ADOPT-A-CAFETERIA
Help Nashville waste less
Adopt-a-Cafeteria connects community sponsors with cafeterias working to reduce food waste, recover food, and build lasting sustainability habits — with Urban Green Lab making the match and tracking the impact all year long.
Every year, Nashville cafeterias send 10 million pounds of food to the landfill.
Half-eaten trays, unopened milk cartons, untouched fruit — day after day, good food ends up buried while 1 in 8 Nashvillians is food insecure and the city's landfill nears capacity in just five years. Adopt-a-Cafeteria changes that: sponsors fund a full year of composting, food recovery, and education for a specific cafeteria, and Urban Green Lab makes it all work.
THE ADOPT-A-CAFETERIA DASHBOARD
Live program impact, updated throughout the year
🏆THE LEADERBOARD
Top five schools by average pounds diverted (placeholder data)
| SCHOOL & SPONSOR | LBS/STUDENT | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | School Name A Sponsored by Sponsor Name | 14.2 |
| 2 | School Name B Sponsored by Sponsor Name | 12.8 |
| 3 | School Name C Sponsored by Sponsor Name | 11.5 |
| 4 | School Name D Sponsored by Sponsor Name | 10.9 |
| 5 | School Name E Sponsored by Sponsor Name | 10.1 |
Rankings update throughout the school year. Lowest contamination rate earns its own reward. See The Challenge below.
How Adopt-A-Cafeteria Works
Urban Green Lab manages the whole journey - recruiting participants, making matches, coordinating services, and reporting impact.
Who Can Participate
Two sides, one match: cafeterias ready to waste less, and sponsors ready to make it possible.
Choose Your Sponsorship
Every package matches you with a specific cafeteria for a full year and includes a personalized annual impact report. The difference is how deep you go.
Sponsors may support multiple cafeterias and expand participation in future enrollment periods. Urban Green Lab is a federally recognized, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Consult your tax advisor. EIN 27-1011744.
Our Presenting Partners
Adopt-a-Cafeteria is made possible by presenting partners whose leadership powers the program citywide.
Participating Schools & Their Adopters
Every cafeteria in the program and the sponsor standing behind it will be listed here.
Our Composting Partner
Compost collection for participating cafeterias is delivered by a professional composting service selected by Urban Green Lab through a competitive bidding process - including bins, signage, hauling, staff guidance, and ongoing support.
Our Partnership with World Wildlife Fund
Adopt-a-Cafeteria builds on Urban Green Lab's partnership with World Wildlife Fund's Food Waste Warriors program, which turns cafeterias into classrooms through student-led waste audits and a curriculum connecting food, waste, and wildlife. Nashville was one of nine cities in WWF's national school cafeteria waste study - and that audit model runs through every Adopt-a-Cafeteria school.
It's Not Just a Program. It's a Challenge.
Every school-sponsor match competes across the year — pounds diverted per student, lowest contamination rates, meals recovered, volunteer hours, and school spirit. Top performers earn citywide recognition at an annual celebration.
What Participants Are Saying
Adopt-a-Cafeteria builds on Urban Green Lab's partnership with World Wildlife Fund's Food Waste Warriors program, which turns cafeterias into classrooms through student-led waste audits and a curriculum connecting food, waste, and wildlife. Nashville was one of nine cities in WWF's national school cafeteria waste study - and that audit model runs through every Adopt-a-Cafeteria school.
"Overall, teaching sustainability helps my students become responsible global citizens. They are able to consider the long-term consequences and outcomes of their actions to make better decisions, becoming better knowledgeable individuals in their life stages.”
- Carlos Calderón, Sustainable Classrooms Educator
"Thank you for empowering me, making this accessible, providing representation (in slides, quotes, sources), and being an ally in action! Thank you!"
Consuelo Torres, Sustainable Classrooms Educator
"Interacting with Urban Green Lab helped me find tools and words to start being more sustainable that I didn't have. I feel like I have a place to start from now and have hope to actually be able to be sustainable and share about sustainability in multiple areas of life that I didn't consider before."
Frequently Asked Questions
GENERAL
FOR SPONSORS
FOR CAFETERIAS
Food Waste Resources
Dig deeper into the movement to end food waste — locally and nationally.
Ready to adopt - or be adopted?
Whether you run a cafeteria that's ready to waste less or an organization that's ready to make it happen, the next cohort is forming now.
To learn more about Adopt-A-Cafeteria and to sign up, contact Karissa Hampton at karissa@urbangreenlab.org.