Public food service organizations are large producers of food waste, which leads to greenhouse gas emissions and the waste of natural resources. The aim of the present article was to gain insight into reasons for food waste and possible solutions for lowering food waste in schools in Sweden. In order to do so, food waste quantification in school canteens in two Swedish municipalities and nine qualitative interviews with key actors were conducted. Both municipalities displayed a high degree of variation in food waste, but the common pattern was that serving waste constituted the largest fraction of food waste, followed by plate waste and storage waste, as well as a gradual decrease in food waste over time. Food waste was mainly a result of old, disadvantageous habits, such as overproduction due to forecasting difficulties, whereas new, better routines such as serving fewer options, better planning, and a less stressful environment are the key to lowering food waste. Because food waste varies from one case to the next, it becomes important to identify and measure the causes of food waste in each school in order to be able to establish tailor-made, conscious, and flexible food waste mitigation routines.

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From Old Habits to New Routines—A Case Study of Food Waste Generation and Reduction in Four Swedish Schools

Global food waste reductions are difficult to evaluate. The global ambition is to halve food waste by 2030. In this study, eight years of food waste quantification data from Swedish public catering were used to monitor changes and evaluate progress towards global reduction targets. A 15–30% reduction was observed and the current trend was a declining level of food waste within the sector. The goal of halving food waste by 2030 appears to be achievable, provided that all canteens perform in line with those studied. However, the canteens studied may represent the best-performing, so the actual change or current levels of food waste may have been underestimated. The present situation (2020) is that approximately 19,000–21,000 tonnes of food waste are generated annually in Swedish preschools and schools. Therefore, canteens in these establishments need appropriate tools to monitor waste levels and progress, and incentives encouraging them to continue reducing food waste. 

Food waste changes in the Swedish public catering sector in relation to global reduction targets

A food-waste initiative was conducted at two university canteens in the UK and India to examine food-waste attitudes and opportunities for food-waste reduction. Interventions were carried out to reduce food waste in both canteens. In the Indian canteen, postintervention data also included COVID-19-related changes, such as a change from self-service to table service, as well as reduced menu choices and an improved estimation of the number of students requiring meals. Surveys and focus groups were conducted with students to better understand their food-waste-related attitudes, while interviews were carried out with university staff to better understand food-waste management. The study in the UK university canteen found that introducing table cards, posters, and signs led to food-waste reductions of 13%. Meanwhile, the study in the Indian university canteen found that the interventions and COVID-19 impacts led to food-waste reductions of 50%. Concerning food-waste-related differences between the UK and India, culture and food preferences were key reasons for food waste in India, with 40.5% more participants in India stating that they wasted food because the ‘food didn’t taste good’. Students in India were more concerned about social issues and food poverty related to food waste, with around 9% more participants stating that the ‘food could be used by others’. Meanwhile, students in the UK were more bothered by the economic and environmental impacts of food waste, with around 31% more participants stating food waste is ‘a waste of money’, and is ‘bad for the environment’ when compared to India. Key opportunities for both countries included adopting food-sharing initiatives, informed menu choices, and meal planning, as well as student-led engagement projects.

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Investigating the Impacts of Behavioural-Change Interventions and COVID-19 on the Food-Waste-Generation Behaviours of Catered Students in the UK and India

This research was conducted within the framework of a research project aimed at detecting patterns of plate waste and developing recommendations for improving catering in seven schools in Rezekne city (Latvia) by a combination of observation, physical weighing, semi-structured interview approaches and statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA). We identified plate waste (including wasted beverages), which remains after the lunch of schoolchildren in grades 1–7, examining a total of 7064 lunch samples. The originality of the research is due to the fact that a unified menu was designed for the field study, which ensured the same field study conditions in all the schools. The results of the research revealed that the average weight of plate waste per schoolchild reached 178 g, and the total weight of plate waste accounted for 28.75% of the total weight of food served. No significant differences in plate waste weight between various age groups and grades of schoolchildren were found, which was also confirmed by a one-way ANOVA test. An analysis of plate waste by food category showed that beverages accounted for the largest share of total plate waste (42.24%), followed by staple food (28.38%) and meat (11.77%). An analysis of plate waste shares of food served (%) by food category revealed a similar situation: the largest share of food served was made up of beverages (37.56%), followed by staple food (36.48%) and meat (28.77%). An analysis of the monetary value of food waste showed that the average cost of plate waste (excluding beverage) per schoolchild was EUR 0.236, which represented 16.6% of the national and municipal funding of EUR 1.42 per portion. Given the research results, the authors have concluded that in order to reduce the amount of plate waste generated by Rezekne city schools, school menus should be based not only on the requirements prescribed by relevant legal acts but also on cooking processes that meet the requirements of modern consumers (learners), e.g., by following trends in cooking practices in society to make the learners interested in consuming school food.

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Plate Waste in School Catering in Rezekne, Latvia

Making food waste illegal in Sweden – Potential gains from enforcing best practice in the public catering sector

Food waste is a problem that needs to be addressed to achieve sustainable development. There is a need for interventions that can reduce food waste, including in organisations already aware of the food waste problem. Swedish school canteens have experience of food waste reduction, but need tools to achieve further reductions. This study tested four interventions (tasting spoons, awareness campaign, a plate waste tracker and a guest forecasting tool) designed to reduce food waste in school canteens. Each intervention was introduced in two school canteens, while seven school canteens acted as a reference group. The interventions were compared with baseline food waste before the intervention and with the reference group. All interventions reduced total food waste (by 6 to 44 g/guest) compared with the baseline, but the reference group also reduced its food waste. The awareness campaign reduced plate waste most, by 13 g per portion, which was 6 g/portion more than the plate waste reduction in the reference group. The forecasting and plate waste tracker interventions reduced serving waste most, by 34 and 38 g/portion, compared with 11 g/portion in the reference group. Some interventions also had an effect on waste fractions they were not designed to target, affecting the total waste by shifting the waste. Interventions should always be seen in a context and be implemented in combinations that increase overall sustainability. Thus forecasting is an effective way to reduce serving waste, plate waste tracker and awareness campaign are effective tools to reduce plate waste in school canteens.

Malou Tromp

Papers

Testing interventions to reduce food waste in school catering