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As any college student knows, the cafeteria is a central locus of student interaction. It’s where we congregate to share the latest gossip, to commiserate over grades, and to just talk about what matters to us. It’s also where most students living on-campus consume their meals. At my own college cafeteria, the food wasn’t always great, but there were options aplenty–the carnivore section, the vegetarian section, the hamburger/pizza/fries section, the cereal dispensers, the salad bar, and so on. This abundance of choice astounded me when I first started school as a freshman.

Armed with a tray and an appetite, I’d navigate through the various sections, picking what looked good or at least smelled good. Something I noticed was that there are three very distinct types of eaters those who’d go straight for the same thing every day like pizza, those who’d inspect their food carefully before setting it on their trays, and those who’d grab a sampling of pretty much everything, the merits of which would be decided upon being seated. The latter was by far the most popular method of food selection. It was easy enough, as the trays provided ample space to fit everything.

But the waste I witnessed was astounding. By the time dinner was over, trashcans were filled with uneaten food. Since my father is a farmer who comes from a long line of family farmers, food waste was always considered a sin at home.  I can’t even count the number of times my father would say how important it was to finish everything.  I think being more intimately acquainted with where the food came from that it takes money and hard work to bring what we eat to the table, no matter where we buy it made my family understand and respect its importance more. Seeing all the waste at college thus came as a huge culture shock.
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When I returned for school my senior year, my campus had gone trayless. Among seniors especially, who had become so accustomed to eating with trays, talking about the change at dinner was a perennial topic of discussion. Reactions ranged from annoyed to furious. I heard everything from “how am I supposed to take my food up to my room now?” to “our school is getting cheap on us” to “this is going to make standing in line even worse.” Many students were suspicious of the reasons for eliminating trays, suggesting that the environmental benefits were being exaggerated only because the school wanted to save some money.

I myself was at first cynical about traylessness. I didn’t think it would make much of difference, regardless of the intentions behind the initiative. But then after a week or two, I noticed substantive changes in my own behavior and my fellow diners’.  People stayed at meals longer. We ate more slowly, since those who wanted seconds waited until the foot traffic slowed down. The whole experience just became more enjoyable and relaxed. And, being someone who was raised to be sensitive about food waste, I noticed specifically that trashcans were not overflowing when I left the cafeteria.

Eventually the grumbling about the lack of trays subsided, grumbling that I suspect comes with adjusting to pretty much any change from the normal routine. The freshmen, who hadn’t known a college dining experience with trays at all, didn’t have much to say on the topic because they had never known what having trays was like in the first place. Having made the trayless transition, I firmly believe that all schools should try it out, and not simply give up after a few weeks of student complaints. It’s really such a simple idea, one that encourages more mindful dining. I know it makes a difference because I’ve seen it first-hand. You don’t have to be an environmental activist to see the advantages of creating a more social dining experience, in which mealtimes are for enjoying food and company, and not just for mindless grazing before moving on with our busy lives.

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Alvina welcomes your comments either below or via email: alvina.lopez [at] gmail [dot] com



With food prices so high, there’s simply no excuse for food waste in the home. Regular readers of The Non-Consumer Advocate already know that the food waste issue is near and dear to my heart. Two years ago, I issued a Waste No Food Challenge and have been working ever since to get my family down to a zero food waste existence. I have learned much in my quest to eradicate food waste, and here’s what’s working for my family so far:

Be realistic: It’s all fine and admirable to fill your grocery cart with tofu and bok choy, but if that’s not how your family actually eats, then it’s just a recipe for wastage.

Serve smaller portions: This is especially important with children, but can be a issue with adults as well. It’s perfectly okay to have seconds, so make those servings appropriate to each individual.

Stop cooking such huge amounts: Face facts, you’re not an army cook. When cooking meals, estimate the amount of leftovers that’ll be produced and use your head. Leftover chicken soup is good once or twice, but after that it’s not always so tempting.

Buy smaller amounts: Many foods are less per pound if you buy a larger amount. However, unless you have a family of eight, this can be a certain road to food waste. It’s okay to buy the actual amount of food you need. I make pizza from scratch and buy the toppings from the pizza joint up the street. Not only is it cheaper, but I’m able to buy exactly the amount needed.

Only freeze the food you’ll want to eat again: Many people stash uneaten food in the freezer, only to be forgotten until that revolting smell of freezer burn has taken over. Which brings me to:

Eat the food in your freezer: When your freezer gets overly full of food, it becomes difficult to know the contents until it’s too late. Go on a spelunking tour of your freezer and start eating what you can. (The thriftiest meal comes from food you’ve already bought and prepared.)

