Cindy Qiao, a rising senior at Newton North High School and member of the school’s varsity volleyball and tennis team, is rolling out a new “Food Diversion” program in Newton elementary school cafeterias this year.

The program will seek to alleviate the burdens of food waste in schools by setting up coolers in cafeterias where students can place unopened, packaged food from their “standardized school-provided lunch plates.” Qiao listed a few acceptable products, mentioning, “cereal, muffins, goldfish [and] carrots.”

A school-specific Green Captain or other member of the faculty would then place the cooler in a designated location outside for weekly pickup by volunteers from the city or local community organizations, coordinated with the help of the Green Newton Zero Waste Community.

Green Captains are Newton Public School faculty members who represent their schools in sustainability efforts, collaborating with students to form Student Green Teams and working closely with other NPS Green Captains. These roles are the result of a collaboration between the city and local nonprofit Green Newton, and offer a $944 stipend to participating staff.

Laying the groundwork

Qiao noted that a number of local elementary schools had already shown their interest in the “Food Diversion” program, mentioning, “Mason-Rice, Underwood, Lincoln-Elliot, and [John] Ward.”

The program will first be piloted at both Mason-Rice and Underwood, as she had already discussed logistics and shared details of the program with the leadership and Green Captains at both schools.

She said the program would not require any funding and that, “we are recovering foods and will be relying on volunteers,” adding that saving food which would otherwise be wasted could even, at some point, be used to supplement or even eventually replace the food already donated to schools by various local organizations.

Still, no pursuit comes without obstacles, and Qiao explained how her biggest problems so far related to figuring out the logistics of such a program, and understanding what is possible under state and local regulation.

Initially envisioning a “shared table” concept, where in-cafeteria refrigerators would store unwanted food which other students could access, she encountered difficulties in the application of her vision.

Speaking on this process, Qiao said, “when I was talking to Amber from ReThink Disposable, she was talking about shared tables,” but explaining that unfortunately, “the Newton School District doesn’t allow that due to regulations, even though it’s allowed by the USDA.”

This initial setback forced a creative reimagining, which Qiao took head-on. Instead of a food-exchange system, she developed the cooler-based collection system. Not only has she developed these plans through collaboration with sustainability organizations and local teachers, but also through close coordination with the district’s food services team.

“I’ve been working with district administrators from food services and working out the logistics, and what the regulation would allow,” she said.

Involving students was also a priority in developing the program, and Qiao said that a substantial part of her work in the coming year will focus on engaging the student body.

Building on past wins

This is not Qiao’s first foray into the matter of sustainability—she has also worked to create a safe and supportive environment around food access in schools.

In her freshman year, she started a “Fuel Initiative,” which provides “cultural food bags and snack bags” to students in Newton. Speaking on the inadequacies that she noticed in food services at Newton schools, Qiao pointed to the fact that “[cafeterias] mostly include options like mac and cheese or peanut butter, but for a large portion of families and students who are from immigrant backgrounds, those kinds of foods don’t really appeal to them.”

Though on this point she clarified that she was not blaming anyone for this, stating that many food pantries simply donated food items based on generalized American preferences.

Beyond providing food bags for lunch, the Fuel Initiative also offers snack bags to elementary, middle, and high schoolers. Noting the differences in application and need for such services, Qiao said the initiative helped younger students who may feel left out at snack time, and provided older students with extra nutrition for their usually long school days.

The initiative is in operation at nearly a dozen local public schools, and serves around 80 students per week during the school year. Qiao also brought up how her collaboration with English Language Learners ELL teachers and school counselors helped her foster trust with students, as such instructors helped to “to protect [students’] privacy and make the whole process more comfortable.”

The food and snacks used for the program are obtained through donations from the Church of the Redeemer and the Centre Street Food Pantry.

Next up…  policy work?

When speaking on what she has learned through her sustainability efforts up to this point, Qiao reflected that, “first of all, to make a big impact, you have to gather a group of people, especially people with different strengths, because you need those different types of perspectives and also to leverage different kinds of resources and skills.”

Acknowledging the local impact she has already made, Qiao added, “in order to create a systemic impact, you have to achieve that through legislation.”

Looking ahead, she said she hopes to continue “pursuing societal issues through a business and public policy lens.”

Her parting message was simple but powerful: “You have to rally up a whole community effort if you want to make change.”