This week on Truth to Power, we bring you a community conversation about reducing single use disposable plastics in foodservice and the food safety codes that impact efforts to avoid disposables. This conversation was hosted by Beyond Plastics Louisville at their November 20th meeting, and it featured Alison Schleck, Environmental Health Supervisor for the Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness Food Safety Program. Alison engaged in a rich dialogue with Beyond Plastics Louisville members about our food safety codes as they apply to reusable containers for food and drink. Learn more about Beyond Plastics Louisville at https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyondplasticslouky. Watch a recording of the evening at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SniWcZrwwA The next meeting of Beyond Plastics Louisville will be a dinner gathering on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 at 6pm at Mashup Food Hall in NuLu (750 E Jefferson St.). Join fellow plastic haters at this in-person gathering for dinner, followed by a discussion of the new book, The Problem with Plastic, by Beyond Plastic’s founder, Judith Enck. These are some things we learned from our conversation with Alison: • The Food Safety Program oversees 4,600 food facilities in the Louisville metro area, with 17 inspectors and 2 supervisors. Most facilities have two inspections per year. • When restaurant customers dine in, they may bring reusable containers for their leftovers, as long as the restaurant staff do not handle the containers. For other carryouts, the kitchen cannot accept a customer’s container. • For coffee shops, the vendor may prepare beverages and transfer into the customer’s container, as long as the transfer is contamination free, with no direct contact. Shops, such as Starbucks, may choose whether or not they will allow customers to bring their containers. • Another option (used at some college campuses and in other locales) would be for a food service to provide food in a reusable container that the customer would return to the business or a third party service to be cleaned and sanitized before being reused. • Pam asked if the food safety code addressed possible chemical or microplastic contamination from plastic packaging, containers, or utensils. Alison said the food code standards require that food contact surfaces not allow “migration of deleterious substances’ into food. The current code prevents contact with some metals such as lead, copper, or galvanized metal. Regarding concerns about PFAS, Alison said the code specifies that cooking surfaces with Perfluoroalkyl non-stick coatings may not be scratched. • Pam also asked about processes where food is cooked in plastic. These are currently allowed by the code. • Beatriz asked about the process for adopting or changing the KY food code. Who decides which federal code is followed? Alison answered that the KY Dept. for Public Health adopts the code. This department is under the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. • Beatriz also asked if the Metro Food Safety Program regulates food trucks. She has noticed that most food trucks seem to use Styrofoam containers. Food trucks are regulated and inspected, but Styrofoam is allowed by the code. • Arnita asked about educational resources for a friend who teaches fifth graders. Pam recommended programs from kNOw Waste Louisville. Both Pam and Shayla recommended the film Microplastic Madness. On Truth to Power each week, we gather people from around the community to discuss the state of the world, the nation, the state, and the city! It's a community conversation like you won't hear anywhere else! Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 4pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://forwardradio.org