Strategies to reduce plate waste in primary schools – experimental evaluation

Factors associated with the leftover rate of side dishes in Japanese school lunches

This study investigated the leftover rate of side dishes in school lunches provided by communal kitchens in Japan's Chugoku region, with a focus on vegetable dishes supplied in containers and three types of menu items served daily to 20 elementary and junior high schools in communal kitchen A for 116 days. First, the leftovers in the containers that were returned to the communal kitchen were weighed and combined. The study then compared outside temperature, distance from communal kitchen A, school type, number of students per class, assignment of nutrition teachers, and time elapsed after cooking. Finally, we examined the relationship between these factors and the leftover rate using multiple regression analysis. The median leftover rate was 20.1% (0-96.9) for 250 side dishes with a high leftover rate; however, this was widely distributed. The number of students per class, assignment of nutrition teachers, and time elapsed after cooking were strongly related to the leftover rate; the adjusted coefficient of determination, R2, was 0.236. The regression results indicated that regarding the side dish leftover rate, the standardized coefficient, β, was 0.414, 0.215, 0.107, 0.093, and 0.094 for the number of students per class, assignment of nutrition teacher, the time elapsed after the end of cooking, distance from communal kitchen A, and presence of seaweed, respectively (p<0.001). Dietary education by homeroom and nutrition teachers and reducing the time elapsed after cooking impacts students' awareness and preferences, which may decrease the leftover rate.

Nutritional, environmental and economic implications of children plate waste at school: a comparison between two Italian case studies

OBJECTIVE

This study aims at comparing two Italian case studies in relation to schoolchildren's plate waste and its implications, in terms of nutritional loss, economic cost and carbon footprint.

DESIGN

Plate waste was collected through an aggregate selective weighting method for 39 d.

SETTING

Children from the first to the fifth grade from four primary schools, two in each case study (Parma and Lucca), were involved.

RESULTS

With respect to the served food, in Parma, the plate waste percentage was lower than in Lucca (P < 0·001). Fruit and side dishes were highly wasted, mostly in Lucca (>50 %). The energy loss of the lunch meals accounted for 26 % (Parma) and 36 % (Lucca). Among nutrients, dietary fibre, folate and vitamin C, Ca and K were lost at most (26-45 %). Overall, after adjusting for plate waste data, most of the lunch menus fell below the national recommendations for energy (50 %, Parma; 79 %, Lucca) and nutrients, particularly for fat (85 %, Parma; 89 %, Lucca). Plate waste was responsible for 19 % (Parma) and 28 % (Lucca) of the carbon footprint associated with the food supplied by the catering service, with starchy food being the most important contributor (52 %, Parma; 47 %, Lucca). Overall, the average cost of plate waste was 1·8 €/kg (Parma) and 2·7 €/kg (Lucca), accounting respectively for 4 % and 10 % of the meal full price.

CONCLUSION

A re-planning of the school meals service organisation and priorities is needed to decrease the inefficiency of the current system and reduce food waste and its negative consequences.

Re-Licious: Co-Design with Adolescents to Turn Leftovers into Delicious and Healthy Meals-A School-Based Pilot Intervention

One-third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted, and one cause is consumer leftovers. Re-licious was an eight-week pilot intervention aiming to increase awareness of food waste and healthy eating by building adolescents' ability to prepare and cook leftovers. Re-licious used a co-design approach and was piloted in a secondary school, half of which was during a COVID-19 lockdown period. Students watched videos on food waste and healthy eating during class. They identified leftover ingredients at home and repurposed ingredients to create recipes. Students co-created recipe criteria to ensure the personal relevance of the recipes. They completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires (n = 40) about food waste and motivation and interest in healthy eating. Four group interviews were conducted. The factors identified as important in the co-creation sessions were preparation time, cost, healthiness, and sustainability. Participants with low motivation and interest in healthy eating decreased, and participants with high interest increased (p < 0.001). The intention to reduce food waste increased (p = 0.007), as did resourcefulness (p < 0.001) and personal norms (p = 0.048). Interviews highlighted the students' increased awareness of food waste and enjoyment of the intervention. With improvements based on this pilot, Re-licious could be adapted and re-trialled in a face-to-face format to educate young people about food waste.

