As thousands were forced to join blocks-long food lines to feed their families during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, “food insecurity” became part of the lexicon across Queens.
On Tuesday, May 12, the City Council passed legislation authored by Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer requiring the Department of Education (DOE) to develop and implement a food waste prevention plan.
Every day, the DOE provides meals for more than one million children who attend public schools across the five boroughs. This is equal to hundreds of millions of food produced and consumed every year.
This year, the DOE worked to direct much of this food to those in the community in need, however, there was still a massive amount of food waste that was created, with an untold amount that was discarded without real tracing. Through the implementation of a real food waste prevention plan, the DOE can divert much of their waste from the landfill to food kitchens, compost or simply reduce waste in general.
