New California law allows schools to donate food leftovers

Photo credit: USDA

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (FOX 11 / AP) - Tons of food thrown out each week by California schools can now go to food banks.

Gov. Jerry Brown this week signed a bill allowing campuses to donate food that students got on their trays but didn’t eat. That includes untouched fruit and unopened packages.

The Los Angeles Times says the Los Angeles Unified School District pushed for the measure.

The paper says kids in the nation’s second-largest school district throw out about $100,000 worth of uneaten food each day. That works out to about 600 tons of organic waste daily.