Exploring Causes and Potential Solutions for Food Waste among Young Consumers

Young consumers are often described as innovative and concerned about the environment. However, their practices sometimes are not strong enough, which are described as the attitude-behavior gap and are seen in significant amounts of food waste. The objective of this study is to focus on food waste among young consumers in high-income countries and to outline the main determinants of food waste generation. Qualitative data gathered from nine focus groups in Lithuania, Finland and Denmark (2021-2022) contribute to formulating potential intervention to decrease food waste behavior within this segment. The article provides a substantial literature review on food waste and discusses recommendations for possible interventions and further research to solve the attitude-behavior gap. The findings show four specific fields for potential solutions, related to (1) special occasions, (2) assessing food quality, (3) kitchen habits, and (4) shopping habits. Our contribution is discussed at the end of the article.

Focus of Sustainable Healthy Diets Interventions in Primary School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review

Research and public policy interest regarding Sustainable Healthy Diets (SHDs) have increased during the last decades, as nutrition recommendations and diet practices should align with growing environmental concerns. SHDs encompass sociocultural, economic and environmental components of nutrition and health and raising awareness across all these dimensions, as well as providing relevant education, especially to young children, is important for adopting SHD practices. Primary school students (5-12 years old) are often the target population for interventions, as they are considered agents of change for educating the community. The objective of this systematic review is to map the SHD indicators addressed by such interventions in order to identify gaps and opportunities for future interventions in this population. Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science were searched for available publications, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA 2020) methodology. After screening for eligibility, thirteen intervention studies were included and reviewed. Results showed that indicator definitions and measuring methods were not harmonized across research efforts. Implemented SHD interventions address predominantly food waste and diet quality, while social and economic indicators are underrepresented. The standardization of SHD, focusing on measurable harmonized indicators, should be a priority for policy actors in order to enable impactful research efforts. Future interventions should incorporate clear SHD indicators to raise awareness and consider the application of composite tools or indexes to evaluate outcomes and maximize impact in the community.

The Impact of the Nutritional Knowledge of Polish Students Living Outside the Family Home on Consumer Behavior and Food Waste

Food waste remains a major problem for the world and food security. Despite the fact that consumers are significant producers of food waste, little research attention has been paid to young people who are in college and living away from the family home. The present study aimed to assess food waste among college students living away from the family home, taking into account the nutritional knowledge acquired during college. In addition, the goal was to compare how nutritional knowledge affects food waste and consumer behavior in the study group. Descriptive statistics were performed on behaviors with food management at home, as well as shopping planning and self-shopping at the store, for the total respondents, students with nutritional knowledge and students without such knowledge. A chi-square test was performed to show whether the field of study influences the frequency of food throwing away and the appropriate management of excess food. Spearman's rank correlations were calculated for the frequency of food discarding, the frequency and amount of shopping and the field of study. The results indicate that the field of study determined food discarding and appropriate food management (p < 0.05), while it was found that fermented dairy beverages, fruits and vegetables and bread were the most frequently discarded foods in both study groups (p < 0.05). Students with nutritional knowledge were less likely to throw away food compared to students without nutritional knowledge and were better at managing excess food.

The relationship between traditional and common Japanese childhood education and adulthood towards avoiding food waste behaviors

Japanese parents and educators teach children to refrain from leaving food in their plates. Their teachings have direct (advising children to refrain from leaving food uneaten) and indirect (meal-related rituals before and after mealtimes) influence in enhancing gratitude for food in daily life. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine 1) the interaction of direct and indirect approaches to avoiding food waste behaviors and 2) the mediation of gratitude for food by preventing such behaviors. Overall, 400 Japanese adults (female: n = 200) responded to a self-administrated anonymous questionnaire survey measuring: the present food waste avoiding behaviors; current gratitude for food; direct and indirect childhood approaches for avoiding food waste behaviors. Participants' mean (standard deviation) age and body mass index were 40.0 (11.6) and 21.9 (3.9), respectively. A significant main effect of the indirect approach and the interaction of direct and indirect approaches were obtained by adjusting the participants' background. Moreover, through mediation analyses with percentile-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals, it was observed that gratitude for food mediated the association between direct and indirect childhood approaches and avoiding food waste behaviors. Despite no information on the current meal-related rituals of the respondents, this study suggests the potential of these approaches in enhancing gratitude for food as a new approach to reduce food waste worldwide.

