Are Current Policies Enough to Minimize Food Waste on U.S. College Campuses?

During my first time at the USC Village, the first thing that popped up into my mind was “why are there so many trashcans right next to each other?”, however upon closer inspection, they were all for different things — one for compost, recycle, landfill, and liquids. This was a shocker to me because ever since my childhood, I had only seen trash bin for trash or recyclables, never for compost or liquids. So, after this realization I was surprised to see that USC was somewhat conscious about food waste, since these trashcans were the only things implemented to minimize the amount of food being wasted. Other than these trashcans, I have never seen any posters, infographics, or even education about food waste anywhere on campus or online. So this made me question, do college campuses actually do enough to minimize food waste among its students?

Before we move on, I should answer the question “why does food waste matter?”. Especially when the food is already prepared, there is no purpose in forcing myself to eat it since it will not help those who are hungry. The food that is already in front of me will not magically appear in front of those who need it. So why should I be conscious about my food waste? These thoughts have appeared in my mind at some point in my life, so allow me to explain the problem with wasting food. Food waste directly contributes to global warming because when excess food ends up in a landfill, it “can produce methane, a dangerous gas that destroys the ozone layer, producing higher global temperatures” (Houtz). However, food waste does not only affect us globally, but locally as well. There are people who are in need of food, and the excess food from dining halls can be redistributed to students who are hungry or to the rest of the community such as the homeless, those in need, or seniors (Nakagome). So not only does food waste affect us at a local scale, but it can affect everyone globally. This is why everyone needs to take the necessary steps in an effort to minimize both food waste and global warming. This then begs the question of “how do we minimize our food waste as college students?”.

To solve this question, I will compare the solutions that are already in place at U.S. Universities to solutions in place in Italy and France. Then, I shall examine why food is still continuing to be wasted even with these solutions. By analyzing the policies and solutions put in place by these European countries, we can determine that education about food waste and how to compost shall decrease food waste U.S. colleges even further. As a result, I would suggest that all U.S. universities make a mandatory GE course about food waste and composting for all 1st-year students, because during students’ college years, they are more independent about their actions, and these courses will facilitate their involvement in reducing food waste. However, in the meantime, current college students should minimize what they put on their plates and get a small sample of a dish if it is unfamiliar to them at dining halls. In doing so, there is a chance that they will be able to finish all the food when there is less food rather than more. However, if there is food left over, put it in a compost bin rather than a bin that is going to be sent to a landfill.

After learning about why food waste is such a big deal, we should understand how extensive food waste is in the United States. Food waste, in this context, refers to food that is not used right before preparation, after preparation, and after being served to consumers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “food waste is estimated at between 30–40 percent of the food supply… [which] corresponded to approximately 133 billion pounds” in 2010. However, of these 133 billion pounds, 22 million pounds of food is wasted by college campuses a year — equating to about 142 pounds of food waste per students per year, based on a program in Massachusetts called Recycling Works. This is insane to think about, because the amount of food wasted per student each year is the same as the amount I weigh. Let me reiterate, it isn’t 142 pounds of food being wasted per year, but PER STUDENT — now let that sink in. Even worst, it is also shocking to know that about 1/3 of food in the US is tossed, even though there are so many people who go hungry every day. You can only imagine how much of world hunger can be solved if food was not tossed unnecessarily. After knowing this, the problem of food waste should be alarming to you since we are all a part of the problem.

Now, after hearing of how and why food waste is such a problem, we need to look into how U.S. colleges are minimizing food waste on their campus. At USC, the plate size at the USC Village Dining Hall is very small, almost resembling the size of a plate used to hold a teacup. The purpose behind this is so students are forced to take a smaller portion size so that they won’t toss food that they are unable to finish if they become too full. Some universities allow students to have take-home boxes where they can keep their unfinished food for a later time. This option is not at USC, surprisingly, even though it is such a simple solution that can be implemented to prevent food waste yet it is not. When students have a limited time to finish their food before their next class, their unfinished food will be forced into a trash bin or a compost bin rather than being saved for a later time, so in this case the food will be composted unnecessarily. This, however, can be solved if a to-go box was available to all students. Another solution is by introducing specific bins for different types of waste such as for compost, recycle, landfill, and liquids at USC. Excess food can be composted rather than be sent to a landfill where it will contribute to global warming, or it can be redistributed to “local homeless people, seniors and families in need” (Nakagome). However, food is still being wasted in the U.S. because these steps are not enough to eliminate this problem.

Let us look for other solutions globally, more specifically Europe. European college students are educated about “the problems linked to food waste [and] are more likely to avoid wasting food” through educational campaigns (Pratesi et al.). In a study done by Pratesi, it was found that 78.6% of respondents received information about food waste on television rather than online or in school. After living in the U.S. and growing up with television during my entire childhood, I have never seen anything about the prevention of food waste or what to do with food waste. Even to this day as a college student, I have not seen any infographic or campaigns that educates me on food waste either on campus or the internet. The very first time that I learned about this topic was when I went around the USC Village and saw the compost bins, then having done research I was able to understand the problems of food waste and how to prevent it. Since most students are not watching television during this age, I believe that U.S. academic institutions should add infographics or courses onto their campuses so that students can learn up to become more conscious about food waste, rather than relying on television and the internet to do so. Now, to see if this problem may help reduce food waste on college campuses, let us look at the source of the problem.

