When it comes to addressing environmental and nutritional challenges in America, reducing school food waste sits central.
And the statistics are startling. According to a study conducted by the World Wildlife Fund, national food waste in America amounts to approximately 530K tons annually—this translates into 1.9M tons of CO2 emissions, 20.9B gallons of water… and a whopping $1.7B USD.
What’s more is that beyond environmental impact alone, food waste in schools also underscores a missed opportunity for improving student nutrition.
Since schools are essential hubs for both learning and nourishment, our educational infrastructure plays a key role in teaching students about food’s value as well as the importance of adopting sustainable practices.
Therefore, waste-reducing initiatives must be implemented, including portion control, food recovery programs, and composting. If done correctly, schools can promote healthier eating habits while simultaneously decreasing their environmental footprint.
Let’s examine how to reduce food waste in schools.
Table of Contents
- Conducting Food Waste Audits
- Effective School Cafeteria Practices to Reduce Waste
- Creating a Sharing Culture to Reduce Waste
- Composting and Recycling Programs
- Educational Programs and Student Engagement
- Tips for Waste-Free Lunches
- Measuring Success and Scaling Initiatives
- Get a Free Kit to Simplify School Lunches
Conducting Food Waste Audits
One of the first steps a school should take is to conduct a food waste audit that focuses on collaboration between staff members and students. This is a powerful tool for implementing food waste management in schools. According to the USDA, there are some key steps to take when introducing an audit, including:
- Plan and organize: Create a team that is comprised of students, nutrition staff members, and administrators. Provide training on how to record data and identify types of waste; for instance, uneaten food, packaging, etc.
- Collect data: Set up bins to separate food waste (e.g., fruits, vegetables, dairy, etc.) Weigh and track the amount of food that is discarded each day.
- Analyze results: Once data is collected over the course of a set period, evaluate patterns to understand what type of food is most often wasted—and why.
- Devise and implement solutions: Use the gathered data to create solutions. This could be related to modifying portion sizes, offering better menu choices, or using share tables (a place where students can return whole or unopened food and drinks they don’t want).
Including students in an audit is a best practice as it not only helps to reduce food waste, but it instructs them on the reasons why food conservation is important. This enables them to become advocates for reducing cafeteria waste and learning about the weight of their choices on the environment and the community they live in.
Effective School Cafeteria Practices to Reduce Waste
Offer-versus-Serve (OVS) Approach
Recognized as a proven strategy in reducing waste from school lunches, OVS gives students the option to refuse certain components of a meal, including fruits, vegetables, or bread—as opposed to automatically being served all items. In turn, this allows students to have a choice about what they intend to eat, which minimizes the amount of food that is thrown in the trash bin.
And the impact of OVS is quite considerable. Studies have shown that when students are offered a choice, they are more likely to consume what they take, which leads to better nutritional outcomes alongside efficient school meal distribution.
Of course, there are grade-specific implementation approaches to OVS. For instance:
- High school students must be made aware of the options available to them and be encouraged to participate. A high school cafeteria must have clear signage and offer diverse combinations of meal components that are easy to select.
- Elementary school students require more guidance from cafeteria staff members, who should be tasked with helping kids make meal choices and explain why OVS is important.
OVS is an effective approach to raising awareness about food waste and engaging students.
Menu Planning and Marketing
Effective menu planning and marketing to the student body are also central to minimizing food waste in school cafeterias.
One powerful approach is promoting new menu items via taste tests and creating a student advisory board that is consulted in the process. This allows students to try new foods in a low-pressure environment while encouraging feedback. In turn, interest in varied menu items can be assessed before inventory is ordered and food items are rolled out at lunchtime.
Then, the use of a student advisory board, which can be comprised of children from all grade levels, can be used to better understand preferences and create a menu that appeals to the majority.
This type of feedback can also enable nutrition staff to identify ideal portion sizes. If students are not overwhelmed by food, that means they can finish their meal, and less goes to waste.
A USDA study notes that schools who use these strategies can experience up to a 30% reduction in food waste, creating a more sustainable cafeteria environment.
Extend Lunchtime Duration
Another approach to encourage students to finish meals is by giving them more time to eat and enjoy their meals. Studies show that when a student feels rushed, they are less likely to finish their meal, which leads to waste.
In fact, a survey conducted by NPR and the Harvard School of Public Health found that parents of children in grades Kindergarten through 5th reported that their kids have only 15 minutes or less to eat during lunch.
When lunchtime is extended to at least 30 minutes, students are more likely to:
- Consume what they are served.
- Reduce the amount of food thrown away.
- Eat at a more leisurely pace.
- Be more satisfied with their meal.
- Engage socially, which further enhances their happiness at school.
Schools that opt not to rush students through lunchtime see a positive impact—both in reducing lunch waste and realizing student well-being.
Creating a Sharing Culture to Reduce Waste
Setting Up Share Tables
Share tables are a popular way to control cafeteria food waste. These tables promote the redistribution of unopened and unused food to students who may still be hungry and want more food.
Students are encouraged to place unwanted but still-safe food items, such as packaged snacks, fruits, or drinks where other kids can take them. This minimizes what is discarded and prevents perfectly good food from finding its way to a landfill.
To set up and manage share tables, schools should follow these guidelines:
- Location matters, so place the table in a high-traffic area where it’s visible to students throughout lunchtime.
- Keep safety in mind and ensure that only unopened items are placed on the table.
- Assign staff or student volunteers to monitor the table from time to time. This makes sure the food is kept clean and handled appropriately.
