Marshall Middle School’s Cafeteria has introduced an exciting and impactful new menu change - bulk milk! Transitioning away from single-use cartons, the school has recently installed fresh milk dispensing machines as a way to cut down on waste while providing a fresher tasting product for students.
The driving force behind this change stems from Superintendent Dr. Warner’s Middle School forums - where students identified school milk as an area in need of improvement. After hearing their concerns, Dr. Warner approached School Nutrition Director, SueAnn Fox to discuss possibilities.
FCPS students’ desire for change is supported by data. A 2019 study published by the World Wildlife Federation’s Food Waste Warrior program analyzed school meal patterns across 46 schools in 8 states. The study concluded that an estimated 530,000 tons of food is wasted each year across K-12 schools, a significant portion of which comes from discarded, unopened or partially consumed single-use milk cartons. The environmental impact of this waste is staggering and has resulted in a movement to encourage schools to transition to bulk milk dispensers - or machines that dispense milk similar to fountain sodas. School nutrition advocates The Dairy Alliance, The Chef Ann Foundation and The Lunch Box all champion this change, with the Dairy Alliance providing Fauquier County Public Schools the grant funding to support associated start-up costs at Marshall Middle.
Bulk milk dispensers reduce waste in a number of important ways. First, students are able to use reusable cups to choose their own portion sizes. Second, because of how the milk is stored, bulk milk is colder and tastes more refreshing. As a result, students consume more. A 6th grade student at Marshall shared, “the milk tastes way better than before, you can really tell a difference.” The end result is a win-win. Less food waste and greater nutritional benefits to students due to higher milk consumption.
Mrs. Fox underscored the importance of this update to Marshall’s cafeteria noting, “Every day our School Nutrition teams work hard to improve the nutritional quality of the meals they serve while reducing instances of food waste. It’s a challenging goal, but an important, and achievable one. We’re excited for this enhancement at Marshall and look forward to making similar changes in other Fauquier schools.”
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