Nutritional quality of lunch meals and plate waste in school lunch programme in Southern Thailand

Food waste globally affects food security and sustainability. There currently are few studies focusing on food waste in schools. The present study aimed to determine the meal quality and plate waste in school lunch programme in Thailand. This cross-sectional study was conducted in canteens of representing kindergarten and elementary schools in Southern Thailand within their real-life context. The assessment was carried out over five consecutive school days in July–August 2020 for each school, at which two types of menus, including rice with side dish and one-dish meal were served. Waste collection and quantification were conducted by selective aggregate weighing, according to the Food Loss and Waste Protocol. All lunch menus contained excess rice but insufficient meats, fruits, vegetables and eggs, regarding the national lunch standard. For each serving portion, 7–33 % rice, 9–22 % meats, 7–65 % vegetables, 1–19 % fruits and 3–14 % eggs were discarded. Plate waste from rice with side dish menus (10–29 %) was more than one-dish meals (7–17 %). By estimation, each kindergartener generated 71⋅4 g plate waste daily, accounting for the caloric and monetary values of 146 kcal and 0⋅16 US dollar. The amount of plate waste and the respective caloric and monetary losses were less obvious at the elementary school. Plate waste affected the adequacy of food intakes of schoolchildren from lunch meals. The data obtained from the present study will be useful for planning and implementation of school lunch programme in Thailand and countries with similar context.

Influencing across multiple levels: The positive effect of a school-based intervention on food waste and household behaviours

Changing consumer food waste-related behaviours is critical to meeting global targets of halving food loss and waste. This paper presents a food waste reduction intervention trialled in five Australian schools and explores its influence on food provisioning practices, changed behaviours and food waste. Consisting of a mix of educational, skills-based, and whole-of-school-events, the intervention sought to reduce food waste by encouraging students to be more involved at home in choosing and/or preparing food to take to school. Students reported greater involvement in the target behaviours and there was a reduction in avoidable food waste in participating schools. Utilising a multi-level perspective, this study demonstrates how food-related practices and behaviours emerge from the interactions of macro and meso-level factors and highlights the value of this perspective when designing food waste reduction interventions.

Plate Waste in School Catering in Rezekne, Latvia

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.

Food Waste Perception of Workplace Canteen Users—A Case Study

Background: Food waste occurs in all stages of the food supply chain, namely in the food service sector. Understanding how much and why food is wasted and whether consumers are aware of it is essential to design effective interventions in this setting. This case study aims to compare the food waste perception by consumers and measure plate waste in a Portuguese workplace canteen in order to recognize if trained consumers can estimate his/her food waste. Methods: Data were collected from 160 users randomly selected attending a workplace canteen during one month. Plate waste was evaluated by the weighing method. Visual estimation was performed by each participant to evaluate food waste perception at the end of the meal. Consumers were also asked about reasons for wasting food. Results: Plate waste was 8.4% for soup, 9.0% for the main course, and 4.0% for dessert. These values follow the same trend of waste perceived by consumers for soup (R = 0.722; p ˂ 0.001), main course (R = 0.674; p ˂ 0.001), and dessert (R = 0.639; p ˂ 0.001), showing a high relation between self-assessment and measured plate waste. Excessive portions (46.1%), dislike of meal flavor (18.6%), cooking method (8.8%), and texture (3.9%) were identified as the main causes for plate waste. Conclusions: Canteen users showed an accurate perception of their plate waste for all meal components. Excessive portions were identified by consumers as the main reason for plate waste.

School canteens and the food waste challenge: Which public initiatives can help?

