K-12 Food Rescue: A Food Waste Solution Podcast

Episode 177 features Michelle Cowan, Director of Education and Community Partnerships for Clean Memphis, and Leann Edwards, who leads Project Green Fork, the food rescue program at Clean Memphis in 11 schools, soon to expand to 15.

Listen to the inspiring story of Dahlia, Scarlett, and Sonia Basmadjian, the founders of 3 sisters Food Rescue inNew York in Episode 176 of The K-12 Food Rescue Podcast.

Utah State Representative Tiara Auxier shares her experience learning about the effect of unrealistic seat times during school lunches and her experience trying to implement changes in Utah schools related to the implementation of the national school lunch program. Representative Auxier's goal is to improve student nutrition and education via the increased consumption of the healthy food stude...

Kathy Nguyen is the Green Star Schools Program Manager of Eco-Cycle in Boulder, Colorado. Listen to her journey providing school food waste solutions in Episode 173 of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast.

Sara Freeland is the nutrition service site manager at Sheridan High School in Sheridan Indiana. Sheridan nutrition services is involved in reducing school food waste with multiple strategies, including a refrigerator that can be accessed by students who are hungry during the day. Enjoy Episode 172 !

Rogue Bailey started noticing the high amount of food waste at Bioscience High School, and she conducted a food waste audit with support from the staff and students at the HS, which showed 17,000 pounds of food could be prevented from entering a landfill with a few changes. Listen to her story in Episode 171 of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast.

Audrey Pak is a senior at Stargate HS in Colorado. Listen to her inspiring story about bringing share tables and composting initiatives to her high school in episode 170 of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast!

Lucie Leblois is the co-founder of The DC Food Project, a Washington DC based not for profit facilitating both share tables and in house food pantries in Washington DC schools. Enjoy Episode 169 of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast!

Anne Rosenthal, is the Farm to School Specialist in the FoodServices Department at Baltimore City Public Schools in Baltimore Maryland. Enjoy Episode 168 of The K-12 Food Rescue Podcast.

Kate Urbank is the site director of Food Rescue US in Washington DC.  Food Rescue US – DC has kept over 12 million pounds of healthy excess food out of landfills, redirecting it to the food insecure.  Food Rescue US - DC also works with both public and private schools to rescue food in DC schools. Enjoy Episode 167 of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast.

Kendra Gay is a facilitator for the Rhode Island School Recycling Project, an organization that has been instrumental in engaging many schools in Rhode Island to participate in school food waste solutions. Enjoy Episode 166

Olive Araujo and Grace Walker are students at Garvin Elementary in Rhode Island, and Michelle Carter is the principal. Garvin Elementary was recently named a "Food Smart" school by the Rhode Island Recycling Project, and in this episode, they share their journey of implementing school food waste solutions at Garvin! Enjoy episode 165 of the K-12 Food Rescue Project.

Alex Rampton is a senior at Skyline High School in Utah, and took over leadership of "WasteBusters" in the 2025/2026 school year, which is a youth organization founded by Isabel Khachatryan the in the prior year, and focused on waste reduction in their school district. Enjoy Episode 164 of The K-12 Food Rescue Podcast!

Kiko Bourne is an environmental education consultant with The Public Schools of The Tarrytowns in New York. Kiko developed the "Wasteless Horsemen Initiative" that is on track to reduce about 100,000 pounds of trash per school year that would have other wise ended up in an incinerator. Enjoy episode 163 of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast!

Laura Calderon Olander is the Environmental Education Coordinator for We Don't Waste. Julia Lennon is the is the Senior Program Manager of Education and Advocacy for Wee Don't Waste. Listen to their journeys leading school food waste solutions in Denver Public Schools. Season 2 Episode 162

Cat Buxton is the founder of the Upper Valley Super Composter Project in Vermont.  Please enjoy listening to her journey providing school food waste solutions in Vermont.

Lisa Feret is a state representative in Colorado. She recently co-sponsored HB25-1059, a bill that encouraged schools to participate in school food waste solutions, and strengthened legal protections for food donations in Colorado.

Diana Lara is the Executive Director of Food Finders, a Food Rescue organization in California . Food Finders has rescued 2 million pounds of school food from 2020-2025 from 120 schools in Southern California. Food Finders has rescued food from schools since at least 2016, when they were rescuing food from 30 schools at that time. Enjoy hearing about their decade long journey rescuing school food...

Cassidy Boardman is the Nutrition Service Director and Upland Unified School District in California. Through food waste audits in their 14 schools, the district discovered what was being wasted, and implemented changes that have led to a tremendous reduction in food waste. Listen to episode 157 of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast to hear more of the story!

Representative Tyler Clancy in Utah spent 3 years working on HB100, a bill that aimed to reduce food waste in schools, increase seat time for students at lunch, and lower the cost for students participating in the National School Lunch Program. Listen to his journey in episode 158 of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast.

Listen to Peter Kellogg’s volunteer journey supporting the food share table initiative at David Fairchild Elementary.  Peter is a senior at the University of Miamistudying Ecosystem Science Policy, and has volunteered at David Fairchild Elementary, a school that has been involved with implementing share tables in partnership with the Miami Dade County Council PTA and Florida Green Schools. https:/...

Sabrina and Valentina Navarra share their Food Rescue journey from Elementary to High School.

High School Senior Elliot Pomper shares his journey establishing "Fruitful", an initiative focused on recovering perfectly good fruit from the trays of students that they choose not to eat for any reason and donating it to a local food pantry.

Toward Zero Waste's Megan Holler shares her journey of bringing share tables to Wake County Public Schools in North Carolina. https://towardzerowaste.org/share-program/ https://www.wral.com/news/education/more-wake-schools-turning-wasted-food-into-snacks-for-students-june-2025/

Listen to the Peace Jam Club at Pittsfield HS in Massachusetts share their school food waste solutions in partnership with Mary Summers' Tommy's Composting.