Several strategies may lower plate waste in School Feeding Programs

Food Review, Summer-Fall, 2002 by Joanne F. Guthrie, Jean C. Buzby

Rescheduling lunch so that it follows recess has also been shown to reduce plate waste, potentially providing cost savings to the NSLP and increasing the benefits that children receive from the program. For example, a study conducted in Illinois showed that overall food waste decreased from 35 percent to 24 percent when recess was rescheduled to precede lunch. The School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000 conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that only 18.2 percent of elementary schools scheduled recess before lunch for half or more of classes.

Lengthening school lunch periods may also decrease levels of plate waste. Forty-four percent of public school cafeteria managers surveyed reported "not enough time to eat" as a possible reason for students' plate waste (fig. 2). Studies suggest that in most cases, however, children have adequate time to eat their lunches. A study sponsored by the National Food Service Management Institute found a small number of cases in junior and senior high schools in which long waiting lines resulted in students having less than 10 minutes to eat, but effects on plate waste were not assessed.

Lunches that are served very early or very late in the day may also increase plate waste. Forty-two percent of NSLP cafeteria managers surveyed cited children being "not hungry" as one reason for plate waste. Lunches scheduled too soon after breakfast may be a cause of children not being hungry. Moving some of the earlier lunch periods to later times might reduce the volume of plate waste. On the other hand, lunches that are scheduled late in the day may increase plate waste if students have access to alternate foods, such as items from vending machines and snack bars or food brought from home. However, only a minority of NSLP cafeteria managers who responded to the survey felt that changing lunch schedules would decrease plate waste. Concerns also have been raised that scheduling other school activities during lunch, such as club meetings and pep rallies, may discourage children from eating school meals. Data on the effects of these scheduling issues on plate waste are not available.

Improving NSLP Food and Nutrition Education Could Lower Waste

Improving the quality, appearance, and acceptability of foods may also be an effective strategy, but the effects of such improvements are not well documented. ERS identified four strategies currently used to improve the quality, appearance, and/or acceptability of NSLP meals:

(1) Improving the selection of commodities donated by USDA. USDA makes commodity food products available to all schools participating in the Federal school meal programs. While these foods are generally viewed favorably by NSLP cafeteria managers, USDA continues to work to further improve the nutritional profile and acceptability of these foods. A study of the effects of increasing the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables made available to schools indicated that such improvements may decrease plate waste. Effects of other changes in commodities on plate waste have not been studied.