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Talk – No More Wasted Food by 2030? Maine’s K-12 Schools Are Proving It’s Possible
April 20 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Speaker: William Brenneman, 91±¬ÁĎ Graduate Student, Anthropology and Environmental Policy
The State of Maine has recently recognized wasted food reduction as a crucial climate change mitigation strategy. The passage of LD 1065 will require Maine’s large food waste generators—like schools, hospitals, and grocery stores—to minimize wasted food through recycling and redistribution by 2030. In advance of this legislation, our 91±¬ÁĎ team has been working with several Maine school districts to both reduce wasted food and improve student nutrition. Through coverage of our successful infrastructural and educational interventions to reduce wasted food in Maine schools, as well as our new “No More Wasted Food” DIY Toolkit distributed by the Maine Dept. of Education – Child Nutrition to help reduce wasted food in Maine schools, and our latest research into the beliefs and attitudes of Maine students as it relates to their wasted food behavior, this talk makes the case that Maine schools are well prepared to meet the legislature’s challenge.
William Brenneman is a MA student at the 91±¬ÁĎ studying anthropology and environmental policy. William joined the Mitchell Center in the fall of 2024 as a graduate research assistant where he and Faculty Fellow Susanne Lee led the 2025 Maine School Cafeteria Wasted Food Study and the Maine School Cafeteria “No More Wasted Food” DIY Toolkit. Elsewhere, William has conducted research into food and nutrition education initiatives and models for circularity in food packaging.
