The majority of our breakfasts are served in the school hallways after the bell or start of the school day, or in the classroom. This method for service allows the most students access to breakfast, specifically at schools where breakfast is offered at no charge to all enrolled students. Since the food is served in the hallway where students select what they want for breakfast, the food must be protected to ensure food safety for our students. Health county food code regulations require that food be either wrapped or covered by a sneeze guard (glass barrier) along with the use of tongs. Because the use of tongs under a sneeze guard would slow down the efficiency of serving students and require more time for service, we opt to purchase foods that are individually wrapped and maximize academic time. The wrapping can also help keep the foods warm during service and prevent drying out. For certain foods, this can also mean that the kitchen staff can save any leftover (unserved) foods to be served safely later and decrease overall food waste.

Research shows that food waste is one of the major impacts to our climate and environment. For this reason, the Nutrition Services department has made this topic its focus in sustainability. The district is implementing back of house (in cafeteria kitchens) organics collection district wide (all schools) starting Fall 2019. There are currently 14 schools with adult volunteers who oversee the organics collection and waste separation in the cafeteria after lunch service.

No.  Current Health Code requires that disposable gloves used for food preparation be single use in   order to prevent food borne illness. Gloves cannot be washed and reused. Please see the following link  for more information: www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/HEALTHYENVIRONMENTS/FOODSAFETY/Documents/FactSheet10ProperGloveUse.pdf

The Nutrition Services department is committed to sustaining and increasing local food purchases (local defined as within 400 miles).

The department has identified areas where the delivery trucks can reduce their number in deliveries (carbon foot print/emissions) to schools.

The department has implemented offer versus serve methods where students can choose what foods they would like to have on their plate (rather than all foods being required to be on their plate), unlimited fruit and vegetable consumption for students choosing school lunch, as well as district wide share tables, all of which have been shown to decrease food waste.

The department also donates all food that cannot be used but is still safe to eat before all major breaks such as winter, spring and summer breaks to nonprofit agencies. Individual school sites may also have agreements for more regular food donations to school food pantries or backpack programs.

Currently, reusable trays, silverware and cups are in elementary schools where there are functioning dishwashers. Silverware and cups have been historically provided by the school community, and require ongoing supports in the cafeterias to ensure that they are not thrown away. District staff will wash, sanitize and provide for services.

• 47 schools with reusable trays, with a possible addition of 6 schools by next year
• 24 schools with reusable silverware, with more interested in starting in the 2019-20 school year
• 6 schools with reusable water cups

Where the district does not have the ability to implement reusable trays or plates, compostable paper plates are used.

The community should contact the Nutrition Services department at nutritionservices@pps.net. Community groups can purchase new, used or receive donations through events like silverware drives to gather enough silverware for the students in their school to use each day.

There is no regulation on labeling something “recyclable” (or “compostable”). What you can recycle differs all over the country – it depends on what recycling facilities are available.

A material may technically be recyclable but not realistically recyclable. Items allowed in Portland's recycling:

• Must have a stable market: Manufacturers must consistently want to buy the material at a price that covers the processing
• Must be able to be sorted by local facilities in a way that’s economically feasible and safe for workers.

We work closely with the recycling collectors, sorting facilities and manufacturers to come up with the list of approved list of recyclable items for Portland Public Schools.

When in doubt, find out – and if you don’t have time to find out, throw it out!

When the wrong things are put in recycling, staff at the recycling sorting facilities have to pick them out by hand. This slows down the sorting process, making it difficult for these businesses to operate efficiently and cost-effectively. If there is too much garbage in recycling, it may be disposed of as garbage.

You want to avoid "goop," liquids and heavy food residue that could dirty paper in your bin, or attract pests at the recycling facilities. However, you don’t have to scrub recyclables clean – and in fact you want to avoid using a lot of hot water and soap, which have their own environmental impacts. A quick rinse and shake dry should do it for most items.

Recycling right is better than recycling more.

The main goal of recycling isn’t to “keep things out of the landfill” but rather to reuse materials to reduce the amount of natural resources and energy needed to make things from raw materials.

When people put things into their recycling that aren’t allowed (sometimes due to well-intentioned “wishful recycling”), they’re putting trash into the recycling system that people at the sorting facilities have to remove. This adds cost and hassle to the already challenging process of sorting recycling.

Top tips:

• Follow the When in doubt, find out (or throw it out).
• Never put plastic bags in your mixed recycling bin (they jam the gears at sorting facilities).
• Never put batteries in recycling (some types can start fires at sorting facilities).