerness to play a part in the new mission may need some constructive tempering.

"I had kindergarteners bringing me lunch meat from their sandwich...single grapes," Freeland said. "They were so excited to donate their food."

Only unopened, unused items are saved, not the piles of green beans and carrots that every student hopes to pass along, she said. And though McGowen kids may not want that fat-free yogurt or red-not-Granny Smith apple, there are plenty who do.

"It's a very empowering thing for our students to recognize at such an early age that they can make a difference," Little said. "If they start now, who knows what they can do by the time they're adults or even in high school."

The Samaritan Inn, Collin County's only homeless shelter, is just the first beneficiary of McGowen's mission. Low-income nursing homes, food pantries, Meals on Wheels and even low-income preschools are likely next, Freeland said.

Other schools have already asked Freeland how they can implement the program. Spread a few milks a meal, at least 10 meals a day, at schools around the D-FW Metroplex, and the impact is significant.

That's a lot of bananas going from waste to life-sustaining worth.

"I think parents would be surprised how much food their kids throw away," Freeland said. "Nobody else is going to do this for us. We have to take responsibility."

Those interested in volunteering for the food-recovery program should contact Freeland at mcgowengreenteam@gmail.com.

Current Rating: 4 of 3 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...