K-12 Food Rescue: A Food Waste Solution Podcast

Jacqueline Richard is the School Nutrition Program Director of the Calcasieu Parish School District.  Four years ago she noticed food waste at one elementary school, and developed a program that could be replicated in each school for students to participate in a share cart program.   After a hurricane and covid stifled the program for a few years, the program has been rebuilt, and Jacqueline share...

Listen to the inspiring story of Grace Klein Community founder Jenny Waltman, and author of "God Chose the Wrong Person". Grace Klein Community in Birmingham Alabama has 600 food rescue drivers, and is able to provide 2 million pounds of food to 500,000 children and families in need from multiple Grace Klein Community locations. In addition, Grace Klein Community partners with 62 schools, and has...

Paul Tolar is the General Manager of Operations at The Eau Claire Area School District in Wisconsin. In this episode, Paul share about the origins of the composting and share table programs, and provides compelling data from school food waste audits that demonstrate the importance finding school food waste solutions nationwide.

Listen to the inspiring story of Jim Conklin, co-founder and Executive Director of Cultivate Food Rescue in South Bend Indiana.

Listen to the inspiring story of Rachel Ni, who recently graduated from Centennial HS in Maryland. Rachel noticed food was being wasted at an alarming rate, and she took action. Listen to her and her team's testimony at the 5:06 mark of the link below at a board of education meeting. https://hcpsstv.v3.swagit.com/videos/270604

In this episode, soon to be freshman at Yale Lamia Ayaz, looks back on her experience acquiring grants for composting and share tables at Howard High School in Maryland, as well as several other schools. 

Listen to the inspiring story of Ginny Johnson, the Sustainability Coordinator of The Boxerwood Education Association in Rock Bridge Virginia. Ginny helped establish the Waste Busters composting program in 5 elementaries Rock Bridge County, which also features share tables. Last year, the schools composted 3.5 tons of wasted food combined in all 5 schools.

Violet Hart, Emmet Brick, and Milcha-Hulen Posnak are all former students from Fayetteville High School in Arkansas, while Sylvia Smith is headed into her senior year. Each of them had Mr. Clay Morton as an AP Environmental Science teacher. Listen their journey of finding a solution for school food waste not only in their school, but their entire school district.

The impact of K-12 Food Rescue has reached world wide! Nghia Luu, from True North International School in Hanoi Vietnam, discovered K-12 Food Rescue resources online while working oh his Zero Waste Project, in in this episode he talks about his journey developing the project, and how the resources he found online helped him along the way. Their are many differences in he way school breakfasts and...

Finbar Heaslip is the Food Waste Diversion/Compost Manager at Quincy Public Schools in Massachusetts. In this episode, Finbar shares about pilot programs in two high schools in the school district. The program focuses on composting and share tables, and Finbar shares not only the story and mechanics of both programs, but also some data collected. Finbar asked me to mention that in addition to food...

Listen to the inspiring story of Gerin Hennebaul, a a 27 year educator at Lovin Elementary in Georgia who has worked tirelessly on school food waste solutions in her school district. Gerin chronicles Lovin Elementary School's implementation of composting and share table program, and details the importance of student involvement and leadership in these programs.

Listen to the inspiring story of a K-12 Food Rescue student leader, Tanvi Modugula, a student at Hebron High School in Montgomery County in Maryland.

Hear the story of how the Vermont South Burlington High School Share Fridge came into existence, and the impact it makes, as told by assistant principal John Craig.

Listen to the inspiring 13 year school food waste solution journey of Jennifer Trent, the program manager of the Iowa Waste Reduction Center at the University Of Northern Iowa.

Listen to the inspiring stories of Iris Saxer and Dave Hudacsko, school food waste solution leaders in Teton Valley Idaho. Dave is the owner of RAD Curbside, who manages all waste hauling and curbside recycling in Teton Valley, and Iris has been championing food waste solutions in Teton Valley Idaho for several years.

Listen to Amy Hammes, a Recycling Specialist In Burbank California, share her story of learning about school food waste and finding successful solutions.

Listen to the Child Nutrition Director of the Umatilla School District, Rikkilyn Starlipper, as well as Food Corps member Lourdes Yparraguirre, share their inspiring journey to reduce food waste in the Umatilla School District in Oregon.

Listen to Rhode Island High School Students Bella Quiroa and Emma Pautz share their journey fighting school food waste with the Youth Composting Campaign Initiative, and several other action steps they have taken to battle school food waste.

John Gregg Elementary School student leaders know that #FoodIsNotTrash! Listen to their inspiring story, as well as the story of their 5th and 6th grade science teacher, Tally Pasiuk.

Listen to the exciting journey of finding school food waste solutions at IPS 39 William McKinley Elementary, as told by Instructional Coach Sharon Sellers and students Addyson Hall and Malaya Loredo.

Listen to Erin Dorr, a facilities management consultant for Bedford Public Schools in MA, share how she first became interested in the subject of school food waste, and the steps she took to make a difference and lead the #FoodIsNotTrash movement in Bedford Public Schools.

Hear the inspiring story of the founder of The Should Project, Andrew Plotkin, as he shares how he learned about wasted food in schools, and what he did to make sure 40 pounds a day of food in one school is given to a local caring agency instead of feeding landfills. https://www.theshouldproject.org/

Fountain Valley Food Rescue is featured on the 104th episode of the K-12 Food Rescue Podcast. Students Stella Rhee, Annabelle Cabaniss, and Gunnar Mason, along with the science department chair of Fountain Valley, Danielle Llewelyn, share the story of Fountain Valley Food Rescue in Colorado.

Mark and Mallory Topoozian are siblings in Fresno California, and Mark attended Bullard High School, and Mallory currently attends Bullard High School. Mark started a school recovery program that spread to 25 schools, and Mallory started a monthly effort to provide food for food insecure families for she and her classmates to participate in. Mallory is also involved the food recovery program Mark...

The Zionsville Presbyterian Church Food Pantry has partnered with the Zionsville Community Schools and K-12 Food Rescue since 2015, rescuing an estimated 315,000 pounds of food from 9 schools that is distributed 2 days a week to children and families in need in the community. Angie Campbell, Stephanie Mbathi, and Austin Ide have volunteered faithfully for many years, and in this episode, they shar...