Sustainability Spotlight: Food Waste Warriors
This spring, all LPS high schools have transitioned to having metal cutlery in the cafeteria which was made possible with funding from the Food Waste Warrior Grant. Prior to this change, single-use plastic cutlery was still being used at five of the six high schools. East high school had already adopted metal cutlery a few years prior thanks to requests from student leaders.
The Food Waste Warrior program is an initiative that aims at reducing the amount of cafeteria waste being thrown away and increasing the education around excess food waste. LPS has already made great strides to reduce food related waste with existing composting and recycling efforts in all schools, and LPS Nutrition Services has been a big partner in the sustainability of our kitchens and cafeterias.
“Nutrition Services continues to look at sustainability and how it impacts the students we serve” said Director of Nutrition Services, Andrew Ashelford. “We have switched to a disposable tray that can be put into the compost instead of going into the trash. We look to buy foods from local producers whenever possible which decreases the distance that food has to travel.”
This grant allowed the Sustainability and Nutrition Services teams to dive further into where waste is coming from and explore how to make lasting changes. These departments worked together to create food share tables and purchase metal cutlery and associated supplies for the remaining high schools. Share tables provide a place for students to put their unwanted food items and allows other students to take them rather than being thrown away. This is the preferred option in the Food Recovery Hierarchy before something ends up in a compost bin. With guidance from the Lincoln and Lancaster County Health Department, signs were developed to communicate which unopened or sealed food items were safe to put on the share table. By adding share tables and making the switch to metal cutlery, more food was able to be eaten and single use plastic utensils were significantly reduced. To track this success, cafeteria waste audits were conducted before the interventions were in place and final audits will occur at the end of April.
Ashelford was excited for the opportunity to limit waste and increase the amount of food being eaten. “With any change, it takes time to work out the kinks, but overall [this transition] has been smooth. The biggest benefit we are seeing is less plastic going in the trash,” explained Ashelford. “We have also seen less food waste and have noticed students taking advantage of the share tables.” These changes are already having a positive impact and that impact will continue with each school year.
The success of this waste reducing grant would not have been possible without the help of Nutrition Services. “Overall our goal is to provide healthy food that students enjoy so they have energy to excel in the classroom and have less food being thrown away,” said Ashelford. Thank you Nutrition Services, custodians, and our high school students for being food waste warriors!
Updated March 14, 2024
