Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on TAPinto Bloomfield. Read the original article here.
In an inspiring collaboration aimed at addressing both food insecurity and environmental sustainability, the Bloomfield School District and Table to Table have launched a groundbreaking food rescue initiative. This partnership, the first of its kind in the district, focuses on rescuing surplus meals and snacks from 10 local schools and redistributing them to community food pantries, providing nourishment to those in need.
The initiative is part of Table to Table’s broader mission to reduce food waste and ensure that excess food is put to good use, rather than ending up in landfills. Using the organization’s I-Rescue App, volunteers are able to coordinate the pickup of leftover food from Bloomfield’s schools and deliver it to local pantries. In just a few short weeks since its launch, the partnership has already resulted in the rescue of enough food to provide over 7,000 meals — directly benefitting families, seniors, and others facing hunger in the community.
Heather Thompson, executive director of Table to Table, emphasized the importance of reducing food waste and alleviating hunger in New Jersey. “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 Thompson. “It’s especially inspiring to see our schools and students stepping up to help in this way, particularly as a Bloomfield resident and Franklin School parent myself.”
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.
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