Food Waste in Schools
This article was written by Anh Vo.
No matter where you may go, you will probably notice piles of thrown-away food in the school cafeteria trash cans across the nation. It happens so often that most of us barely notice it anymore; the tossing of food in these trash cans becomes almost automatic. But studies show that food waste in schools is a much bigger problem than it appears. In American school cafeterias, research has found that from 27% 53% of the food that is served to students in schools is typically thrown away. That adds up to an estimated 530,000 tons of food waste every year from schools alone.
When food waste ends up in landfills instead of being consumed or composted, it starts to break down without oxygen and releases a gas called methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is significantly more powerful than gases like carbon dioxide. Every time a perfectly good apple or slice of pizza gets tossed, the environmental cost is much greater than just a messy trash can. It piles and piles up into not just a mess problem, but an environmental and economic problem as well.
The economic cost is also staggering. In the U.S. food system as a whole, more than $218 billion dollars worth of food is wasted every year. Meanwhile, millions of families face food insecurity, demonstrating a painful contradiction. Surplus food exists while not reaching the people who need it.
Some schools are changing the narrative. For example, they are introducing what are called “share tables,” where unopened food items can be left for others to take. Schools across the nation are also starting compost programs where food scraps are turned into soil rather than into harmful gases. And more schools are starting to educate students about the hidden cost of wasted food. The pages of the World Wildlife Fund and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offer toolkits that help schools audit their own water and design systems to reduce it.
When we choose to take just what we with eat and nothing extra, our plates stop being cluttered and start becoming a part of a greater solution. Students, staff, and communities can together reduce our planet's waste, save money, and ensure that our food systems are more ethical and sustainable for all.
https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/educating-youth-about-wasted-food?utm_source