- Promote awareness and explain to students why the table is important, why they should use it, and why food rescue programs for schools must be introduced.
Share tables, when properly implemented, can create a culture that supports food conversation in schools.
Food Donation Programs
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act provides liability protection for schools that donate food in good faith. It is a federal law that was signed in 1996 and was designed to protect schools and other food donors from legal repercussions when donating food to nonprofit organizations, so long as the donation is made with the intent to help those in need and operating with the assumption the food is safe.
The law offers leftover redistribution strategies to donate surplus food instead of throwing it away.
Best practices associated with this law include:
- Ensuring the food is safe and that only properly handled, stored, and transported food is donated.
- Collaborating with local food banks, charities, and shelters in order to distribute donated food.
- Recordkeeping of donated items to confirm proper accountability.
- Educating students on why participation in food drives creates a culture of giving and sustainability in their school districts.
All of these approaches can make school cafeterias more efficient and make a positive impact on the community.
Composting and Recycling Programs
School Composting Programs
Yet another sustainable solution for managing food waste, school composting programs turn organic waste into nutrient-rich compost, diverting food scraps from landfills, reducing greenhouse emissions, and creating valuable compost that can be used in landscaping and gardening.
And in the scheme of things, that’s important as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that approximately 30% of the garbage generated in schools is food waste.
To get started with a school composting program, follow these tips:
- Create clear guidelines on how to separate food scraps from other waste.
- Provide accessible composting bins in school cafeterias.
- Partner with local composting facilities or use in-school composting systems for larger schools.
- Encourage teachers and cafeteria workers to educate students on why composting is important and how it can protect the environment.
Additionally, the EPA and National Recycling Coalition can offer step-by-step guidance to school districts on implementing such a program. These toolkits offer strategies for composting along with educational materials for students and best practices for creating an effective school-wide waste reduction initiative.
Recycling and Green Supply Chain
The “3 Rs”—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—promote a philosophy that cuts down on unnecessary products, such as single use items (like plastic water bottles) or excess packaging.
Reusing materials like containers and paper helps extend their lifecycle, while recycling ensures that materials like plastic, glass, and metals are processed and repurposed.
For a school to implement a program centered on the 3 Rs, it’s key to utilize a Model Recycling Program Toolkit, which provides guidance on setting up an effective recycling program.
Some points covered in a toolkit like this include:
- Designating recycling bins in classrooms and the cafeteria.
- Ensuring proper signage.
- Educating students, teachers, and staff about what can and cannot be recycled.
- Engaging students in recycling campaigns.
- Offering incentives for participation.
- Monitoring progress regularly.
The EPA promotes these programs because they can significantly result in waste being diverted from landfills, thereby reducing a school’s environmental footprint.
Educational Programs and Student Engagement
Integrating Food Waste Lessons into the Curriculum
Creating and introducing curricula is a great way to teach students about sustainability and waste reduction. Hands-on projects, such as a food waste audit, composting activities, and brainstorming on ways to reduce waste, let students play an active role in helping their schools while also protecting the environment.
Using resources like “The Quest for Less,” a guide by the EPA, enables teachers to introduce fun activities to their classrooms. Plus, service-learning projects encourage students to take their learning outside of school by partnering with local nonprofit organizations and community food pantries. In turn, students apply their knowledge to real-world situations and build a sense of responsibility toward environmental stewardship.
Involving Student Green Teams
Student green teams are groups of kids that take ownership of waste reduction initiatives within their schools and communities. They typically organize food waste audits, promote composting and recycling programs, and set up and monitor share tables.
These teams act as ambassadors and seek to educate their peers about why food conservation and sustainability is important to protecting the earth.
Plus, by involving students in these projects, schools empower them to take responsibility for their environmental impact, encouraging them to grow into the role of being leaders of sustainability both in the short and long-term.
Tips for Waste-Free Lunches
Parents and students can adopt simple strategies to pack eco-friendly, waste-free lunches while learning how to reduce food waste in schools:
- Pack meals in reusable lunch boxes, water bottles, and utensils to eliminate single-use plastics.
- Include the right portion sizes based on what the child typically eats—this minimizes leftovers.
- Opt for bulk items or fresh products instead of individually wrapped snacks.
- Include fruits or vegetables with compostable peels, reducing waste.
- Encourage mindful eating and teach students to finish what they pack and/or save leftovers for later, if possible.
- Engage kids in activities, like creating waste-free lunch contests. This promotes thoughtful consumption habits and makes sustainability initiatives fun.
Measuring Success and Scaling Initiatives
Tracking Progress with Food Waste Metrics
Tracking food waste metrics is key for the evaluation process and determining success and/or areas for improvement. Schools can collect data through food waste audits, monitoring trends in discarded foods, and categorizing waste by type.
In turn, they will be provided actionable insights, which can lead to adjusted portion sizes, menu offering refinement, and other strategies like the introduction of composting programs.
Additionally, these metrics can inform policy changes at the district level, which can lead to large-scale change and build a long-term culture of waste reduction.
Scaling Initiatives Across School Districts
Expanding food waste reduction programs across school districts can make a big impact. For example, programs like California’s Food Waste Prevention Week have shown how targeted campaigns can reduce waste by educating students and staff. Similarly, schools in Minnesota have successfully implemented share tables, composting programs, and menu adjustments, reducing waste by up to 25% district-wide.
Sharing best practices is vital for scaling to be realized. Districts can hold workshops, establish collaboration networks, and create online forums for schools to exchange success stories and valuable lessons. Additionally, partnership with local community groups and government agencies can also provide resources and support bigger and more intense efforts.
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