A systems examination of school food recovery in Northern Colorado

Sustainability Recommendations and Practices in School Feeding: A Systematic Review

“…In the United States, where the largest number of studies was identified ( n = 22), sustainability practices mainly involved educational activities for sustainability [ 20 , 44 , 53 , 56 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 69 ], waste reduction [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 46 , 49 , 61 , 76 ], school gardens [ 20 , 46 , 55 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 64 ], and participation in programs that promote closer ties between schools and producers [ 46 , 48 , 69 , 70 , 73 , 77 ]. Practices such as food donation [ 49 , 64 , 69 , 76 ], strategies for the rational use of water and energy [ 42 , 61 ], the offer of vegetarian/vegan menus or with reduced meat supply [ 25 , 46 ], and the use of local and organic foods (not mentioning participation in specific programs for this purpose) [ 59 ] were less mentioned. The study was carried out in parallel in the United States and Cuba in the context related to the experiences of urban school gardens in Philadelphia (USA) and Havana (Cuba) [ 51 ].…”

“…Regarding the adoption of measures to reduce waste, recycling [ 35 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 46 , 49 , 50 ] and composting [ 24 , 26 , 35 , 46 , 49 , 61 , 76 ] were the most reported, described in 14% ( n = 7) of the analyzed studies. These represent important strategies for the control of organic and inorganic waste.…”

“…These represent important strategies for the control of organic and inorganic waste. Food donation was a practice identified in 10% ( n = 5) of the studies [ 26 , 27 , 49 , 64 , 76 ] and food portion size adjustment in 6% ( n = 3) [ 26 , 27 , 35 ]. Sharing tables [ 76 ], single-course menu [ 8 ], reinforcement of social norms [ 35 ], donation of food waste for animal feeding [ 49 ], team communication to adjust the amount produced, and noise reduction in the cafeteria to allow a more comfortable environment [ 26 ] were also identified practices for the reduction of organic waste, to a lesser degree than the others previously mentioned.…”

“…Food donation was a practice identified in 10% ( n = 5) of the studies [ 26 , 27 , 49 , 64 , 76 ] and food portion size adjustment in 6% ( n = 3) [ 26 , 27 , 35 ]. Sharing tables [ 76 ], single-course menu [ 8 ], reinforcement of social norms [ 35 ], donation of food waste for animal feeding [ 49 ], team communication to adjust the amount produced, and noise reduction in the cafeteria to allow a more comfortable environment [ 26 ] were also identified practices for the reduction of organic waste, to a lesser degree than the others previously mentioned. Other less cited practices involving the control of non-organic waste generation were the use of reusable devices [ 40 , 45 ], the purchase of products in bulk or with minimum packaging [ 24 , 40 ], the use of returnable bottles [ 14 ], reduced use of paper [ 26 ], or the replacement of mineral water by filtered water [ 8 ].…”

Food waste and out-of-home-dining: antecedents and consequents of the decision to take away leftovers after dining at restaurants

“…In the food waste literature, safety concerns have been raised about donating edible plate waste for the less-privileged to consume, especially with strict local regulations in some countries (e.g. Okumus et al, 2020;Prescott et al, 2020). Leftovers being taken to be consumed by the diners themselves would help reduce such issues and save the restaurants from the legally challenging alternative of donating food to charity.…”