Bloomfield Schools, Table to Table, Working to Reduce Food Waste

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on EssexNewsDaily.com. Read the original article here.

Table to Table, a food rescue organization, and the Bloomfield School District have joined forces to reduce food waste and feed those in need with the first ever district-wide food rescue partnership. 

As part of the collaboration, surplus meals and snacks from 10 school cafeterias are being rescued weekly by volunteers, and delivered to local community pantries through Table to Table’s I-Rescue App.

“Nearly 3 billion pounds of food is wasted annually in New Jersey while almost 1.1 million people in our state, including 270,000 children, face hunger. Table to Table offers a solution that keeps good, nourishing food out of landfills, and ensures it reaches the dinner tables of families, senior citizens, and other folks facing food insecurity,” said Heather Thompson, a Bloomfield native and executive director of Table to Table. “We work with food businesses of all types and sizes, but it’s especially inspiring to see our schools and students stepping up to help in this way, especially as a Bloomfield resident and Franklin School parent myself. Through our collaboration with the District, we’ve already rescued enough food for over 7,000 meals since our launch last month – and those meals and snacks go right to our neighbors in need.”

The participating Bloomfield Schools include Berkeley School; Bloomfield High School; Bloomfield Middle School; Brookdale School; Carteret School; Demarest School; Fairview School; Franklin School; Oak View School, and Watsessing School. 

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 303 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 120,700 tons of nutritious food—enough for 241,400,846 million meals—and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 544 metric tons of methane saved.

Related:

• Bloomfield Resident Named Executive Director of Food Rescue Nonprofit
• Table to Table School Partnerships
• 2 New Jersey Nonprofits Team Up to Distribute Food to Those in Need
• New Jersey School Food Waste Solution Leader Heather Thompson