A newly signed Illinois law makes it clear that share tables are allowed to be used by schools and creates rules when using them.
Students can visit the tables to place whole, unopened, unwanted food items they received from the cafeteria that day. After a food or beverage is placed, any student is allowed to take it for no charge. The law does not allow food from home to be offered.
“Many school districts did not know if this was something they were allowed to do because of federal regulations around sharing food in schools. This law aims to make the rules around share tables clear so that schools can benefit from using them,” said Illinois State Senator Laura Ellman (D-Naperville), who sponsored the bill. The governor approved it in August.
The tables are meant to benefit students, who can obtain a snack that otherwise would have been thrown away. Supporters say it’s also beneficial to the environment because decomposing food produces greenhouse gases like methane, which cause global warming.
The Environmental Law Institute said around 530,000 tons of food is wasted by students each year. This waste causes around 1.9 metric tons of greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere. The law creates a way to cut down this number.
According to Feeding America, 13.1% of individuals in Illinois, around 1 in 8 people, suffer from food insecurity. This rate is even higher for children at around 1 in 6 children.
“Clearly this is a great approach for sharing food that is already there with students, but it is also a way to save food waste,” said State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville), who sponsored the bill in the Illinois House.
The tables bring no cost to schools.
Advocates said oftentimes, students are forced to take food items they do not want because it comes with their meal. The students throw these items away.
“Implementation of the share tables is up to the school districts. They can choose not to use them, dedicate simple tables to them or make them very nice by including things like refrigerators to keep food and drinks like milk cold,” said Yang.
The law also includes a provision allowing any student to take food from the tables, no matter their family income.
“We thought this was important because, first of all, anyone can be hungry, and secondly we didn’t want to create a stigma around the share tables,” said Yang.
The law will go into effect next summer, prior to the start of the school year in August 2027.