Foodservice is estimated to produce 12% of the total food waste in Europe, and it is a major target for policies against food waste. The amount of food lost during foodservice operations has been assessed in the literature as a figure ranging from 10% to 41% of the quantity prepared in the kitchen, either as non-served food or as plate waste. In this paper, a systematization of the current initiatives against food waste in EU school foodservice is provided. This background is used as a base to discuss the results of a direct assessment of food waste conducted in 78 primary schools in Italy, where 28.6% of the food prepared was not consumed by the diners. Part of it was saved for reuse, while the rest was disposed and treated as organic waste or, to a lesser extent, as unsorted waste. The flows of food waste, represented by a Sankey diagram, show that some actions may be implemented in order to save more food from disposal; for example, implementing donation programmes for non-served food or using doggy bags to avoid the disposal of plate waste. A greater effort shall be put on preventive actions, aimed at avoiding the generation of food waste; in this sense regular monitoring at schools may act as a first preventive measure as it can increase the awareness of students, teachers and foodservice staff over the issue of food waste.

Food Waste and Nutrition Quality in the Context of Public Health: A Scoping Review

Food waste and nutrition are intrinsically linked in terms of environmental health and public health. Despite this, it is unknown whether these topics have been previously synthesized into a review. The aim was to identify the interdisciplinary parameters that exist in public health and nutrition literature in terms of food waste and plastic waste associated with food, and to identify how these parameters currently contribute to food sustainability messaging and interventions. A rapid scoping review was conducted. Data were mapped into concepts and synthesized in a narrative review. Four main concepts were identified: (1) food waste and diet quality, nutrient losses, and environmental health, (2) food waste reduction interventions and diet quality, (3) food banks/pantries and diet/nutritional quality, and (4) food and plastic waste messaging in nutrition or dietary guidelines. Food waste is associated with nutrient wastage, and interventions to reduce food waste can successfully address food sustainability and nutrition quality. Food redistribution systems do not currently address access to sustainably sourced foods that are also nutrient-dense for lower-income communities. Opportunities for future research and practice include aligning food waste, plastic waste, and nutrition priorities together and developing better food redistribution systems to limit wastage of high-quality foods.

Promoting Food Waste Reduction at Primary Schools. A Case Study

Food waste (FW) has recently attracted the interest of different institutions and has been the focus of many studies due to its important environmental, social and economic impact. This paper aims to analyze whether a didactic intervention, consisting of informing teachers and pupils and involving pupils in reducing FW, could bring about changes in the level of knowledge and attitude towards FW and in the amount of FW generated during the mid-morning break and lunch at schools. This study was conducted at a public Primary School in Valencia (Spain). Subtle changes in the level of knowledge and attitude towards FW were detected in teachers and pupils after the intervention. Around 30% of FW reduction at lunch was observed in the intervention group but not in the other groups. A decrease of almost half of the average weight was observed during the mid-morning break in the rest of primary groups. The results apparently show that addressing the FW issue in classrooms can have a very positive effect on children’s attitudes. As it is such a cross-cutting issue; it raises awareness about a large group of Sustainable Development Goals, and encourages these young citizens to make conscious decisions and to act responsibly.

School lunch nutritional adequacy: what is served, consumed and wasted

OBJECTIVE

To determine nutritional adequacy of school lunch and to assess the impact of food waste on nutrient intake of primary schoolchildren.

DESIGN

The weighing method was used for evaluating initial servings and plate waste for lunch. Energy and nutritional contents of meals served, consumed and wasted were estimated using the software Food Processor Plus. The mean nutritional value of food served and consumed was compared with dietary guidelines.

SETTING

Portuguese public primary schools in the city of Porto.

PARTICIPANTS

All 525 fourth-grade children, aged from 9 to 10 years old, attending to twenty-one public primary schools.

RESULTS

Overall, school lunches served did not meet the dietary guidelines for energy and nutrients, as only 12·5 % of the evaluated meals were adequate for energy, 33·5 % for proteins, 11·9 % for carbohydrates and 57·1 % for lipids. The majority of meals served were below the age-specific lower limit, namely for energy (83·7 %) and carbohydrates (86·8 %). The only exception, also unbalanced, was observed for proteins, as 42·4 % of lunches served exceeded the recommended upper limit. Furthermore, lunches served and consumed by children did not meet the dietary guidelines for fibre and for the micronutrients evaluated. Children wasted 26 % of the energy content provided in lunches, corresponding to 91·5 kcal, 25 % of proteins and 29 % of carbohydrates supplied.

