Let’s say you’re a food service provider like Sodexo (bear with me). In the name of sustainability, you remove trays from a university dining hall. Then you save about $25K through avoided food waste and water/energy use. Should you: a.) Apply those savings to next year’s meal plan fees? b.) Donate the savings to a [...]
Loyal WF reader Dan Livingston recently e-mailed in with this question: Is there any rationale for going trayless in a non-all-you-can eat setting? If diners pay for each item, do trays encourage waste? As far as I know, traylessness isn’t useful for reducing waste in an a la carte setting. But maybe some of you have experiences that [...]
Ever vigilant in the face of enviromental challenges, the editorial board at Yale’s student paper doffed their top hats and canes and tried out this trayless business. Their conclusion: “Keep Trays in Dining Halls.” These are obviously bright people, which makes it even more puzzling that after recognizing the environmental benefits of traylessness, they’d choose [...]
I was thrilled to see the guys at Freakonomics address the topic of traylessness. It’s nice exposure for the issue and will hopefully sway the three remaining colleges who still use trays to abandon them. (Fine, there are a few more than that. Seriously, though, if you’re still using trays, it’s time.) But…as a few [...]
I’m finally back home, after a relaxing, leftover-sandwich-filled Thanksgiving trip. No sooner did I return than I found this AP story on food waste. After paying so much attention to household food waste, with Thanksgiving, let’s return our gaze to the hospitality industry and institutional kitchens. I’m encouraged to hear that Virginia Tech has cut [...]
Here are some ideas on Obama’s food policy. Strange that there’s no mention of a Food Waste Czar. He must want to keep it hush-hush. — — Reminder: Nov 26 is your last chance to submit your comments on the proposed Green Seal Environmental Standard for Restaurants. — — OK, University of New Mexico, it’s [...]
Yesterday was Campus Sustainability Day. Yeah, I missed it, too. The good news is that all these schools didn’t. In honor of that day, ARAMARK put out a nice press release reviewing their work in making college food service more sustainable. Not content to simply cut food waste, ARAMARK hopes to reach the rarefied air [...]
Hook ‘em, Horns! The University of Texas is considering going trayless. While I’m obviously biased towards traylessness, I try to keep an open mind toward other opinions. This rationale, however, makes no sense: “I think if you have a tray, it’s a whole lot easier to see what you’re taking,” said UT student Katie Koehler. “So [...]
Changes are afoot at the University of Florida. In addition to becoming more sustainable in general–with a goal of producing zero waste by 2015–Gator Dining Services just launched the “Erase the Waste” campaign. The program focuses on getting students and staff to think about reducing food waste. Most schools don’t ask students to change their [...]
If you hadn’t considered the idea of trayless college cafeterias, here’s an NPR piece on it. For the most part, it illustrates why I’m such a proponent of traylessness. — — Read this waste horror story from a mom who volunteered to supervise lunch at her daughter’s school and a spirited discussion on how parents can trim lunchbox [...]
