How to reduce food waste at schools
Reports say that schools throw away 80,000 tonnes of food waste every year - that's about 12,000 elephants in weight! Schools produce 13% of all non-domestic food waste in England with a combined cost of around £250m. Most food waste from school lunches ends up in a landfill where it breaks down and produces harmful greenhouse gases.
“Food waste generated by primary and secondary schools during one academic year amounts to a staggering 80,382 tonnes of food waste, and almost half of this is reported to be fruit and vegetables” - EdExec
Aside from the environmental impact, reducing food waste would help make school meals cheaper, and educators would funnel costs associated with waste disposal back into education.
Parents and teachers know that young children's fussy eating habits can make it challenging to understand what they will eat or leave on their plate. It can be tempting to bribe or force children to finish or try something, but that has been proven to have the opposite effect. So, how do we stop producing so much food waste within schools?
Let's look at some factors that may lead to food waste and some ways that we can reduce it.
Causes of food waste in schools
Unappealing or unchanging food options
Low-quality ingredients, i.e. cheap meat
Noisy environments, where young children are overwhelmed
Lengthy queues eat into important playtime
Overly large portion sizes
Children not being hungry when they arrive at lunch
How can schools reduce food waste?
1. Improve education around how food waste contributes to our environment
Pupils deserve to understand why food waste is so important, and how they play a role in reducing this and stopping the broader impact on the environment. Education around the importance of school lunches and the effects of waste on the environment is critical to increasing awareness. We find that pupils with a greater understanding take a more active role in school-wide initiatives to lower food waste.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has a fantastic report outlining the cause and impacts of food waste in schools which you can find here.
2. Go meat-free
As we learn more about the meat industry's impact on the environment, more schools offer 100 percent vegetarian menus. Vegetarian diets are not only healthier for children, but much kinder on our earth - any waste produced easily transferred to a school compost heap and used to grow vegetables, continuing the cycle.
3. Get deep into the data
According to David Leake headmaster of Didcot Girl’s School, recording food waste during lunchtimes helps to understand what food is wasted most frequently - helping to create a menu that pupils enjoy.
“Leake keeps a close eye on what sells and what doesn't, to make sure he is serving food the children want – such as cottage pie – and uses the previous week's sales as a guide to how much to order.” - The Guardian
4. Portion control
Though it can come down to individuals decreasing portion size, especially for children in KS1 is a way to ensure all they eat all their food. A child should return to ask for more than to waste what is on their plates.
5. Cook meals to order
It is becoming popular to cook meals to order, as a way of combating wastage. Meals cooked to order are fresher and can be precisely what the child is in the mood for. Orders can be taken at the beginning of the day using simple forms and fed straight to the kitchen.
“Another key weapon in the war on waste is the live cook: as much as possible – including omelettes and stir-fries – is cooked during lunch, rather than being prepared beforehand.” - The Guardian
6. Improve the dining experience
Pupils may have to queue for as much as 30 minutes when arriving at the dining hall to eat. As children are so keen to run outside with friends, they will shovel down what they can and often leave platefuls. Streamline your queuing system and speeding up the process may impact food waste during lunches. Celina, a pupil aged 7 from Leicestershire says, “Sometimes it takes so long to get to the front, that sometimes the food I wanted has run out and I don’t like the other food.”
How to bring food waste education to your primary school
We are passionate about teaching actionable and interactive sessions around food waste - giving your pupils the tools to combat this growing problem. Contact us today for a friendly chat about our food waste awareness sessions in your primary school. We'd love to hear from you.
