Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Food Waste topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DOE official backs pilot to reduce surplus school food, OFNS offers to collaborate
Summary
Office of Food and Nutrition Services supported Intro 987 at the Nov. 12 Council hearing, describing existing waste‑reduction work and saying the proposed educational materials pilot complements current programs.
NEW YORK — At the Nov. 12 City Council joint hearing, Chris Chacarico, senior executive director of the Office of Food and Nutrition Services, told Council members the agency supports Intro 987, a pilot to develop and distribute educational materials on surplus food in public schools.
Chacarico distinguished between food taken but not consumed and surplus meals prepared but not served, and described OFNS practices intended to minimize waste, including inventory tracking, Offer Versus Serve meal service, share tables, composting partnerships and training for kitchen staff on accurate ordering and batch cooking. "Our goal is to not have any surplus at all," he said.
OFNS said it already tracks participation and meal counts daily and can adapt existing monitoring to support a pilot. The committee did not vote on the bill during the hearing; OFNS said it looks forward to collaborating with the council on pilot design and metrics.
Council staff requested follow‑up details about how school‑level surplus would be measured and reported as part of the pilot planning process.
