Food Share Tables

Is your cafeteria garbage full of perfectly good food? Do you have students still hungry after lunch? Are your students sometimes required to take food they won't eat? If so, consider setting up a food share table.

What They Are

A food share table provides an opportunity for students to place unwanted food and drinks for other students to take.

Recent guidance published by the Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Department of Agriculture (PDF) offers support to schools to set up safe food share tables.

Why They Matter

Nationally, about 40% of edible food is wasted, while at the same time one in six children in Hamilton County is food insecure. Providing a food share table feeds hungry students, teaches students that food should not be wasted, and prevents good food from going to the landfill.

When food is wasted, so are all the valuable resources that were used to grow, prepare, and transport the food, like freshwater, fertilizer, fuel, energy, animals, and human labor. In addition, food is the most abundant item going to landfills where it creates methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Getting Started

Setting up a food share table involves a few simple steps and the Hamilton County R3Source is here to help you get started at your school! Teach the next generation that wasting food is not acceptable and we can assist those who do not have enough to eat.

Email Cher Mohring or call 513-946-7737 for assistance.