There is nothing worse than heaps of food not getting eaten and going to waste. Here at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater food waste is a serious issue that is being spearheaded by the new dining contract, Chartwells. Part of their mission is to reduce food waste by “transforming campus dining into a sustainable and eco-conscious experience.” There have been a variety of initiatives that have been put into place, and more goals the new dining contract is hoping to improve. 

Chartwells reduces food waste by emphasizing Whitewater students should only take what they will eat. Additionally, the dining contract has signage up within the dining halls giving students tricks on how to be more sustainable. If there is too much food made for one meal of the day, they will take the food and repurpose it into a completely different meal. 

Why should food waste matter to a bunch of college students? It should matter because approximately 31% of food waste comes from retail and consumer levels. This refers to college campus dining halls. That is a huge percentage of where all the food waste comes from in the US. If there are small initiatives that can be put into place within the dining halls at our Whitewater campus, that can significantly change the overall percentage of wasted food in the US. Additionally, if other campus’s see how successful our campus is in reducing waste, it can spark other campuses to do the same. 

Change is a slow process, but for it to make an impact it must start somewhere. Why not start at our community where there are others who are passionate about reducing food waste. Next time you go to the dining hall think about how much food you are actually going to eat. 

Citations

Richardson, R., Prescott, M. P., & Ellison, B. (2021). Impact of plate shape and size on individual food waste in a university dining hall. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 168, 105293-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105293

Sustainability Initiatives. University of Wisconsin Whitewater. https://dineoncampus.com/uww/sustainability-initiatives