School goes table-to-farm

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — You’ve heard of farm-to-table dining? Well, Lake Avenue Elementary School’s Green Team is moving leftover food from its tables to farms.

As part of students’ efforts to make the school more eco-friendly, they and parents are inviting farmers who need free feed to pick up food scraps generated each day in the school’s cafeteria.

Students began composting leftovers from their lunches in the fall, which reduced the amount of trash by half. When the compost bin became filled, the Green Team started sharing its food scraps – fruits, vegetables and some meat – with David Delozier’s chickens.

“It’s been really striking to see how much good food ends up in the compost,” said Delozier, who picks up garbage bags full of crusts, cores and rinds a few times a week. “The volume is way more than I can handle.” Delozier shared the food with a nearby pig farmer until recently. Now, students are looking for other farm animals to feed.