ADOPT-A-CAFETERIA™
Working to end food waste in Nashville's schools
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
The 2024-2025 11-school pilot program was a huge success!
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 school cafeteria for a full year and includes a personalized annual impact report.
Sponsors may support multiple cafeterias and expand participation. 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.
Our Composting Partner
Compost collection for participating cafeterias will be provided 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.
What Participants Are Saying
"Our experience shows what is possible when students meaningfully participate in sustainability efforts rather than simply learn about them."
Chris Dickerson, Ed.S., Kindergarten Teacher, Norman Binkley Elementary
"We would love to participate in this type of program again, and the fact that we would have corporate sponsors and volunteers to help implementation would be fantastic."
Carole Scates, Parent and Community Engagement Specialist, Hickman Elementary
"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
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.
Adopt-A-Cafeteria™ and its name are trademarks of Urban Green Lab. All curriculum, materials, and content associated with this program are © Urban Green Lab, 2025 and beyond. All rights reserved. No part of this program, including its materials, structure, or design, may be copied, adapted, distributed, published, or used as the basis for another program without Urban Green Lab's express written permission.