Source: BOARD OF EDUCATION OF CITY OF CH submitted to NRP
CPS DISTRICT-WIDE COMPOSTING PROJECT
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1031846
Grant No.
2024-70510-41972
Cumulative Award Amt.
$400,000.00
Proposal No.
2023-12446
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jun 1, 2024
Project End Date
Jan 31, 2027
Grant Year
2024
Program Code
[CFWR]- Compost and Food Waste Reduction
Recipient Organization
BOARD OF EDUCATION OF CITY OF CH
42 W MADISON ST
CHICAGO,IL 60602
Performing Department
Energy and Sustainability
Non Technical Summary
The Board of Education City of Chicago, District 299, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), proposes the CPS District-Wide Composting project, an initiative to create a composting plan that will serve over 320,000 Pre-Kindergarten to twelfth grade students in 651 schools. Through external partnerships with community organizations that specialize in waste management, and internal collaboration with CPS' lunchroom management program team, the Office of Energy and Sustainability will create a district-wide universal composting plan.Chicago Public Schools has designed, implemented, and tested various food waste reduction and composting strategies, as the district distributes more than 250,000 meals a day. Unfortunately, CPS is also one of the largest food waste producers due to a confluence of disparate disposal practices. Beginning in 2014, food waste reduction methods included on-site composting, commercial composting, share tables, and participation in a number of research studies, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Food Waste Warriors Program, Share Tables Research, and National Sciences Foundation (NSF) funded RECIPES research. Through the WWF Food Waste Warriors program, CPS completed 20 waste audits in schools across the city. Teaching staff at these schools implemented the WWF food waste curriculum and district staff connected with schools to understand opportunities around food waste reduction. From this work, the district is currently developing a standard operating procedure for Share Tables. Share Tables are a lunchroom strategy designed to reintroduce leftover food from lunch service for students to take home by designating a table for students and staff to leave leftover food for redistribution. Share Tables have been encouraged for years, but their implementation has not been universal.Through this funding opportunity, CPS will create a comprehensive, universal composting plan that addresses food waste and waste diversion at all CPS schools. CPS has incorporated composting programs at schools across the District. Schools participated voluntarily through a competitive selection process, and the cohort of schools that volunteered did not accurately reflect the diversity of CPS. The schools chosen have typically been located in wealthier areas of the City, with larger neighborhood support networks that could carry out the work required to administer a composting program. Through establishing a comprehensive plan, CPS will engage with historically disinvested areas to develop a strong, and community-centered, composting program that is tailored to the specific needs of each area.Due to the diverse nature of Chicago's neighborhoods, successfully implementing a composting management plan that accurately assesses community needs requires extensive research and communication. CPS is a diverse district with 47% of students identifying asLatinx/Hispanic, 36% Black, 11% White, 4% Asian, and 2% Multi-Racial. 73% of CPS students come from families whose income is within 185 percent of the federal poverty line, 15% live with disabilities and utilize Individualized Education Plans, and 22% are English Language Learners. Minority neighborhoods on the city's South and West sides are disproportionately impacted by climate change due to their close proximity to industrial polluters and landfills. Through this proposal, we will ensure that the composting plan will benefit and protect underserved and minority communities.CPS will leverage its established partnerships with individuals, communities, businesses, and other stakeholders across the Chicagoland area who advocate for environmental justice andsustainability. With USDA support, CPS can develop, design, and implement a comprehensive, community-centered program that will make tangible impacts across the City of Chicago.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
70353703020100%
Knowledge Area
703 - Nutrition Education and Behavior;

Subject Of Investigation