CONCLUSIONS

The lunches served and consumed by children at school canteens failed to meet nutritional standards. These results are not only a consequence of inadequate food portions served but also a result of the high plate waste values observed.

Promoting Healthy Eating among Young People-A Review of the Evidence of the Impact of School-Based Interventions

Intro: Globally, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing among children and younger adults and is associated with unhealthy dietary habits and lack of physical activity. School food is increasingly brought forward as a policy to address the unhealthy eating patterns among young people. Aim: This study investigated the evidence for the effectiveness of school-based food and nutrition interventions on health outcomes by reviewing scientific evidence-based intervention studies amongst children at the international level. Methods: This study was based on a systematic review using the PRISMA guidelines. Three electronic databases were systematically searched, reference lists were screened for studies evaluating school-based food and nutrition interventions that promoted children’s dietary behaviour and health aiming changes in the body composition among children. Articles dating from 2014 to 2019 were selected and reported effects on anthropometry, dietary behaviour, nutritional knowledge, and attitude. Results: The review showed that school-based interventions in general were able to affect attitudes, knowledge, behaviour and anthropometry, but that the design of the intervention affects the size of the effect. In general, food focused interventions taking an environmental approach seemed to be most effective. Conclusions: School-based interventions (including multicomponent interventions) can be an effective and promising means for promoting healthy eating, improving dietary behaviour, attitude and anthropometry among young children. Thus, schools as a system have the potential to make lasting improvements, ensuring healthy school environment around the globe for the betterment of children’s short- and long-term health.

Factors influencing food waste during lunch of fourth-grade school children

This study aims to explore the factors that influence plate waste at lunches served in primary schools. Data was collected for all fourth-grade children attending 21 primary schools from the city of Porto (Portugal) (n = 463). Plate waste was evaluated by the weighing method and factors influencing plate waste were collected by observation of menu and canteen characteristics and through the application of a questionnaire to children aiming to evaluate factors related to preferences and dietary patterns. Logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of plate waste. It was observed that fish menus and composed dishes showed a higher tendency for increased plate waste. However, this effect was not observed when adjusted for other variables. Soups without pulses and blended soups were less likely to be discarded by children. The presence of the teacher during meals and the possibility for children to leave the canteen whenever they wish, protected both the main dish and the soup from being wasted. A higher number of children in the canteen was associated with increased soup waste. As expected, children more pleased with the sensory characteristics of the main dish and soup were less likely to waste food. Children who consumed high-saturated fat content mid-morning snacks were more likely to waste soup. The main factors associated with plate waste were related to the presence of teachers during the mealtime, school meal policies and the meals' sensory characteristics. Additionally, soup waste was determined by its composition, mid-morning snacks and the number of children in the canteen.

Healthy Planet, Healthy Youth: A Food Systems Education and Promotion Intervention to Improve Adolescent Diet Quality and Reduce Food Waste

Emerging evidence suggests a link between young people's interest in alternative food production practices and dietary quality. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a student-driven sustainable food systems education and promotion intervention on adolescent school lunch selection, consumption, and waste behaviors. Sixth grade science teachers at two middle schools (n = 268 students) implemented a standards-based curriculum on sustainable food systems, addressing the environmental impacts of food choices and food waste. The cumulating curriculum activity required the 6th grade students to share their food systems knowledge with their 7th and 8th grade counterparts (n = 426) through a cafeteria promotional campaign to discourage food waste. School-wide monthly plate waste assessments were used to evaluate changes in vegetable consumption and overall plate waste using a previously validated digital photography method. At baseline, the intervention students consumed significantly less vegetables relative to the control group (47.1% and 71.8% of vegetables selected, respectively (p = 0.006). This disparity was eliminated after the intervention with the intervention group consuming 69.4% and the control consuming 68.1% of selected vegetables (p = 0.848). At five months follow up, the intervention group wasted significantly less salad bar vegetables compared to the control group (24.2 g and 50.1 g respectively (p = 0.029). These findings suggest that food systems education can be used to promote improved dietary behaviors among adolescent youth.