Have you ever gone to the trash can at the school cafeteria to throw away your empty tray and seen uneaten apples, bananas, and food that has barely been touched?
Because the sad truth is, most students only eat half of their school lunch. According to the Public Interest Network, 530,000 tons of food waste are produced by schools yearly.
“With more than 95,000 schools across the country serving lunch each day, that waste adds up. About 530,000 tons of food and 45 million gallons of milk is wasted in U.S. school cafeterias each year, the World Wildlife Fund estimates, which translates into about $1.7 billion worth of uneaten food.” said the Food and Environment Reporting Network.
While food wastage is a terrible problem, the bigger problem is the poor quality of food being served at America’s schools. Students in countries like Italy, France, Japan, and Finland enjoy many quality lunch items, according to an article written by Katie Rodriguez for Civil Eats titled, “How Do School Meals Stack Up Against Other Countries?” For example, the article states that kids in Finland kids get to taste test and approve foods.
At Frost Middle School, many students choose to buy school lunches rather than bring lunch from home. The school serves a range of items from pizza to tacos to chicken nuggets and pasta to packaged snacks like popcorn and Craisins. While these lunch items sound like foods most kids would enjoy, some students complain about the taste and quality.
Many students have problems with the taste of the school food but we students are also very wasteful. Most of us barely eat our food. According to Penn State.org, more than 30% of the food served in American school cafeterias is thrown away.
“The best way to tackle food waste is to make sure students consume what they take. This involves good planning by school nutrition staff, getting students involved in decision-making, and having teachers educate students on the impacts of wasted food” stated the USDA.