Think about leftovers: When making a meal, think ahead to what the leftovers will be and how they’ll get eaten up. This may as simple as putting meal size portions into containers for work lunches, or even simply incorporating ingredients into another meal. For example, I roasted a chicken two nights ago. I used the extra chicken in some enchiladas last night, and then ate those leftovers for lunch today. If there’s more than you can eat, freeze the leftovers or share with friends and neighbors. (This is a delicious tradition to start, as you potentially end up on the receiving end of the deal!)

Plan Your Meals: For many people, this means scheduling the week’s menu ahead of time. I don’t do this personally, as I loosely follow the pantry principle, (I keep a stocked pantry that can be tranformed into multiple meals.) I usually plan my family’s meals a day ahead, which fits my personality better.

Store your food properly: If your flour gets buggy or your tortillas get crusty, then you have a problem. Stash dry goods in the freezer for 24 hours when first purchased to avoid moths and such, and use tight fitting lids for foods in the refrigerator. I’m a rabid fan of Pyrex dishes with snap-on lids. The glass means I can actually see the contents, and the lid keeps the food fresh. For me, monkey see food, monkey eat food. (Seriously, “out of sight out of mind” is my middle name.)

Institute a leftovers night: Often, there’s not enough of certain leftovers to create an entire meal, but they can be certainly be warmed up and set out buffet style.

Teach yourself to create new meals from leftovers: I’ve written about tucking bits and pieces into a pasta salad, but soups and burritos also lend themselves to leftover magic.

What are your methods to avoid food waste? Please share your ideas in the comments section below.

The “Finish Your Food Guilt” Trip

There’s a wonderful, ironic comic strip by Mike Adams that really illustrates the interesting dilemma between wasting food and overeating. One way this plays out is by guilting people into eating more than they should.

In China, meals are organized in such a way that there is less chance for overeating. In a typical Chinese meal, each person has his own individual bowl of soup or rice, and all of the main dishes like vegetables and meat are at the center of the table. Everyone has chopsticks to take some food from the shared plates. In more formal dinners, there are public chopsticks to eliminate the fear of contaminating shared plates with germs.

This type of sharing food is useful because it encourages you to eat as much or as little as you want. There is no need to “finish your plate.” It also allows people to save all of the food later, without scraping leftovers from someone else’s plate.

Restaurant Etiquette In China

One food wasting problem I saw in China is that people order more food than the group could possibly eat so as to appear generous. In China, the concept of “giving face” requires that guests are well taken care of and well fed. This unfortunately leads to ordering way too much food, creating a lot of leftovers.

Restaurant leftovers might not seem so bad, but I noticed that most people were not interested in packing up the leftovers and bringing them home.

I asked some locals about this phenomenon and I found out that more and more people are realizing the gravity of so much wasted food. They told me that a few years ago no one even considered bringing leftovers home from the restaurant. Things are certainly changing, especially as people realize how much energy is spent bringing them this wasted food.

Chinese People Don’t Waste Food at Home

While I was staying with family friends in China I noticed how well planned each home cooked meal was. Not only do Chinese people tend to buy only their food for the next day or two, but their whole kitchen is organized around fresh food and finishing what you prepare.I was surprised to find that this household had a very small refrigerator, which was only used to store leftovers from one day to the next.

The family I was staying with went out to shop for vegetables, fruit, and meat every single day. They planned meticulously what they made for each meal. Interestingly enough, the markets in China allow you to buy as little of each ingredient as you want. You don’t need to buy a 12 pack of anything, and you can buy a piece of meat the size of a coin and no one will look at you funny. The same goes for buying a few stalks of green leafy vegetables.

Looking back, I’m really grateful for learning about the way Chinese people eat, and their food saving strategies. I think we can learn a lot from the Chinese way of eating. I especially like the idea of sharing food via central plates, because it allows you to eat as much or as little as you want. I think it’s a great way to venture out and try different foods too.

I’d love to know what you think about my observations about food wasting and saving in China. Feel free to leave a comment here or get in touch with me via my site, Raw Foods Witch.

Let’s begin by agreeing for the moment that Twitter conversation is a blunt but decent stand-in for national sentiment on the issues of the day. With that premise as a backdrop, I took an informal look at how the Twitterati prioritize food waste by comparing the volume of tweets that used various keywords. I can summarize my research in three points:

Lesson 1: A sizeable chunk of the Tweeters who discuss food waste are not Americans. A few casual Twitter search queries show that a lot of the conversation around reducing food waste from outside of America – with a pretty noticeable concentration in Great Britain.

Lesson 2: Comparing the volume of tweets on food waste to some other hot-button environmental issues, it would appear that we have our work cut out for us. This should be a call to action for WastedFood.com readers (and my bro when he starts sleeping again):

Lesson 3: Holy cow:

Stats courtesy TweetVolume.