A 30 Foot Tower of Styrofoam Lunch Trays

Earlier this fall, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced a ban on all Styrofoam lunch trays in the LAUSD. My first reaction upon hearing the news was, “Really? The LAUSD still uses Styrofoam lunch trays?” But once I got over that initial shock I was intrigued to find out that the ban was prompted by a group of middle school schoolers whose student activism caught the attention of the LAUSD Superintendent.

Brian Miller is a volunteer at Thomas Starr King where he manages the school garden, also known as Farm King. This week on Good Food we’ll hear from Brian and his students about how the Styrofoam ban came to be. Part of the story involves a three story sculpture of Styrofoam lunch trays that hangs from a tree in the center of Farm King. The 1,400 trays in the sculpture symbolize the number of trays that Thomas Starr King would throw away every school day.

Hear more from Brian and his students this Saturday on Good Food and meanwhile you can check out these photos of their eerily beautiful Styrofoam tower after the jump…