Anne Langebartels

What happens when you toss that old banana in the trash?

A recent United Nations report found that 930 million tons of food are wasted at homes, stores, and restaurants each year. If farms and production facilities are also considered, more than a third of food is wasted each year worldwide. These statistics demonstrate that food waste is a big problem, but visualizing how big the problem can be challenging. I’ve never seen a million pounds of food, let alone 930 million tons of food! If we can’t visualize the problem, it is difficult to understand the impacts, let alone imagine solutions.

I have the privilege of having a curbside compost cart through the city of Iowa City, so the organic materials we can’t or don’t use usually find their way into the compost cart. At the most immediate level, I compost and work to reduce food waste for selfish reasons. By tossing banana peels, bones, and veggie scraps into the compost my trash can doesn’t smell (and it’s less enticing to my dog). Although throwing my organic materials in the trash instead of the compost probably won’t impact me the next day, the next year, or even in the next decade, it will impact other communities, today, tomorrow, and into the future. Whether it be next month or the next century, the actions we make today will dictate the livelihoods of communities today and those of future generations.

The inputs to grow, transport, and prepare food are immense. By being conscious about our role in the food waste machine, we can celebrate the gift that is food and give thanks to those that are helping nourish us.

The good, wholesome food that Table to Table volunteers rescue avoids a needless fate in the compost pile, or, more likely, the landfill. When organic materials are taken to the landfill they break down in an environment with little oxygen. This process produces the greenhouse gas methane. Pound for pound, methane adds to the climate change problem even more than its famous cousin carbon dioxide. Organic materials make up about 35% of the Iowa City Landfill and account for roughly 2% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. Organic materials are being sent to landfills across the world. The greenhouse gases emitted from food waste in the U.S.  have a larger impact than the airline industry. If we can’t eat all of our food, we should try our best to compost it.

I started writing this post hoping to get down to the nitty-gritty of how Table to Table impacts our local environment. Luckily for me somebody already did all the hard work (thank students at the University of Iowa!). Their project compared the inputs of greenhouse gases (our vehicle emissions) and the mitigation of greenhouse gases (the greenhouse gas emissions avoided because food was not taken to the landfill). Their research and calculations demonstrate: “Table to Table has a net-positive environmental impact for greenhouse gas emissions.” At the most basic level, this means that our food rescue program makes a difference in the fight against climate change.

The challenge of food waste can be overwhelming and even more so when we think about its impact on the environment. It is hard to comprehend methane and carbon dioxide levels, or the pollutants in our tailpipes, or the water and land used to grow our food. However, what is easy to understand is that we can do something! When I am feeling overwhelmed about food waste, I have to remind myself that humans have been coming up with ideas to reduce food waste and compost extra food for millennia. Making soup stock with veggie scraps and bones reduces food waste. Making goulash reduces food waste, and so does cooking beef bourguignon. We already know many ways to reduce our food waste, and we have the opportunity to adopt new ways to reduce waste while also feeding ourselves and our communities. When we think about reducing food waste as building connections between abundance and hunger, we can make progress.

-Ezra Schley, Food Rescue Program Coordinator

It was wonderful to gather together at our first-ever drive-in movie. We couldn’t have done it without the incredible team at Summer of the Arts as well as Indian Creek Nature Center who teamed up with us for our event at Iowa City Municipal Airport.

Our generous sponsors made our drive-in possible: MidWestOne Bank, Integrated DNA Technologies, Hills Bank, GreenState Credit Union, and Lynn Weinstein.

Easton Design put together a fabulous movie trailer for us with voiceover by Chad Shoppa Voice Talent.

The Penny Railers provided perfect summer music for our evening under the stars. Our event volunteers directed traffic and parked cars, sold concessions, and helped ensure each detail of the event ran smoothly.

A huge thank you to our dedicated committee members who planned this event alongside T2T staff in the months leading up to this day: Sheila Boyd, Cindy Brooks, Ann Donahue, Jody Josten, and Bernice Thommandru.

