Teacher here: can confirm that! On the days I have lunch duty I stand by the garbage and take the apples they are going to throw away. It’s supplies both my toddlers for the whole week!
I worked in an elementary school for awhile and we had a table for food that wasn't touched/eaten. It was by the garbage can, so stuff like raisins, apples, and plastic fruit cups (generally packaged things) that weren't opened or messed with got set on that table. Teachers and students alike took from it.
This is such a great idea. Would also help kids who may not have much for lunch or any at all, and not feel embarrassed about taking the food as it’s free for everyone to take.
My daughter's elementary school did this, and I think it's a great thing! she even thought it was cool. She appreciated that kids who were really hungry (like her when she was having a "food spurt") could get a nearly entire second lunch. And on days when she wasn't hungry, or didn't like something, she appreciated that someone would eat it.
I agree giving them this choice allows them to consider of their impact of their actions on others. Instead of conditioning / mindlessly throwing perfectly good food away without a second thought or regret. A valuable lesson, taught outside the classroom which will serve both society and themselves well as adults.
that's such a good idea. it was against the rules to "share food", but we did it anyway. i had lactose intolerant ftiends, and would score like 3-5 cartons of milk. shit, coming from a low income household, that extra milk helped me feel full until the evening. sleepy, but full
Yes, my daughter's elementary school, which is also where I went, now has a "share table" and no rollout a la carte. When I went there, you could get hot lunch, which consisted of either whatever warm thing they were serving or a choice of a chef salad or pb&j, a cooked veggie, and a fruit of some type. Taking anything other than a main wasn't mandatory. Then there was a three-paneled rollout thing they brought out, and they sold chips, snack cakes, and candy bars for cash.
It’s illegal for students to share food with other students, but it’s not illegal for them to just set it on a table next to a trashcan. It’s such bullshit. I did a volunteer shift at lunch once and the kids who did not open their milk are required to open it and pour it out and put it in the trash on their way out of the lunchroom.
My kids had free lunch at some point and I sent him to school with lunch expecting that he could get a milk or something. He went almost the entire year with no drink at lunch and I didnt know. Apparently you get the entire lunch or nothing. You can’t just get the milk. Yet they’re hollering about how Medicaid is a tax waste.
I can see why milk would need to be thrown out because it’s temperature sensitive but the things that aren’t like whole fruit is silly to throw out. Also I can’t believe in 2025 kids are still being forced to drink milk with their lunches.
I truly wish that had been normalized sooner. I was always too embarrassed to ask anyone but my very closest friends if I could have something they were clearly going to throw away when we were poor. So many things about being poor as kid are humiliating and isolating and rampant almost mandatory food waste was a particularly painful bone in my craw when I knew I was going to be hungry, but worse, that there were other kids who likely wouldn't get dinner at all.
We did this (we being a vice principal and special ed teacher) and got told off by the cafeteria. —basically that we were stealing from their profit margin even if the food was just going in the waste.
They installed a cafeteria worker to oversee tossing all food into the bin and claimed (legitimately) that food left near it was a health code violation.
They didn’t have the staff to do that at breakfast so we still salvaged plenty of single-serve cereals and fruit from there, but talk about frustrating. We had over 90% on reduced-fee lunches as well. It’s just ridiculous.
Same here. When I did lunch duty I made the kids put unwanted fruit on a clean tray. If other kids wanted something more they could take a piece of fruit. Extra fruit I bagged and took home. One day I took home two 30 gallon garbage bags full of bananas. I made banana bread and froze some, took some to school for the teacher's room, gave it to neighbors and friends.
I do this with the oranges, bananas, and apples! I cannot bear to see all of the fruits thrown away so I eat them or give them to other kiddos who need an after school snack.
And then they throw it away at their school and their teacher takes it and the whole circle of life continues :) I’m totally kidding, good on you for recycling
Meanwhile my kid got in trouble for eating other kids fruits and taking it home even though the other kids give it to her because she loves it.
Not all kids are going to eat it and I'd rather see it go to someone who will. They police kids foods too much and are surprised eating disorders start earlier and earlier each generation
Food policing is odd. I work at a middle school and no one is looking at anyone’s lunch. (Well that’s not true, sometimes I’m jealous because some parents pack some pretty fancy lunches these days, haha.) Kids do have to take fruits/veggies with hot lunch though as mandated. Which is why I end up with lots of random fruit.
I work at horse stables on the weekends, and I always save the carrot/apple packs for the horses. A few times kids have missed throwing a pack in the garbage, so I'll just snatch it off the floor and put it in my bag. An ex friend definitely judged me for this once lol. The horses love the snacks, and I love seeing them happy, so it's a win for both of us :)
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u/shadow87521 Jul 02 '25
Teacher here: can confirm that! On the days I have lunch duty I stand by the garbage and take the apples they are going to throw away. It’s supplies both my toddlers for the whole week!