Santa Clara County Public Health Partnership

Food Access and Food Waste Reduction in Schools

The Food Recovery Initiative is launching a pilot program, funded by the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health’s CalFresh Healthy Living Program, to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of Share Tables in schools while integrating food waste reduction education.

This pilot program will introduce strategically designed equipment, signage, and interactive student engagement to minimize food waste and increase food accessibility. Additionally, the program will provide students with the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions about food use and waste beyond the school campus setting.

By creating a structured, engaging, and scalable approach, this pilot aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of Share Tables in schools. We look forward to sharing updates as the program evolves.

Affordable Housing Food Access Pilot Program - Completed

The Food Recovery Initiative, with funding from and in partnership with the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health, implemented a pilot program that provided a regular supply of recovered food (including groceries and prepared foods) to affordable housing sites. The pilot aimed to augment the quantity, variety and convenience of food assistance available to residents, while increasing local capacity to distribute recovered food.

The program provided affordable housing locations with commercial refrigerators that local food recovery organization Martha’s Kitchen regularly stocked with high-quality, recovered food from commercial kitchens and grocery stores, according to resident need and fridge capacity. Onsite housing staff facilitated regular access, including after-hours, to ensure that residents working during the day were able to access food. The pilot also tested a novel communication solution designed to minimize food waste and to facilitate regular, asynchronous communication between housing staff and food recovery organizations.

The Pilot Report & Program Implementation Guide shares learnings from the pilot and provides a roadmap for other organizations and agencies looking to improve the convenience and variety of food assistance available to residents of affordable housing and increase recovered food distribution capacity. While this pilot was focused on residents of affordable housing, a similar model could be adopted for other convenient, high-traffic locations, such as health clinics, schools, or senior centers.

‘Deep Dive’ with Santa Clara County Public Health - Completed

The Santa Clara County Department of Public Health provided funding to collect a number of metrics related to food recovery, as the County begins to implement SB 1383. The “Deep Dive” is one specific metrics project aimed at gathering more granular operational data from food recovery organizations regarding their sources and uses of food, how much food ends up going to waste and why, and the needs of the clientele served. Participants were recruited via an open call to food recovery organizations in the county, with the express goal of recruiting organizations of varying sizes, operations and geographic locations. We are grateful to the participating organizations for signing on to collect the detailed data, via survey tools, over a 13-week period during the spring of 2022. Participants received a stipend, scaled to the number of weeks they were able to participate.

The Making the Most report features results from this project, with implications for food recovery and capacity-building.