GET FOOD SMART, RHODE ISLAND

The goal of Get Food Smart, North Providence is to build sustainable food waste reduction programs in all North Providence schools - elementary, middle and high,using project-based learning. Students along with key stakeholders will participate in planning, implementation, measurement and continuous improvement to accomplish the following:Divert 60 tons, 100% of lunchroom food waste, for composting.Recover 7 tons of perfectly good share table food and redistribute it to reduce food insecurity and improve student focus, andReduce the amount of food being wasted, the highest value action on the EPA Food Waste Hierarchy, by 50% by 2028.The diversion of 60 tons of food waste will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 24.5 MTC02. The 50% reduction in food waste will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 72.1 MTC02, which when added to the reduction created by diversion totals 96.6 MTC02, the equivalent to 1) the greenhouse emissions of 21.5 gas powered passenger vehicles or 2) the carbon sequestered by 115 acres of Rhode Island forest.The recovery of 7 tons of perfectly good food at schools is the equivalent of 11,662 meals in a school community that is 44% Hispanic and African American and where according to the 2021 RI Life Index, an initiative of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the Brown University School of Public Health,one in three of these families is food insecure.Another major goal is to make the program cost-neutral for all schools to ensure sustainability. Through multiple full school waste audits and lunchroom waste audits we will provide measurements of the significant (60%+) reduction in landfill waste as a result of the food waste diversion. Wewill then work with school and municipal officials to reduce the landfill hauling agreemnents and use the savings to more than cover the organics hauling.