Food Rescue MAINE Webinars and Talks

FRM Media Advisaries

April 21, 2021 

Contact: Joan Perkins, joan.perkins@maine.edu 

The town of Winslow will launch a new food recycling program at 5:30 p.m. on Earth Day, April 22, in partnership with the Senator George J. Mitchell Center at the 91爆料, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments. 

Media are invited to join municipal officials and children from Winslow public schools at the library at 136 Halifax Street as the town installs new food recycling bins to jump start their community food waste reduction program.

At 6 p.m., DEP organics management specialist Mark King will offer a presentation, 鈥淲hat is Food Recycling?鈥� Those who attend the presentation will receive a free composting bucket to collect food waste in their homes.

Winslow is the first municipality to launch a food recycling pilot program with the Mitchell Center and the DEP, although Waterville and a coalition of Fayette, Readfield and Wayne will introduce similar programs later this year. Winslow will complement community food recycling efforts with school activities and educational materials designed by Mitchell Center students and staff.

For more information about Thursday鈥檚 event, contact Erica LaCroix, Winslow town manager, 207.872.2776; elacroix@winslow-me.gov.

Susanne Lee, faculty fellow at 91爆料鈥檚 Mitchell Center, is spearheading the聽statewide food recycling education campaign with funding from the DEP鈥檚 waste聽diversion grants program.聽聽

The post 91爆料 Press Releases and FRM Talks appeared first on Food Rescue MAINE.

In particular, we鈥檇 like to thank the Maine Dept. of Education and the teachers, staff, and students who participated in our 2023 Maine School Cafeteria Food Waste Study. Their work enabled us to show the importance of food waste education in reducing food waste and improving student nutrition 鈥� while also saving money and fighting climate change. Their efforts helped generate food waste awareness and action in entire school communities.

Governor Mills鈥� proclamation recognizes their achievement and encourages all Maine schools鈥� efforts to reduce food waste.

Maine K-12 schools have a special role in educating our next generation to reduce, recover, and recycle food, and this younger generation can help educate their families.

In recognition of Maine Food Waste Awareness Week, we would welcome your聽efforts to share the Proclamation broadly with your own communities and schools.聽Imagine the possible food waste-related events that could highlight Food Waste Awareness in your community activities:

• Help your schools add a Share Basket at breakfast and lunch meals 鈥� this can both reduce food waste and give food where needed.
• Highlight locations in your community that will take good, edible food donations.
• Challenge residents to collect and review their home food waste for one day 鈥� then give tips on how to reduce.

鈥淚 encourage all Maine people 鈥� young and old 鈥� to become aware of the wasted food in our homes, schools, and all around us, and to commit to stop throwing food away鈥�.

Governor Mills, Maine Food Waste Awareness Week Proclamation

Please contact Susanne Lee if you have any questions or need any additional information. Visit our Food Rescue MAINE website for more tools and ideas. Your efforts show the importance of working together to make great things happen.

The post Governor Mills proclaims Maine Food Waste Awareness Week September 25-29, 2023 appeared first on Food Rescue MAINE.

My Experience with Food Waste in College Athletics

As a fourth-year Division 1 soccer player and a Mitchell Center food waste student intern, I have noticed that as athletes we learn about nutrition and food as fuel for our bodies, yet we end up wasting mounds of food.

I first noticed this waste with the catered food we ordered on away-trips. We throw away full or half-full containers of good, edible pasta,聽sauce, salad, and even meat. On bus-trips, many whole pizzas were thrown away because we simply had too many for our team. This led me to question what we can do about our food waste.

Investigating the Issue

It makes sense that college athletic departments would be worried about large amounts of food waste, especially at sporting events. However, food waste on the individual team level is often overlooked. Reducing this food waste is essential because there are often large amounts at this smaller level. This is because coaches use catering-style meals on away trips, as a cheaper option than restaurant dining. Unfortunately, these catered meals create large amounts of food waste. This seemed like an issue that could be remedied, so I wanted to investigate.

I started by asking my coach why we order so much catered food, knowing that at the end of our meals we often throw away full or half-full catered food boxes. She told me that because they do not know exactly how much food the players will eat, they are unable to order the 鈥榩erfect鈥� amount 鈥� and would rather have too much food than too little.

