Food waste reduction in school canteens: Evidence from an Italian case

What is it about?

The issue of food waste is increasingly attracting interest within the public and academic communities: this is due to the magnitude of the problem (in terms of quantity and worldwide spread) and to the increasing attention to the issues related to healthy and sustainable food. As a consequence, it is possible to observe an increasing number of initiatives that are intended to reduce the food discarded during the different stages of the supply chain: from the first steps in the production and storage up to the product cooked and ready to be consumed by humans. Still, food waste remains an unsolved issue, and many initiatives struggle to move from the design to the full-scale implementation. This research paper focuses on a successful food waste reduction project in a school canteen in the north of Italy. The case study illustrated in this paper shows how it is possible to implement an effective initiative for the reduction of food waste in a school canteen with a limited investment, leveraging on stakeholders’ involvement.

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The main goal of this paper is to illustrate an effective and reliable strategy for the reduction of food waste in canteens that can be put in operation with a relatively small effort in terms of investments and a high level of stakeholder involvement.