When one thinks of hunger, images of malnourished children in the Global South immediately come to mind. While the global hunger situation is grave, it is not simply a far-away problem. 7 million American children live in food-insecure households. Alone a staggering statistic, but the issue becomes one of injustice when considering uneaten food representing about 38% of the total food supply in 2021, valued at roughly $444 billion. This creates the absurd phenomenon of starving children and piles of uneaten food sitting side by side in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world.
Unfortunately, the situation is getting worse. According to the USDA, a million more Americans became food insecure between 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that less than 2% of excess food nationwide was donated. 36% instead went straight to landfills instead of into the mouths of hungry children. Food waste is a humanitarian issue that also has direct ties to climate change. Bloomberg writes that some estimates put food waste at 8% of the human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, and in 2021 food waste accounted for 372 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.
How is Eastern University tackling the pressing issue of food waste? Scott Lofland, the general manager of Sodexo services at Eastern, answers. Sodexo as a company is part of a statewide sustainability program through the Pennsylvania government to reduce food waste. The company must meet certain standards, or have their status revoked.
Lofland reports that Sodexo cooks their food in smaller batches, both to ensure freshness for the students and to cut back on waste. Using numbers on larger trends of what students like and when they are in the dining commons, Sodexo can roughly estimate how much food to make at a time. Of course, the uniqueness of students’ paletes and schedules means that a bit of waste will always occur. As long as the food is untouched–another reason that self-serve is not an option–Sodexo has the option to donate it to a church or food pantry. However, Lofland concedes here that “We don’t do it enough.”
Additionally, this year for the first time Sodexo at Eastern is trying a new tool to combat food waste called Waste Watch through LeanPath. All excess food is weighed, waste is calculated and numbers are reported back for future ordering and planning. This does not stop the food from being tossed afterwards, but it does mean that trends can emerge more easily that can stop the waste process at the first step by ordering less.
While Lofland works to improve food waste on the Sodexo end, he also points out the student’s responsibility. At Eastern, students have the opportunity to swipe in once at the front and gain buffet style unlimited access to all food within–an all-you-can-eat model. Compared to other schools that equate meal swipes with how much food is taken, this system is a great plus for Eastern and helps keep students fed for less meal swipes. However, the unlimited opportunity for food creates a food waste issue on the student end. Lofland identifies the greatest source of food waste to be the trashbags near the dish room, where students scrape their plates before putting them up to be washed. Whole plates of food are dumped. Lofland does not fault the students, necessarily–after all, why would one not try to get as much bang for their swipe? Then again, Lofland agrees that perhaps a philosophy of “Just because you can, does not mean you should,” when it comes to getting food from the dining commons. The cost of taking food and not eating it may not be felt to a student’s pockets, but is felt in distant landfills and hungry children.
There are some changes that Lofland has made to attempt to cut down on student generated waste. Portion sizes determined and served by Sodexo employees, rather than student self-serve, helps to cut down on waste. Lofland understands student frustration about predetermined portion sizes, but emphasizes that after finishing one plate, another plate can always be acquired. Finishing one smaller portion and going back to get another, rather than overestimating how hungry one is and failing to finish a large portion, is a far better method that helps to reduce waste.
Another method of cutting down on student waste has been experimented with here and there this academic year–removing the trash can from directly outside the dish room. Lofland explains that the aim in rolling out this change was to allow employees to trace which foods are being thrown out more than others and report trends back to those who order, so that waste can be curbed further. However, this change has received pushback from students who are used to the routine of scraping their own food, and do not wish to put more burden on the employees.
In Lofland’s eyes, “Education is most important when it comes to eating,” for both nutrition and waste. The school dietician, Lin Roberts, provides education on health and wellness, as well as working to advise students on how to use the dining commons properly and take smaller portions. The efficacy of the education cannot be measured, but Lofland encourages students to take advantage of the dietician, as one-on-one consultations are always available.
In sum, both Sodexo and students have a responsibility to curb food waste. As time goes on, more intel and thus more effective ordering and preparation of food will ensure less and less food waste on Sodexo’s end. Lofland points out that already from last year to this year, the amount that Sodexo fills in their dumpster has curbed dramatically while the student population has risen, due in part to the company removing paper cups. Further analysis of waste trends and subsequent changes will continue to ensure Eastern puts out less waste. Lofland says that “Anytime we can cut down on paper usage,” Sodexo will try to as an area of improvement, as well as better rates of donation to food pantries. Meanwhile, students would do well to take smaller portions before going back for more, denying the temptation to take more simply because it is available. Encourage friends to finish their plates and avoid taking more than needed. As much as Sodexo management can do, it will take the active participation of individuals to rise to the challenge of continuing to reduce food waste at Eastern, and extend the values of faith, reason and justice to the kitchen trash can.
Sources:
Katherine Thomas 
Chloe Rupe 
Grace Nealy