When it comes to the college diet, we all know the stereotype of ramen and frozen chicken nuggets. The late night, early morning trips to the dining hall for something quick. What’s not talked about enough is the waste that comes with all of that. It has been shown that young adults are the most wasteful age group- making college campuses one of the biggest targets. My main focus is on food waste in on-campus dining halls and the strategies schools can implement to combat it.

College age students have been shown to be at a pivotal mindshaping point in their lives where new habits are being created and kept, with that being said, it is important to educate about not only what is on your plate, but how much. It has been shown that college students tend to have “decreased overall quality of diet” and tend to skip out on consumption of vegetables.

There are several factors that go into waste itself:

 1.) Do the students like the food being served? 

2.) How much food are students taking vs eating?

3.) What are the provided disposal options?

Several schools have been working on reducing food waste and so there are multiple strategies to reduce waste. The first being, what food is being served. Back in 2010, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act(HHFK) made a requirement for the USDA to update the nutrition programs for federal schools. The responsibility to promote healthy eating among students was put on schools. That being said, when food is thrown out, that is a loss of important nutrients.

 In a study done by Isabel Garcia-Herrero and Marla Margallo, they found that vegetables are thrown out more than any other food and that meat is 53-41% more likely to be eaten against vegetables, for example, there was a 100% loss of spinach. In their study, they proved that there needs to be more research done on the measure of food ratio being put on the plate to what students are actually eating.

A study done by Rachel Richardson, Melissa Pflugh Prescott, and Brenna Ellison, found that plate size and shape affects not only how much food taken but also wasted. Oftentimes cafeterias are buffet or “serve yourself” style, making it easy to grab too much food. In this study, they found that changing the dimensions of a plate not only affects food selection, but also over-eating and waste. By changing the plate size, from round to oval, the surface area is decreased by 6.76%. In their study, they found that the average amount of waste at one meal from one student with a round plate was 56.8g whereas students with oval plates at the same meal had a mean waste of 37.7g. They are firm believers that student’s eyes are bigger than their stomachs.

A study done by Kevin Yong Ming Lee found that by providing separation bins in dining halls, you give the individual the option to choose which bin they will put their waste in. By having more options, they are more likely to choose what they think is best. This tests a background of “environmental knowledge and moral norms” in students. By reducing waste and promoting recycling, composting but by also taking an extra beat to realize how much waste you are contributing.

Composting in dining halls is another option for universities to implement. There is no way to get the amount of waste to be zero, but the overall amount of green waste can be reduced more. By allowing organic material to decompose and be turned into nutrient rich soil, there are multiple benefits like reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills where they fail to have the needed conditions to decompose. Implementing composting can inspire sustainability in students and faculty and be a lesson for them to take home, just like families who recycle, they can compost. While compostable plates and trays are options, they tend to cost more, so by opting for reusable plates and composting leftover foods are the best plan.

On the west side of Michigan in a town just outside of Grand Rapids is Grand Valley State University(GVSU). At this four year university, they have made efforts in a sustainable direction. They have bins like Yong Ming Lee suggests, they have incorporated divided waste bins with the sections “Landfill,” “Recycling,” & “Compost.” It  has been shown that by implementing composting on campus, it gives the university a good name for promoting sustainability and waste reduction. GVSU has made pivotal steps forward on the side of sustainability, by sourcing local food, and eliminating food trays back in 2008 which resulted in saving water(1,619,000 gallons) and detergent, implementing energy saving methods within their housing department. They have also integrated the use of rain gardens and more “sustainable landscaping practices” to help with surface water and stormwater management. Being that they have made a great effort to be environmentally friendly, I would like to look into what percentage of students that eat in the dining halls actually use the compost bins.

For my research, I will be using the Value Belief Norm theory. This means we will be measuring students' Altruistic, Egoistic, and Biospheric values. To get my results for these, I will have a survey with questions specifically designed to understand their viewpoints. Altruistic Value is how much a single person cares for the people around them. People with high altruistic values may have a “How can I help others?” mentality. Egoistic Value is how much a single person cares about themselves, meaning that when they make a decision, they put themselves first. People with high egoistic values may have a “What is in it for me?” mentality.  Biospheric Value is how much a single person cares about the environment. Someone with high biospheric values may have a “How will this affect the environment?” mentality. 

There is a great amount of food waste across all cafeterias but I am focused on university dining halls. What factors lead to food waste and how can compost be a solution to the inevitable green waste? How can colleges and universities implement these solutions in a way that encourages students to be thoughtful about what and how much they eat and waste?