Food wastage is a large environmental issue, but not nearly as discussed as other issues such as recycling, reducing energy usage, and conserving water. About 31% of the total food supply goes uneaten, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Hackley students and clubs are trying to make limiting food wastage a priority while also helping the community.

Senior Catherine Meyer is the founder and leader of the County Harvest Club, and has has been running annual food drives with County Harvest, a Westchester County-based food rescue organization, for the past three years. “The larger goal of the County Harvest organization is to redistribute unused food from local businesses and restaurants.”

After attending a CTY-CLI (Center for Talented Youth-Civil Leadership Institute) summer program in Berkeley, California, junior Alexandra Hayward was introduced to the staggering statistics and prevalent issue of food wastage, specifically in San Francisco. She was then inspired to create a plan of action to put into effect at Hackley.

Alexandra created a blueprint for a club which would not only prevent food wastage, but would also help the local community. After discovering Catherine Meyer was also working to combat food wastage, they both decided to combine their efforts. Alexandra and Catherine plan for their club to meet every Friday after school to package leftover, but still fresh, food from the Hackley dining hall, which otherwise would be disposed of, in addition to annual food drives. At 3:05 p.m., upperclassmen, as well as parent volunteers, would deliver the packaged food to a local soup kitchen or food pantry to be eaten that night or stored accordingly. Students would not necessarily serve or cook the meals, but rather assist in packaging or delivering the food.

Alexandra says that her main goals for the County Harvest Club’s alterations are “to decrease the amount of food waste produced within our school, combat local hunger while engaging in community service, and spread awareness on the food waste through student involvement.” Alexandra has been working with FLIK members at Hackley as well as the FLIK Independent School Dining Group to make her ideas a reality, and hopes that the model of the club will get students involved.

Both Alexandra and Catherine stress the importance of student involvement in their clubs in order for them to run efficiently and effectively. “The short commitment time I have planned will make it easy for students still roaming around campus after school on Fridays to get involved,” Alexandra said. Regarding student involvement for her efforts with Alexandra and the County Harvest Club, Catherine said, “Students could help us redistribute the food from Hackley’s cafeteria to local community centers, or students could help us by coming after school to different community centers in the local area to offer any assistance our clubs may need.”

Hackley students involved in Round Square have also been a part of efforts to reduce food waste at Hackley. Students who traveled to Singapore for a Round Square Conference last fall were inspired by its themes of sustainability. They visited the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA), which demonstrated the sustainable ideals with its specially-designed tilted windows. These windows allow light in and keep heat out in an effort to reduce their energy usage. After being exposed to sustainable ideals and examples of environmental efforts at other schools at the Conference, they created a plan addressing food wastage to be implemented at Hackley.

The Singapore students’ main objective was to inform the Hackley community of the extent of our school’s food waste. The club also met with Alexandra and Catherine at the HackLeads conference in August, and plan to assist their club as well. Junior Hallie Robin, a member of the Singapore Round Square delegation, feels strongly about the issue of food waste and said, “I find this issue significant because it has to do with the world I’m living in, and there are so many small and simple things that people can do to help the world be more sustainable.”Georgia Panitz