There’s still time to get your raffle tickets and bid on our virtual auction items! Thanks to the generosity of Local Harvest CSA, Trowel and Error Farm, Wild Woods Farm, Iowa Women’s Basketball, Trader Joe’s- Coralville, Shop Iowa, Prairie Kitchen Store, Lois Burkett, Ann Donahue, and Jerry Swails.

And we are ever so grateful to all of you who watched this documentary with us, who showed your support from home, and who join us every day in our fight against food waste. You all are the fuel for our food rescue efforts!

Thank you.

Weren’t able to attend? You can still make a donation here.

 We’re excited to introduce you to our new Local Gleaning Coordinator, Nora Garda. 

Nora grew up in Argentina and has many fond memories of her childhood there.  One of her earliest food memories is that of the smell of her grandmother’s polenta, made with warm milk and cheese, wafting through the house when Nora returned from school. To reduce food waste and make the most of limited resources, Nora’s family shopped at the market daily and prepared meals with fresh ingredients. These memories have impacted Nora and fueled a life-long appreciation for fresh foods and a desire to combat food waste.  

Nora completed her undergraduate degree, a BS in analytical chemistry and a BA in dance, in Argentina.  After getting her undergraduate degree Nora moved to the United States and earned a Masters in Analytical Chemistry from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Eventually, she found her way to Iowa City where she recently retired after 28 years working as a Senior Chemist testing the efficacy and stability of new compounds for pharmaceutical companies.  However, if you recognize Nora, it’s most likely not because of her career as a chemist but because of her community involvement stemming from her love of dance.  While she’s classically trained in ballet, Nora’s true passion is modern dance, and she has spearheaded numerous community projects related to dance.

Nora will be serving for 9 months as an AmeriCorps member with Table to Table’s gleaning program. Nora is eager to lead harvests this summer so that she can provide people with fresh produce like she remembers having access to as a young girl.  As she says, “I strongly believe in not wasting food. Fresh produce is nutritious and yummy! Why let it go bad in the fields when so many can benefit from it?”

We love Nora’s enthusiasm and energy and look forward to her applying her passion for fresh produce to our gleaning program.  On a personal note, I am hoping that she is willing to share grandma’s polenta recipe!

Introduction written by Jared Long

For the last six months, Ezra Schley has worked with Table to Table as our dedicated and helpful part-time Program Assistant, reliably launching our food rescue routes and leading operations each morning.

We’re excited to announce Ezra is transitioning to the full-time role of Program Coordinator, a brand-new position at Table to Table. The knowledge of Table to Table that he’s built up over the past six months, the positive relationships he’s made with volunteers, donors and recipients, and the innovations he’s brought to our processes have prepared him well for this new opportunity.

“This new position is helping us to have a greater capacity,” Ezra says of his new role. “It will allow Emily [Meister, our Food Rescue Program Manager] to do more programmatic development – growing our programs and diversifying them.” Ezra will be focusing on the day-to-day program logistics as well as organizing and analyzing food rescue data. “I will help develop, grow, and improve relationships with our partners. That’s an opportunity there – to thank partners for everything, see what’s working best, and see what we can do more of. We couldn’t do this without them.”

Ezra has a degree in Environmental Science and International Studies from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he was co-president of the Sustainability Club.  Since graduation, he has served in various capacities with environmental and food insecurity focused nonprofits,  including time as an AmeriCorps Sustainability Outreach Coordinator at the Tennessee Environmental Council, and as an intern with our food rescue neighbors to the west – Eat Greater Des Moines.

On a personal level, Ezra is excited to build upon his knowledge and enthusiasm for food rescue through his position. “I was interested in food rescue before I started at T2T, but over the past few months that interest has really grown, and now I’m passionate about it. Food rescue is such a complicated and interesting thing, and there’s so many voices to incorporate. I’m really excited to continue.”