Cafeteria Culture (CafCu) / Styrofoam Out of Schools (SOS)

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Cafeteria Culture (CafCu) / Styrofoam Out of Schools (SOS)

Cafeteria Culture (CafCu) is creatively working to achieve equitable zero-waste, plastic free, and climate smart schools and communities with youth-led action.

Cafeteria Culture (CafCu), founded as Styrofoam Out of Schools in 2009, is creatively working to achieve Zero Waste cafeterias and vibrant communities in NYC public schools by first eliminating the use of polystyrene trays. We work from both the ground up and the top down to accelerate change, developing in-school ARTS+ACTION Cafeteria Waste Reduction programs, innovative pilots, and Alternative M

essaging campaigns, as well as broadening government concepts of visual communication, media, and design innovation as essential factors to the process of change. An unstoppable grassroots force, Cafeteria Culture is demonstrating that collaboration, along with empowering students as eco-stewards, can reduce public resources needed for realizing climate smart solutions.

06/03/2026

Back in 2012, Cafeteria Culture was launched with a simple but ambitious idea: center NYC students to fight plastic pollution by mentoring them to create giant styrofoam puppets and bring their voices into public spaces. 🎭🎨 We had absolutely no funding, no track record, and no guarantee that any of it would work. ⚠️

But one organization believed in us. 🤩

The Johnson Ohana Foundation became the very first foundation to support our work, and has continued to for the past 14 years. 🫶 To celebrate this enduring partnership, we are excited to announce that the Johnson Ohana Foundation will be matching all donations to Cafeteria Culture up to $2,500, so you can double your impact by going to cafeteriaculture.org/donate. 😍

And, as part of our All At Once partnership, we are also giving away a pair of Jack Johnson concert tickets to his concert in NYC on Sunday, June 28, 2026 at the Jones Beach Theater! 🌊🎤

Email [email protected] for a chance to win tickets to see Jack Johnson in concert! Make the subject line: Jack Johnson Concert. 🎶

🎟 The winner will be announced Monday, June 15, 2026.

05/27/2026

PS/MS 46 Fifth Graders have been hard at work mapping the journey of food waste from their school cafeteria to landfills and incinerators compared to its journey when locally composted blocks away from their school in a pilot program with . 🚛🍃 With this understanding of the harmful impacts of the industrial waste cycle, students recognize the value of composting as a community resource. 💡 And, they have seen its use first-hand in their new school garden… stay tuned for photos! 🪴

05/19/2026

“Get Better LES” is an environmental justice-focused zine created by Eighth Graders from PS/MS 188. 🦋 After surveying their neighbors about different environmental issues they wanted fixed in the area, we explored different solutions through hands-on activities like street tree care, volunteering at a food pantry, and meeting with local non-profit founders. 🌳🥫 Their final product creatively brings together what they learned during class, from their neighbors, and from these hands-on experiences. 🎨 To share your opinions of the major issues that need to be addressed on the Lower East Side, scan the QR code on the last page to take the survey yourself! 📝

05/15/2026

Students in our printmaking class at the Lower Eastside Girls Club this winter learned how to do linocut and screenprinting, creating some amazing work! 🎨 Projects ranged in focus but all centered on different environmental issues, including composting, food waste, littering, landfills, and gardens. 🪴🥬 After creating their stamps and screens, the girls used them to decorate posters, postcards, t-shirts, and tote bags. 🎊

05/08/2026

Fifth Graders at PS/MS 188 are exploring what the words “environment” and “justice” mean using drawings and word association. 🎨 These terms will be the base of our lessons as they learn about how food waste impacts our health and the environment around us. 🍋🌷

04/30/2026

Students from PS/MS 132 Juan Pablo Duarte and Queens School of Inquiry are celebrating running successful Mindful Choice Meals (MCM) Days! 🌱 They got hands-on experience collecting data and creating change in their cafeterias by participating in MCM this April. 📊 By running waste audits to compare their food waste on MCM Day to a normal day, schools across NYC’s 32 school districts have found that MCM reduces food waste and increases food consumption. 🌟

MCM is a student‑centered initiative that helps students make informed choices at the lunch line, learn about USDA Offer vs. Serve guidelines, and take only what they plan to eat. 🍎 By pairing food education with clear menu communication, MCM supports students in wasting less, eating more, and building lifelong habits around food and sustainability. 🌎

04/29/2026

In their final semester with Cafeteria Culture, 8th Graders from PS/MS 188 are learning how to gather data to make community change. 📊 Recently, they talked with their neighbors about environmental issues they noticed on the Lower East Side, like a lack of green space, litter, and difficulty accessing fresh foods. 🌳🫐 Using this data, they will explore solutions to these issues and advocate for change. 💡

04/20/2026

This week is National Day! 🦋 Across the country, hundreds of thousands of students will be taking part in local climate action for by eliminating single-use plastics from school lunches. 🍝 To learn more, go to our Plastic Free Lunch Day toolkit, available for free and linked in our bio. 📝

If you participate, tag us in your posts – we’d love to see what you are doing! 📸

04/07/2026

At PS 15 this fall, students composted their food waste on campus! 🍊🥑 After collecting food scraps from the cafeteria, students helped to process the scraps by chopping them up, mixing them with browns to help them break down, and regularly spun the tumbler. 🪱🍄

03/31/2026

Fourth Graders from PS 15 recently testified at the New York City Council’s Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management’s hearing and did an incredible job! 🗣️🥳 They shared where their neighborhood’s trash goes and how the city’s trucking-based waste system contributes to air pollution in Red Hook and unfairly harms health in other communities like Virginia where many landfills are located. 🚛💨 They explained that by doing Mindful Choice Meals in their school cafeteria, they stop waste before it starts and locally compost the remaining food scraps within walking distance at Red Hook Farms. 🌱☀️

Address

C/O Lower Eastside Girls Club, 402 East 8th Street
New York, NY
10009

Telephone

+13476181875

Website

http://www.cafeteriaculture.org/

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