While I completely understood and appreciated their problem, I still struggled with the idea that we had to throw away all of this perfectly edible food. Reflecting on my work with the Mitchell Center as a food waste intern, I know that there are always good solutions to food waste.

Finding a Solution- The Food Recovery Hierarchy

The EPA food recovery hierarchy suggests that the first and best food waste solution is to reduce the amount of wasted food. In our case, this was not possible, so we moved on to the second solution on the hierarchy- feeding people. After further discussion, a few of my teammates and I came up with a simple solution: we would give our remaining food to the hotel staff where we were staying. We also allowed players to take home any extra pizzas from our bus-trip meals. We were able to feed lots of people and eliminate our team’s food waste.

What Can Universities Do?

For the general college athletics food waste problem, there are also good solutions. Nearly 40% of college students experience food insecurity. Rather than being thrown away, excess food from college athletic events should be donated to campus and community food pantries. There are several ways for universities to repurpose these large amounts of food instead of wasting it. Donating excess food to students or local food banks is a good option, but there is more that can be done in the preparation of this food to reduce waste before it happens. Examples of this include better ingredients that emit less greenhouse gasses, educating people about food waste, and providing more spaces for composting and recycling in athletic stadiums.

What Can YOU Do?

While these ideas work for college athletics food waste problems, they also have practical implications. Maybe you struggle with food waste when you order or even make food for a party- and always have leftovers. Since you are not feeding team athletes, you could try to reduce
the waste with this great website that helps you estimate how much food you should make or order based on the number of people that you are serving. If reduction is not an option, consider giving your guests to-go boxes of the extra food or identify soup kitchens or shelters where you can donate your leftovers.

There are solutions to food waste all around us, as long as we look for them.

And always remember- Maine food is too good to waste.

– Halle R., Mitchell Center Student Intern

I am an athlete who is passionate about contemporary art, reading the classics, and finding new music.

The post Food is Fuel 鈥� So Why is There So Much Food Waste in College Athletics? appeared first on Food Rescue MAINE.

My experience at Feeding Laramie Valley:

While serving with AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) I spent some time in Laramie, Wyoming, working with a 501c3 nonprofit organization called Feeding Laramie Valley (FLV). The aim of this organization was to address food insecurity issues and to support a sustainable and just food system in Albany County and beyond. They ran a series of different programs called SHARES, Mobile Market, Kids Out to Lunch, and a community composting effort.聽

I recently moved back to New England and began school at the 91爆料 in Orono. I got this internship with Food Rescue MAINE and began working on implementing solutions to fight food insecurity in Maine. In reflection, I realized that the problems which the programs in Wyoming were addressing could also be used in Maine鈥檚 food system.聽

Feeding Laramie Valley & Maine’s food system:

Maine is a rural area that struggles with a shorter growing season, geographic isolation, and intense winters.

The state of Wyoming also shares these same challenges. Feeding America estimates that 1 in 8 children in Wyoming are facing hunger. Maine has a similarly dire food insecurity situation. It鈥檚 the most food insecure state in New England according to reports by the USDA.聽

The Good Shepherd Food Bank found that Maine ranks number one in New England for child food insecurity. FLV held a program called Kids Out to Lunch which involved preparing free, healthy meals for children and parents. It was a great way to get more kids fed while also providing them with a time to be outside and socialize. This program could be extremely effective in Maine. With a model like this, we could help reduce the amount of hungry kids in our state.聽

Maine could benefit from programs where folks get access to fresh produce for free. The SHARES program at FLV involved cultivating a variety of crops at several garden locations around Laramie. Then this food would be processed and distributed in bags given to members of the community at no cost. The SHARES program also relied on a partnership with a local food co-op to get access to more produce.聽

Another project that could be incorporated in Maine from FLV鈥檚 model is the Mobil Market concept. This was a bus that was being renovated in order to supply food to multiple different geographically isolated communities neighboring Laramie. It would allow folks to get access to fresh produce in a way that is convenient and accessible to them. This practice would be especially pertinent to Maine. Geographically isolated communities are more likely to deal with hunger due to fuel costs and supply chain issues. By bringing fresh food directly to communities, we can aid in filling a void in the food system.聽

Climate change and food waste:

Climate change is also a very real issue for Maine and Wyoming. Food waste decomposing in landfills is a source of methane that could easily be decreased. Composting food scraps instead of throwing them away is a great way to do this. FLV鈥檚 community compost project allowed members of the community to drop compost off in a designated area at the back of the property. This allowed folks who don鈥檛 have the capacity or use for their own compost to still divert food waste. This type of model could be very helpful in Maine because it would make composting more conve苍颈别苍迟.听

We have the ability to make changes that will feed more people in Maine. By implementing solutions that have worked in similar areas we can fight food waste in new ways. By localizing the food system we can implement community programs across the state to better fight food waste, feed more Mainers, and reduce emissions.

