Over the course of the year, MENV will feature various Capstone Projects to keep the community updated on the accomplishments of our students and partner organizations. The Capstone is the centerpiece of the MENV program and is a year-long project that partners students with an organization from the public, private, or non-profit sector. Students gain real-world, professional experience that serves as a springboard for their future careers.
Capstone Project: Food Waste Awareness Week
Partner Organization:聽City of Boulder
Student Team: Sarah Ditton and Skye Fabrizio聽
Food Waste Awareness Week, a partnership between the City of Boulder and Boulder County,聽grew in its outreach and impact in its second year thanks to MENV students Sarah Ditton and Skye聽Fabrizio. In partnership with Jamie Harkins with the City of Boulder Climate Initiatives team, the group drove the effort to create robust events and a social media campaign in order to drive awareness for their topic, food waste.聽 聽 聽
As Sustainable Food Systems students in the MENV program, focusing聽on food waste was a way to explore a symptom of what they believe is an unjust food system. For Sarah, food waste聽is聽the reason she decided to be a part of the MENV program. She found her passion for food waste after graduating from Cornell聽and聽volunteering at a food rescue organization, 鈥淎ll I did was sort raspberries, but it was one of the most satisfying experiences I had ever had because everyone was so passionate and excited to be working on something they believed in.鈥澛燜or Skye, the links between food waste and food security drive her passion for this project. Skye explained, "After realizing that around 40% of food produced is not eaten and 13% of Colorado鈥檚 population suffers from food insecurity, it seems like an incredibly silly problem. Crafting ways to waste less food by feeding more people and reducing greenhouse gas emissions need to be at the forefront of our nation鈥檚 food policy initiatives."
The pair spent their summer creating three main events for Food Waste Awareness Week; a 鈥淔ood聽Waste聽Challenge" for local restaurants,聽encouraging the use of World Wildlife Fund weeklong lesson plans for Boulder Valley School District schools, and hosting several panels focused on various aspects of the food system. The keynote event,聽Talking Food Waste: Moving the Conversation Forward, was the highlight of the week. Sarah and Skye worked hard to bring a group of聽experts聽together聽to聽talk聽about the necessary聽change in implementing ideas and solutions聽in the food waste space,聽while also inspiring action. The event had a great turnout and sparked loads of excitement聽for many members of the audience.
We caught up with Sarah and Skye at the end of the week聽to ask聽the one thing the public needs to聽do聽to have better food waste practices. 鈥淰ote!鈥澛爐hey say, 鈥淎sk questions of politicians. No politician should be voted into office unless they have a comprehensive food policy that steers our food system to one that takes care of us and the planet instead of corporate interests.聽After you鈥檝e done this, on an individual level, don鈥檛 feel scared to ask for smaller portion sizes and make sure to eat your leftovers!鈥澛營f you鈥檇 like to learn more about food waste, start by exploring the content on their聽website,聽. We鈥檒l be sure to keep you posted on details for next year鈥檚 event. Awesome job on a fantastic capstone project, Sarah and Skye!聽