Plate Waste in School Lunch Programs in Beijing, China

Yao Liu,Xiaojie Liu,Li Xue,Shengkui Cheng,Xiaochang Cao,Gang Liu

doi:10.3390/su8121288

Abstract

School plate waste is of particular concern worldwide due to its adverse impacts not only on resource use and the environment, but also on students’ health, physical maturation, and academic achievement in the long term. Previous studies on school plate waste have all been conducted in industrialized countries, and more studies are badly needed in developing countries. In this paper, we report a pilot study on the patterns and causes of plate waste in school lunch programs in Beijing, China, by a combination of physical weighing, questionnaire survey, and semi-structured interview approaches. Our results show that the average amount of food waste generated by school students in Beijing in 2014 was 130 g/cap/meal, accounting for 21% of total food served. Staple food (43%) and vegetables (42%) were the dominant proportions. Buffet meals resulted in less plate waste than packed meals and set meals. Food supply patterns, the quality of canteen service, and the dietary habit and students’ knowledge of food production were the main influencing factors behind plate waste. To our best knowledge, our pilot study provides a first understanding of the overlooked plate waste in school lunch programs in China, and a good basis for further analysis in this field, and will be helpful in informing policy-making in relevant nutrition and education programs in schools in China.

Highlights

Food loss and food waste has become a worldwide concern in recent years due to its negative impacts on resource use, the environment, and social development [1,2,3,4]
Food loss and food waste occurs throughout the whole food supply chain, from farm to table, food waste at the consumer stage attracts particular attention because the relatively large amount of consumer food waste means that all resources input at production, processing, storage, and distribution stages was used in vain, and a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions occurring at these stages and at waste management is added [5]
We found that students without disturbing them in the rush lunch time, we estimated them by a combination of sample weighing and visual observation with the assistance of experienced kitchen staff

Summary

Introduction

Food loss and food waste has become a worldwide concern in recent years due to its negative impacts on resource use, the environment, and social development [1,2,3,4]. Food loss and food waste occurs throughout the whole food supply chain, from farm to table, food waste at the consumer stage attracts particular attention because the relatively large amount of consumer food waste means that all resources input at production, processing, storage, and distribution stages was used in vain, and a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions occurring at these stages and at waste management is added [5]. In recent years in China, there has been increasing public awareness of food waste and campaigns against food waste (e.g., the “clean your plate” initiative); a few researchers have made some rough estimation of the scale of food waste in China [7,8,9].

Methods

Results

Conclusion