5370 - Sewage and waste disposal facilities and systems;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal of the CPS District-Wide Composting project is to develop a district-wide composting plan that emphasizes three components:1) lunchroom composting/recycling of organic matter,2) student and staff participation, and3) CPS staff upskilling.Due to employees' and students' daily food consumption, CPS represents a massive opportunity to compost and divert waste. CPS will develop a comprehensive composting program that provides a holistic approach to reducing food waste, recycling organics, and managing waste across all schools. Many CPS schools, especially those on Chicago's South and West sides, have unique needs and have been perpetually disadvantaged in environmental practices. In response, this proposal will intentionally engage communities and schools to center their program around environmental justice and ensure all schools have the resources they need to succeed. As such, this project will create a clear, comprehensive roadmap to achieving objectives outlined in the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy document. The objectives are the following:- Create a Program Roadmap and Policy Document- Develop Staff and Student Education Materials- Establish a Management Plan
Project Methods
CPS will perform robust evaluation using internal staff and participants in stakeholder/focus groups to ensure a high quality product is created.Objective 1: Create a Program Roadmap and Policy Document, will be evaluated based on the gap analysis, quality of case studies, performance benchmarks for waste levels, and waste audit data. The Policy Document will be evaluated on the previous criteria, in addition to its cohesion with local, state, and federal policy and its approval from senior leadership. Data analysis supporting these outputs will also be evaluated based on the time period waste data was collected and analyzed (a minimum of 5 years), the frequency/distribution of waste audits, and acknowledgements of the limitations of waste data. Stakeholder and Focus group participants will provide feedback to be incorporated into the documents.Objective 2: Develop Students and Staff Training and Education Materials, will be evaluated based on survey feedback, performance metric measurement, stakeholder and focus group feedback and incoproation, and translations of outputs. Stakeholder and Focus group participants will provide feedback to be incorporated into the documents.Objective 3: Managment Plan, will be evaluated based on findings from stakeholder and focus groups, establishment of a clear hierarchy and fallback plan, and a robust financial analysis that outlines how CPS may finance the composting program. Stakeholder and Focus group participants will provide feedback to be incorporated into the documents.

Progress 06/01/24 to 05/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The schools, in which we engaged and conducted research on during this reporting period, are as follows: Elementary Schools Ames Total enrollment: 546 % Economically Disadvantaged: 94% Ashe Total enrollment:380 % Economically Disadvantaged: 79% Carl Von Linne Total enrollment: 685 % Economically Disadvantaged: 53% Hamilton Total enrollment: 484 % Economically Disadvantaged: 12% Hawthorne Total enrollment: 642 % Economically Disadvantaged:14% Hernandez Total enrollment: 720 % Economically Disadvantaged: 915 Herzl Total enrollment: 427 % Economically Disadvantaged: 82% Kilmer Total enrollment: 796 % Economically Disadvantaged: 74% McAuliffe Total enrollment: 522 % Economically Disadvantaged: 81% National Teachers Academy Total enrollment: 796 % Economically Disadvantaged: 57% Nettelhorst Total enrollment: 650 % Economically Disadvantaged: 21% Nicholson Total enrollment: 495 % Economically Disadvantaged: 80% Palmer Total enrollment: 746 % Economically Disadvantaged: 61% Peterson Total enrollment: 917 % Economically Disadvantaged: 58% Poe Total enrollment: 224 % Economically Disadvantaged: 39% Pullman Total enrollment: 302 % Economically Disadvantaged: 81% Sandoval Total enrollment: 732 % Economically Disadvantaged: 80% Sutherland Total enrollment: 641 % Economically Disadvantaged: 34% High Schools Lincoln Park Total enrollment: 2179 % Economically Disadvantaged: 50% Northside Prep Total enrollment: 1063 % Economically Disadvantaged: 40% Solorio Total enrollment: 1252 % Economically Disadvantaged: 90% Von Steuben Total enrollment: 1675 % Economically Disadvantaged: 66% Key Observations: Elementary Schools Enrollment ranges from 224 (Poe) to 917 (Peterson) Economic disadvantage rates vary from 12% (Hamilton) to 94% (Ames) Average economically disadvantaged rate: 61% High Schools Enrollment ranges from 1,063 (Northside Prep) to 2,179 (Lincoln Park) Economic disadvantage rates vary from 40% (Northside Prep) to 90% (Solorio) Average economically disadvantaged rate: 62% The work of this grant matters to the students of these schools because it addresses economically disadvantaged students who may not have access to food. The food waste reduction and compost program helps get edible food to hungry students. We also engaged with the compost hauler to understand compost pick-up schedules, container size, container fullness, and other logistical considerations. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project identified that lunchroom managers and staff would benefit from training in Offer vs Serve Share Tables Training videos in these topics exist already, so making these training videos mandatory would make these concepts/programs more widely known and adopted. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Resources on how to implement Share Tables, a program to reduce food waste,were provided to interested schools. The results of the lunchroom waste audit were shared with schools in June 2025. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Below are the following activities to be accomplished between June 2025 - June 2026. Continue to meet with stakeholders (school districts, community based organizations, compost experts, and CPS staff) to gather insights, ideas, and feedback on how to successfully implement a comprehensive food reduction and compost program. Develop and test ways to engage CPS' networks on food waste reduction and composting. Investigate avenues to make the compost program financially viable. Complete and analyze the data from the summer 2025 reduced waste collection pilot. Create prototypes for training materials for staff and students. Create draft food reduction and composting roadmap and policy document and gather feedback from CPS including the following teams: Energy + Sustainability, Facilities, and Nutrition Support Services

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To create a comprehensive program roadmap and policy document, the following was accomplished. Met with school districts (New York City, Oakland, Seattle, and Milwaukee) and community-based organizations (Seven Generations Ahead, US Green Building Council's Center of Green Schools) and compost facility (Black Dirt Farms) about how to launch and maintain a successful food waste reduction and compost program. Some of the key takeaways are as follows. Maintain momentum by Assigning students to be lunchroom monitors. Conducting yearly training for custodial, lunchroom, and administrative staff. Reducing barriers to contamination (such as eliminating straws, plastic film, individually wrapped condiments, bagged fruits and vegetables, and non-compostable food trays/containers). Making actions prescriptive (provide text for morning announcements about composting, provide pre-written emails for principals to send to staff about composting, etc.). Incorporate composting into the curriculum so students understand the importance of composting on a regular basis. Hire school-level staff dedicated to helping schools troubleshoot everyday compost challenges. Enlist compost champions from all stakeholders (students, teachers/staff, principals, custodians, lunchroom managers and staff). Have Chicago Public Schools' (CPS) central office show support and leadership on food waste reduction and composting. To develop staff and student education materials, the following was accomplished. Met with Chicago Public School staff in the following departments: Facilities, Nutrition Support Services, Health & Wellness on ways to embed food waste reduction and composting into CPS. Some of the key takeaways are as follows. Engage food service vendors to compost pre-consumer or post consumer food scraps. Enlist the Wellness Champion of each school to be the lead on Share Tables since access to healthy food and food waste reduction go hand-in-hand. Create a step-by-step guide to starting and maintaining a Share Table program so that edible food can be eaten by other students. Composting is not currently in the food service contract. Incorporate composting into the work scope for building managers and custodial staff so it becomes a requirement of their job duties. Engage principals through their network and have principals share best practices to increase the number of schools that are reducing food waste and composting within their network. To establish a management plan, the following was accomplished. Engaged with principals, assistant principals, teachers, lunchroom staff, custodians, building managers, and engineers at schools that are composting and gathered insights on what's working well and what's challenging. Biggest challenges Contamination (utensils, condiment packets, plastic coated food containers, plastic film) Lack of student engagement to monitor waste collection stations Lack of corporation from custodial and lunchroom managers and staff Biggest wins Assign student lunchroom monitors by making it a classroom requirement Cooperation from all stakeholders (students, teachers, custodians, lunchroom staff, building managers/engineers) The management plan will incorporate the lessons learned from CPS' currently composting schools and from best practices from schools nationwide that are reducing food lunchroom food waste and composting.

Publications