And Still! Millbrook Defends Route 44 Food Fight Title

Millbrook School remains undefeated in its annual waste-reduction competition with New England rival Pomfret School.

After dominating the inaugural Food Fight in January, the Mustangs came through again this week. As a result, Millbrook will retain possession of the coveted ceramic trophy, and Pomfret will happily donate 44 pounds of consumables to a food pantry in the Northeastern Connecticut area.

While Millbrook has come out on top two years running, both schools are victorious in championing the cause of reducing needless food waste.

In addition to stoking the flames of interschool rivalry, Millbrook and Pomfret’s competition gives their communities hard data to chew on. Students and faculty confront the heavy fact that we throw away an egregious amount of food in our society. According to Feeding America:

To increase awareness of this crisis and take meaningful action toward resolving it, Millbrook and Pomfret weigh their food waste for a week to get a baseline. They then track their waste during a subsequent week, aiming to get their waste numbers down. The school with the higher percentage reduction at the end of the week wins.

Millbrook Environmental Council’s winning strategy included plastering Casertano Hall with slogans reminding diners to clean their plates. The council also placed a paper banner in the dining hall, encouraging students to sign it as a pledge to join the Clean Plate Club in perpetuity.

This creative initiative is a perfect example of how Millbrook instills its core value of stewardship of the natural world in its students.