As you already know, food waste is a huge problem on college campuses. Since most dining halls are all you can eat (AYCE), the presence of food being wasted is pretty much inevitable. At AYCE dining halls, Universities have to ensure that the kitchen does not run out of food, therefore it is inevitable that “there will be more food prepared than consumed,” especially when it is impossible to accurately predict the amount of food that students will eat in a given day (Nakagome). Additionally, since students have already paid for their AYCE meal, they have no financial obligation in finishing whatever food they placed on their plate, so anything that does not appeal to their palate can easily be thrown away. In a study done by the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC), it was found that an “increased confidence in liking a dish before choosing it also led to a higher amount of it being taken, but less being wasted”. This doesn’t come at a surprise because students who know the menu and how the food being served tastes like beforehand will waste less food than those who are eat at the dining halls for the first time. Additionally, MCURC found that “a higher amount of food being taken was also related to more food being wasted”. This may be due to the students not being able to finish the whole plate, not having enough time, or just simply not enjoying the food that they thought they would. Going back to what I said before, if students do not like a dish, they can easily just toss it in the trash because they will have no financial repercussions in doing so, whereas forcing themselves to eat something that they don’t like may cause them to lose their appetite instead. As a result, buffet-style dining halls contribute to the ever-growing problem of food waste on college campuses. However, if these students were to be educated about food waste, their mindset may possibly be different and lead them to reduce their contribution to food waste. Rather than getting a single portion of a dish they have never had, they could get a smaller portion (a sample you could say) and try it before set on eating the dish.

As students begin to enter colleges, it may be their first time learning about composting, just as it was for me. Rather than having food waste enter the landfill, it can be composted into a natural fertilizer for plants, which can positively affect the environment rather than producing methane to contribute towards global warming. It was found that “upperclassmen, especially master’s level students, showed significant difference in comparison of compost knowledge and environmental attitudes” because they were exposed to this information much longer than underclassmen (Holmes et al.). By exposing students to solutions for food waste at a much earlier time, this will lead to them being more conscious about their actions. Therefore, composting should be taught very early on to expose students on how to divert food waste in a beneficial way. We can already see that college students, after a couple of years being exposed to composting bins, can quickly become conscious of their actions and waste less food. If we were to expose them earlier at a younger age, and for a longer period of time, they will be able to understand how to separate waste into compost, recyclable, or landfill rather than just throwing everything in the bin meant for landfill. As a result, the more knowledge a person has of composting, the less food they would waste.

So, how can we continue to minimize food waste at our universities? Well, colleges like USC need to implement solutions that are already in place such as including to-go boxes for students who are rushing. Colleges should also implement some kind of education on their campuses to better educate students, rather than hoping that they would learn it on their own. One way would be having a mandatory GE course in every student’s first year so that the ones who are knowledgeable about this topic isn’t only the upperclassmen (referring to the Holmes et al. study). There should also be some sort of sample of a dish, like at Costco where people are able to taste food before putting it in their cart to see if they actually like the food rather than finding out that they don’t and then wasting the food by tossing it out. In addition to universities, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools should take steps in implementing composting bins to allow children to learn about food waste and understand how to take the necessary steps to prevent their negative effects. Since there is only a bin meant for the landfill at these institutions, compost bins are vital in reducing food waste at these locations. These bins should all have images on them to allow students to learn which bin specific trash goes into, so that this action will become second-nature to them as they get older. If the solution of having first-year college students take mandatory GE course on food waste is successful, I believe that having a much basic course of food waste should then be implemented into high school as well. Overall, colleges have implemented educational solutions in an attempt to minimize food waste, but there is still a long road ahead to further prevent it.

Citations

Challamel, Ghislaine A., et al. “Food Choice and Waste in University Dining Commons — A Menus of Change University Research Collaborative Study.” Foods, vol. 10, no. 3, 2021, pp. 577. ProQuest, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods10030577.

Donachie, Pat. “Colleges Combat Food Waste Through Innovation, Dedicated Buy-In.” Higher ED Dive, 20 Nov 2017, https://www.highereddive.com/news/college-combat-food-waste/510987/. Accessed 29 November 2021.

“Food Waste Estimation Guide.” Recycling Works Massachusetts, https://recyclingworksma.com/food-waste-estimation-guide/#SourcesForBusinessSectorEstimates. Accessed 29 November 2021.

“Food Waste FAQs.” U.S. Department of Agriculture, https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs. Accessed 29 November 2021.

Holmes, Megan, et al. “The Relationship Between a Campus Composting Program and Environmental Attitudes, Environmental Locus of Control, Compost Knowledge, and Compost Attitudes of College Students.” Hort Technology, vol. 26, no. 5, 2016, pp. 7. American Society for Horticultural Science, doi: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH03320-16

Nakagome, Yulia. “USC Should Adopt Better Methods to Eliminate Food Waste.” Daily Trojan, 30 March 2020, https://dailytrojan.com/2020/03/30/usc-should-adopt-better-methods-to-eliminate-food-waste/. Accessed 29 November 2021.

Pratesi, Carlo A. “Reducing Food Waste: An Investigation on the Behaviour of Italian Youths.” British Food Journal, vol. 117, no. 2. Emerlad Insight, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2013-0314