Resolve, To Reduce Food Waste in Schools

Sec. 1. Food sharing policy. Resolved: That, by January 1, 2020, the Department of Education shall develop a school food sharing policy to encourage schools and food banks to work together to collect whole and packaged school cafeteria surplus or leftover food and share it with the community. In developing the policy, the department shall consult the food recovery database maintained by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 2137-A, which includes materials relating to the development and implementation of programs for the sharing of surplus or leftover food, including, but not limited to, share tables and food donation practices and programs.

Sec. 2. Food share table guidance. Resolved: That the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall collaborate to revise the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention's health inspection program guidance titled "Food Sharing Tables - Guidance for Schools" in a manner that is less restrictive than current guidance and meets the requirements of the United States Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service guidance for the use of share tables in school nutrition programs. The Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall disseminate the revised state guidance for the use of share tables, by January 1, 2020, to public school food service programs throughout the State.