To learn more about the work that Feeding Laramie Valley does please visit this link:聽

And always remember鈥� Maine food is too good to waste.

-Eddie N., Mitchell Center Student Intern

Citations:

1. Feeding Laramie Valley
3. Troutman, Caitlin. Maine Public 28 Nov. 2019
4. U.S. Department of Agriculture

The post Lessons from my Time with AmeriCorps: How Maine Can Learn From Wyoming appeared first on Food Rescue MAINE.

Why is Food Being Thrown Away While People Go Hungry?

My entire life, I always have hated throwing out food. When I was growing up, my mother would tell me to finish what was on my plate because there are starving people in this world. I was one of the lucky children that always had food in front of me. In New England and Maine, we rank some of the highest in the country for child food insecurity. Children not having access to food never sat well with me. Kids should be out playing and learning, and not worrying about if they were going to get fed before and after school. Check out the link to . With 1 in 5 children in Maine experiencing food insecurity, there is much work to be done. That鈥檚 where you and I come in.

How Can YOU Make a Difference?

As I continued to think about the food waste problem and wonder how I could make a difference, I saw a Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions student internship offering students the opportunity to develop food waste solutions in Maine. One of the key food waste solutions was focused on developing a Maine community food rescue network – Food Rescue MAINE – using the to successfully connect community food surplus to address community food insecurity using community volunteers, called 鈥渇ood rescue heroes鈥�.聽 This system effectively reducing food waste and feeding people in over 30 communities in the United States.聽I applied and was selected for this internship!

A Day in the Life of a Maine Food Rescue Volunteer:

As part of my new Mitchell Center – Maine food waste solutions internship, I wanted to be part of the solution. As a result, I signed up with Food Rescue MAINE to be a food rescuer in York County where I go to school.聽 Here鈥檚 how it works:

1. To begin, I log onto my Food Rescue MAINE account using my phone.
2. 聽Next, I check the 鈥淔ood Rescues Available鈥� section of the Food Rescue MAINE site.聽
3. Today is Wednesday, and I am free after 2pm; I claim a food rescue that matches my available time and location – about 2 hours in the Biddeford area. The 鈥淔ood Rescues Available鈥� list the time for pick-up, location of the food pick-up, location of the food drop-off.聽 Typically, food rescues take place within one zip code and take no more than 30 minutes to complete.
4. I drive and pick-up food at the food donor location, the University of New England Dining Hall.聽
5. I deliver the food to the feeding partner, Bon Appetit Food Pantry- or to wherever the food is needed.
6. Talking with the feeding partner, I record the amount of food delivered in the 鈥淔ood Donation Delivered鈥� section of my FRM account.聽 聽
7. I sleep well knowing that I rescued 30 meals to feed people in Maine.

Help Build Food Rescue MAINE – Become a Maine 鈥淔ood Rescue Hero鈥�

If you would like to be part of Maine鈥檚 food waste and food insecurity solution – simply . Do you want to be a part of building the Food Rescue Maine network? If your community zip code is not yet covered you can still try signing up to become a site director! (To become a site director, you will first have to participate in and pass a background check). , or call/email the Mitchell Center/Food Rescue MAINE team at (207)-581-3195 and foodrescuemaine@maine.edu. We need help from passionate individuals to fight food waste and food insecurity in Maine.

And always remember- Maine food is too good to waste.

– Ariana W., Mitchell Center Student Intern, University of New England 23鈥�

I鈥檓 a restaurant loving, outdoor enthusiast with a passion for training dogs and a constant urge to travel the world.

The post The TRUTH About Hunger in Maine and What YOU Can Do to Stop It. appeared first on Food Rescue MAINE.