LUNCH TRAYS by the numbers

120,000

Lunches served daily at 227 Dallas ISD schools

20.5 million

Rectangular polystyrene trays used and thrown away, annually

4 cents

Cost of a typical polystyrene tray

12 cents

Cost of the tray’s compostable counterpart

2.5 million

Meals the Alliance school districts serve daily

225 million

5 cents

Cost of new, innovative compostable plates, thanks to the collective purchasing power of the Urban School Food Alliance, a coalition of Dallas ISD and some the largest school districts in the United States including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, MiamiDade and Orlando

Number of polystyrene trays projected to be removed from landfills annually.

“The only reason that school districts and others haven’t used recyclable products is cost, so by bringing together these six major districts in the country, the volume of buying power was able to push the price of recyclables down to polystyrene,” says Margaret Lopez, Dallas ISD director of nutrition. “In the future, hopefully they will be available to smaller districts as well.”

Source: Dallas ISD food and child nutrition services

Last year the district piloted a program with roughly 20 schools to find out whether students would still buy snacks if there were no Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or the Nacho Cheese Doritos to be had. “And actually, they did,” Lopez says. This year, the program rolls out to all 227 schools, where any items sold at lunch and from vending machines must meet the new federal “Smart Snacks” guidelines. Lopez knows that lower calorie counts and the absence of trans fats shouldn’t be the only factors in snack selection. “We’re looking at clean labels for next year and will review them this year,” she says.