7 Best Practices for Managing School Food Waste and Reducing Costs This Year

As the school year kicks off, effectively managing food waste is essential for school administrators and food service professionals. This not only helps control meal program costs but also ensures that perfectly good food isn't wasted. Here are seven strategies, inspired by best practices, to ensure you're not overordering food and effectively managing waste:

1. Conduct a Food Waste Audit

Start the school year by conducting a food waste audit. This involves tracking the types and amounts of food that students throw away. By understanding what’s being wasted, you can adjust future orders and menus to better align with student preferences. For example, if you notice that students are consistently discarding certain vegetables, you can reduce the order quantities for those items or find more appealing ways to prepare and present them.

2. Utilize Historical Data and Preferences

Use historical data from previous school years to guide your food orders. Track which menu items were most and least popular and consider student feedback when planning meals. For instance, if tacos were a hit last year but pasta dishes were often left unfinished, you can adjust your orders or menus to match these preferences, reducing the likelihood of waste.

3. Implement “Offer vs. Serve”

The “Offer vs. Serve” (OVS) approach allows students to decline certain components of their meal. This strategy helps ensure that students only take the food they plan to eat, reducing waste. For example, if a student doesn't like green beans, they can compliantly opt out of receiving them, which helps decrease the amount of uneaten food. Just ensure that students who are declining items are still taking the correct number of components to make sure their meal is compliant and reimbursable.

4. Promote the Use of Share Tables

Set up share tables where students can place unopened, packaged food items they don’t want. Other students can then take these items at no additional cost. For instance, a student who isn’t hungry might place their unopened milk on the share table, and another student who wants an extra milk can take it. This simple strategy helps reduce waste and ensures that food doesn’t go unused. For more information and resources on share tables, see the bottom of this page.

5. Involve Students in Menu Planning

Engage students in the menu planning process by conducting taste tests or forming a student committee to evaluate new menu items. By involving them, you can better understand their preferences, ensuring that the food you order and prepare is what they actually want to eat. For example, if students overwhelmingly vote for a new salad option during a taste test, you can confidently add it to the menu, knowing it will be well-received.

6. Schedule Recess Before Lunch

Research has shown that students who have recess before lunch are more likely to eat their meals rather than throw them away. Consider adjusting your school’s schedule so that recess comes before lunch. For example, a school that switched to this schedule saw a significant reduction in food waste because students were hungrier and more focused on eating after physical activity.

7. Optimize Storage and Inventory Practices

Proper storage and inventory management are key to reducing food waste. Ensure that food is stored at the correct temperatures and that inventory is rotated to use older items first. For example, by adopting a "first in, first out" approach, you can prevent food from spoiling before it’s used, reducing the need to discard expired products.

Conclusion

By implementing these strategies, school administration and food service professionals can significantly reduce food waste at the beginning of the school year. Conducting audits, using historical data, promoting OVS, and involving students in the process are all effective ways to ensure that your school is not overordering food and that what is ordered is consumed rather than discarded.

These strategies, derived from the USDA’s “Let’s Talk Trash” initiative and other best practices, provide a strong foundation for waste reduction and responsible food management in schools. Consider adopting one or more of these practices to help your school achieve its food service goals and manage costs while also contributing to a more sustainable and responsible food system!

Share Table Implementation Resources