Food Recovery Program

The Food Recovery Program is currently on hold.

It was a pilot initiative started at Beachside Montessori Village. Through a partnership between Beachside Montessori Village, BCPS Food & Nutrition Services, Kids Can and Broward Outreach, Beachside is piloting a food rescue project to reduce food waste in the school cafeteria, which results in reducing the school’s carbon footprint, while supporting hunger relief in the community. Students are encouraged to donate leftover unopened, uneaten or unpeeled items from their lunch trays that they don’t want to eat. These collected foods are donated to Broward Outreach, which then distributes them to the community.

Procedure: Items that can be rescued include: unopened milk cartons, juice, fruit cups, yogurt, cheese sticks, hummus, cereal bowls, raisin boxes, crackers, ices, whole bananas, and oranges. The students place these items on the share table rather than discarded. Broward Outreach will receive the rescued food products for distribution in the community and the school will track the amount of food items rescued to measure the impact.

Background: Food in the landfill decomposes and creates methane gas, which is 21times more potent than CO2. Over 1 billion food items are wasted annually in U.S. schools. A food waste audit conducted by students in our Sustainability class recovered 289 unwrapped, unpeeled food items. This converts to 40 pounds of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere each day. Keeping food out of the landfill significantly reduces greenhouse gases. Additionally, the partnership allows the school to tackle hunger issues in Hollywood and Broward County by rescuing unconsumed food from the school cafeteria. The food that is rescued is distributed to the community through Broward Outreach.

Use the Quick Links section below for important materials about the program.

Quick Links

Food Recovery Checklist

USDA Guidance on the Food Donation Program in Child Nutrition Programs

Food donation has been a longstanding policy in all Child Nutrition Programs and the current amendment to the NSLA clarifies the policy through statute. Although, FNS does not believe this amendment will require change in current food recovery practices, this memorandum provides updated and consolidated guidance on this issue;

USDA Guidance on the Food Donation Program in Child Nutrition Programs

List of Pantries in Broward County

Local food pantries are vital in supporting communities by providing essential food supplies to individuals and families facing food insecurity. They rely on partnerships with local organizations, businesses, and volunteers to collect, store, and distribute food, ensuring that vulnerable populations have access to nutritious food.

Many churches operate food pantries that provide free food to those in need. These church-run pantries often offer additional support services, such as emergency assistance and counseling, to help address the root causes of hunger and poverty. By leveraging their resources and networks, churches can effectively support those in need.

Below is a list of local pantries:

List of Pantries in Broward County

Food and Nutrition Services Department Temperature Log Sheet

USDA's Guide to Conducting Student Food Waste Audits

Why conduct a student food waste audit?

Student food waste audits are a quick way to learn which kinds of foods go uneaten by students in a school cafeteria. The data gained from an audit can help schools develop specific strategies to reduce wasted food. Most importantly, the audits identify why the students are throwing certain foods away, which can help schools develop strategies to encourage students to eat their nutritious meals.
Activities performed during an audit include: project planning, data collection, data analysis, and conducting interviews, which can be incorporated into math and science curriculum or used towards community service hours.
After an audit, schools will have a better idea of how and where to reduce food waste. Reducing food waste can help schools save money by reducing the cost of garbage collection. Reducing food waste also reduces the stress we put on natural resources through production of uneaten food, while helping reduce greenhouse gas pollution (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).

USDA's Guide to Conducting Student Food Waste Audits

Emerson Act Legal Fact Sheet

Businesses and nonprofits that provide or receive donated food are generally well-protected by laws designed to provide immunity from liability related to food donations. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (the Emerson Act) provides a federal baseline of protection for food donors.i The Emerson Act covers individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, the officers of businesses and nonprofit organizations, and gleaners— individuals that harvest donated agricultural crops for a nonprofit organization that distributes the food to the needy.ii

Emerson Act Legal Fact Sheet

Sample Parent Letter

Track Your Impact

Contact Information

Lisa Milenkovic

Curriculum Spvr, STEM + Computer Science K-12