School Dinners Under Scrutiny

11 February 2011

A new report by Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Food Waste In Schools has revealed an insight into the reasons behind the estimated 80,000 tonnes of food that is wasted in England's schools each year.

When food is wasted in schools, not only is the money spent on buying and preparing the food wasted but costs are incurred in treating and disposing of it; the embedded energy from growing, transporting, storing and preparing the food is also wasted; and, most importantly, the children are not gaining the nutritional benefit of the wasted food. WRAP's study was commissioned to better understand the composition of the food being wasted and the behaviour and practices leading to the waste, and identifying opportunities for schools and caterers to reduce the waste.

The reasons food is wasted can relate to policies and practices around school food, the environment in which school meals are eaten (rather than the food itself), and individual actions and preferences. There is no "one size fits all" approach to minimising food waste. Some small scale trials supporting the report suggested that changes at school-level could impact significantly on food waste, without any negative implications for nutrition. In fact nutritional intake could be improved if students are less inclined to leave meals unfinished.

The research identified three main areas of possible change: cooking meals to order; improving the dining experience and improving children's familiarity and appreciation of school meals.

In the "cooking to order trial" menu choices were recorded during registration each day and this information was communicated to the kitchen staff by 9.30am every morning. Pupils were given a coloured wrist band identifying their meal choice so there was no confusion at lunch time. Of those schools included in the trial 71 percent rated the scheme as "highly successful" or "successful".

Judy Hargadon, Chief Executive of the School Food Trust, said: "We know from our own work in schools over many years that food waste is an issue that they feel very strongly about. That's why everything we're doing to improve the school lunch experience for children - from making dining rooms places where pupils want to spend their time, to developing systems that work for kitchens and serveries - plays a big part in keeping food waste to a minimum.

Helen Amos