Bloomfield Schools, Nonprofit Launch New ‘Food Rescue Partnership’

BLOOMFIELD, NJ —New Jersey’s largest food rescue organization and the Bloomfield Public School District have launched a new effort to reduce food waste and feed people in need.

The Bloomfield school district’s first-ever “food rescue partnership” is being held in tandem with Table to Table.

As part of the collaboration, nourishing surplus meals and snacks from 10 school cafeterias are being “rescued” weekly by volunteers and delivered to local community pantries through Table to Table’s I-Rescue App.

The participating schools include Berkeley School; Bloomfield High School; Bloomfield Middle School; Brookdale School; Carteret School; Demarest School; Fairview School; Franklin School; Oak View School, and Watsessing School.

“It is with great pride that the efforts of our Bloomfield Schools – in partnership with Table to Table – will not only help our local communities, but also our planet,” Superintendent Salvatore Goncalves said.

According to Table to Table executive director Heather Thompson, nearly three billion pounds of food is wasted annually in New Jersey, while almost 1.1 million people in the state – including 270,000 children – face hunger.

“It’s inspiring to see our schools and students stepping up to help in this way, especially as a Bloomfield resident and Franklin School parent myself,” Thompson said.

“Through our collaboration with the district, we’ve already rescued enough food for over 7,000 meals since our launch last month – and those meals and snacks go right to our neighbors in need,” Thompson added.

At Franklin School, the community has leveraged the new partnership to create a calendar of student engagement, focus on food waste reduction and food insecurity literacy – including a lunchtime cafeteria ‘audit’ to better understand food waste in the school and beyond – held a food drive to collect fresh produce for the community, and launched a series of “interactive learning centers” focused on educating and empowering students.

More activities are being planned for the future, advocates said.

“I am incredibly proud of our Franklin School students, community, and faculty, especially our kindergarten teachers, Michele Topolski and Janelle Acosta, who are the driving force behind our commitment to reducing food waste,” principal Marianne Abbasso said.

“The positive impact that this partnership and the classroom activities will have on our community certainly reinforces the adage, that ‘all you really need to know – you learned in kindergarten,’” Abbasso said.

>> Want to help? To volunteer picking up surplus food from the Bloomfield Schools and delivering it to local pantries, learn more here.

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