CAP Food Waste Ava Elizabeth Delonge Food Waste

CAP: Food Waste Ava Elizabeth Delonge

Food Waste - I decided to focus on the issue of food waste within my local community to raise awareness on the greater issue of food insecurity and hunger. I broke down my Civil Action project into 3 steps: research, awareness, and action.

Step 1: Research

Research - - After I began background research for my project, I became curious how my peers contributed to food waste at school. I wanted to see if students were aware of their food waste habits, if they cared about hunger within the San Diego community, and if they have ever volunteered with food-based organizations. I decided to conduct a school-wide research study. I shared my poll on social media with the Grauer School community to answer these questions.

Step 2: Awareness

Awareness - After I conducted my research, I took my results and wrote an opinion editorial on food waste and food insecurity within the San Diego community. I am currently in the process of adding the final touches to my piece and eventually publishing it in my school’s weekly newsletter. I am also going to submit it to local Encinitas newspapers and blogs.

Awareness - Along with my op-ed, I created a social media campaign where I created biweekly postings on Instagram Stories. I used my personal instagram to raise awareness because I have a large following and I knew I could reach more people through there. I created a highlight on my instagram profile titled “food waste”, and I have gotten around 3, 000 views per Story post. My instagram is @avaedelonge. https: //www. instagram. com/avaedelonge/

Step 3: Action

Action - - As the first part of the action phase of my project, I created a booth at my school’s Activist Fair, a student-run showcase of our Civil Action Projects. Here, I showed the results of my food waste research study, provided information on Feeding America San Diego and San Diego Food Bank, and educated my peers on how to properly store leftovers. I also created an interactive game where I quizzed the community on their knowledge of the impact of food waste on global warming, world hunger, and the issue of food insecurity within the U. S. A.

Action - - In addition to my booth at the Activist Fair, I created an email sign-up list where I collected the information of students who were interested in volunteering at the San Diego Food Bank or Feeding America San Diego. I am currently in the process of organizing a date for a group-volunteer session at one of these organizations in late-January.

My Personal Experience - - - Food waste is an important issue to me because of the significant global climate impact it has. ⅓ of all food produced goes to waste, and if food waste was a country it would be the 3 rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases. As a result of my project, I have become significantly more conscious of the amount of food I buy and put on my plate. If I have leftover food, I either give it to a friend to eat or I store it properly so it lasts as long as possible. I now frequently volunteer with food-based organizations and attend Feeding America fundraisers.