School District Food Rescue Program Donates 10,000 Pounds
SoWashCo Schools presented their Food Rescue Program to the Woodbury City Council Thursday, highlighting a partnership that has donated nearly 10,000 pounds of food to community members over three months.
The program redirects uneaten school meals to Basic Needs Food Pantry rather than discarding them as waste. Students place unwanted items like milk, bread or fruit into designated collection carts, and the food is then redistributed to community members in need.
The initiative developed in response to increased food waste following Minnesota's implementation of free school meals. According to the presentation, the district has seen a 25% increase in students eating both breakfast and lunch since meals became free statewide, resulting in more food waste.
Nutritional services staff initiated the partnership approximately two years ago when they began focusing on cafeteria waste reduction. The program allows the district to redirect resources while serving community needs, according to the presentation.
Community members can volunteer or make donations through the Basic Needs Food Pantry website at basicneedsmn.org. The pantry weighs, sorts and distributes the donated food items to anyone needing food assistance.
This story was created by artificial intelligence (a large language model) based on the proceedings captured in the video below.
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Food Rescue Program and Waste Reduction
▸Meeting Analysis
“well the food rescue program is a program where students are able to take unwanted and uneaten items that will be safely redistributed to a company that we have partnered with called basic needs food pantry”
“since meals in the state of Minnesota have become free we're seeing a lot more students eating not only lunch but breakfast with us we're up about 25% in conjunction with that comes an increase in the amount of waste so we tried to figure out a way to use like use the resources and at the same time help the community and that's how the partnership was developed”
“over the past 3 months we've donated almost 10,000 PBS of food”
“what I love most about this partnership is that it came from the school district itself um it came from nutritional services and they were so passionate about not wanting to just simply throw away this food they wanted to give it a second life and they wanted to make sure that it got out into the community to the people that really needed it”
“if people would like to help if they'd like to show support um they can go to our website at basicneeds mn.org um and you can find out how to volunteer there if you'd like to make a donation for the mission here”
▸Source Document
[0:00] [Music]
[0:06] well the food rescue program is a
[0:08] program where students are able to take
[0:10] unwanted and uneaten items that will be
[0:14] safely redistributed to a company that
[0:17] we have partnered with called basic
[0:19] needs food pantry so either a milk a
[0:21] piece of bread or some fruit they'll
[0:24] just grab their breakfast that they want
[0:25] to eat and we have to give them a fruit
[0:27] or vegetable and instead of throwing it
[0:28] away they just automatically go the
[0:30] basic needs cart I would say about 2
[0:32] years ago we really started
[0:34] concentrating on the amount of waste
[0:36] that was happening in the cafeteria
[0:38] since meals in the state of Minnesota
[0:40] have become free we're seeing a lot more
[0:43] students eating not only lunch but
[0:45] breakfast with us we're up about
[0:47] 25% in conjunction with that comes an
[0:50] increase in the amount of waste so we
[0:52] tried to figure out a way to use like
[0:56] use the resources and at the same time
[0:59] help the community and that's how the
[1:00] partnership was developed over the past
[1:02] 3 months we've donated almost 10,000 PBS
[1:05] of food the food rescue program has been
[1:07] an excellent addition to our Cafe
[1:09] experience students are excited because
[1:11] they know they're helping others um and
[1:13] they also know that the food isn't going
[1:14] to waste I think it's been successful
[1:16] because people are helping other people
[1:18] there's people in need that need food
[1:20] and helping them by donating this food
[1:22] is a big success what I love most about
[1:26] this partnership is that it came from
[1:30] the school district itself um it came
[1:32] from nutritional services and they were
[1:35] so passionate about not wanting to just
[1:37] simply throw away this food they wanted
[1:39] to give it a second life and they wanted
[1:42] to make sure that it got out into the
[1:43] community to the people that really
[1:45] needed it and this is just opened us up
[1:47] to serve the community in a whole new
[1:49] way when we receive it we weigh it we
[1:53] sort it and then we put it out on the
[1:56] floor to be distributed for the
[1:58] community and any body who needs food
[2:01] items so I think it's really been a
[2:04] wonderful collaboration between
[2:07] nutrition services and the buildings and
[2:10] really just the entire School Community
[2:12] if people would like to help if they'd
[2:13] like to show support um they can go to
[2:15] our website at basicneeds mn.org um and
[2:19] you can find out how to volunteer there
[2:21] if you'd like to make a donation for the
[2:23] mission here
[2:26] [Music]
This story was created by artificial intelligence (a large language model) based on the proceedings captured in the video below.
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