Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state temporarily prohibited self-service which led to all food share table programs around the state being paused. Given the very low risk of transmission from surfaces and shared objects, self-service food bars and food share tables are now allowed by the California Department of Education and the Alameda County Department of Environmental Health. StopWaste encourages the use of food share tables to reduce food waste and encourage the consumption of food served to students.