Reducing Food Waste and Water Source Resources

Reducing Food Waste

The following are resources for reducing food waste in schools and communities.

School

• CalRecycle
  • Child Nutrition/School Cafeteria Resources
  • School Waste Reduction Laws
• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) School Food and Loss
• California Department of Education (CDE) Plate Waste Prevention in Child Nutrition Programs

Community

• Model Food Waste Prevention and Recovery Programs
• Stop Waste - Alameda County

Examples of Projects from Local Health Departments (LHD) 

Merced County

“Merced County is working with other county departments (public works and environmental health) to assess the capacity of our county food bank and food pantries to store and distribute an increased influx of food following the implementation of SB1383. As you may know, under this mandate Merced County is looking to reduce food waste that ends in landfills, so with the help of a consultant, we are hoping to get a better understanding of how the food bank and food pantries can redistribute the food, as this will impact the low-income communities that we serve.”

Community Food Systems (i.e., farm to school type model)

This is a collection of organization programs with helpful information on creating community food systems.

• Strengthening California Farm to School Programs - University of California, Davis
• Calfornia Farm to School Program
• California Farm to School Incubator Program
• Farm to School Connections - Occidental College
• National Farm to School Network - California
• Farm to School - Office of the Governor
• Roots of Change
• Farm to Community Food Hubs

Examples of Projects from LHD

San Diego County

• Provided technical assistance (TA) to 3 pantries, 2 small markets, and 4 community settings to increase access to healthy food
• TA to a local non-profit food distributer (Brightside), met with local farming expert on feasibility of growing their own produce for distribution
• TA to three local farms: Daniela Perez, Wild Willow, Sage Hill Ranch
• Developing a Farmer Toolkit to support small, local, BIPOC, and woman-owned farms with business development in order to build a more resilient local food chain
• Provided TA and connections to increase Local Community Supported Agriculture acceptance of EBT and market the opportunity to SNAP-eligible communities
• Provided 3 roundtable events for local farmers to get training, collaborate, and share best practices
• Presented to the Live Well San Diego East Regional Leadership team on how to reduce food waste at home
• CFHL-supported staff in the Department of Public Works conducted site visits for SB1383 to food generating businesses to ensure they have a procedure for donating food
• Held a farmer’s gathering to promote CalFresh EBT authorization and technical assistance services offered to support farms in outreaching and selling to low-income shoppers
• Supported Paramount Fishing Co. in developing new marketing channels and partnerships to increase customer reach to low-income residents

Water Source Resources

The following are resources for water source quality and providing safer drinking water.

• Safe Drinking Water Plan for California
  • Safe Drinking Water Plan related Materials/Recordings
  • Safer Drinking Water
• Drinking Water Quality in California Schools
• Improving Drinking Water Equity and Access in California Schools
• National Drinking Water Alliance
  • Consumer Confidence Report and Community Resources
  • Messaging Resources

Reducing Sugary Drinks

These are a collection of factsheets, toolkits, and resources from organizations for how to reduce sugary drinks.

• Healthy Drinks. Healthy Kids. - Healthy Eating Research (H.E.R.) Project
  • Healthcare Professional Resources - H.E.R.
  • Screening for Beverage Consumption in Early Childhod Using Electronic Health Records: Implementation Toolkit for Health Care Systems
• Play Every Day - State of Alaska Department of Public Health
• University of California Research Consortium on Beverages and Health
  • Factsheet: What Are Sugary Drinks?
  • Factsheet: Health Harms of Sugary Drinks.
  • Factsheet: 7 Reasons to Skip Sugary Drinks.
  • Factsheet: The Heavy Environmental Impact of Sugary Drinks.

Examples of Projects from LHD

Los Angeles County

“The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) partnered with Lawndale Elementary School District (LESD) to work on a variety of strategies, which includes conducting nutrition education, increasing healthy food access by implementing expanded/mobile produce distributions, implementing the Smarter Lunchroom Movement, installing hydration stations, implementing share tables, and improving physical activity in afterschool settings through implementation of CATCH Kids Club. LESD is a public-school district in the South Bay of Los Angeles, serving over 4,700 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Students are predominantly students of color with nearly 84% of them qualifying for free and reduced-price meals.”