Reducing Food Waste in Education Institutions

Source In the US, food waste is 30-40% of all waste at 133 billion lbs. costing $161 billion. Food waste produces methane which causes a greenhouse effect greater than that of carbon.	Solutions With food waste being the largest contributor to US waste, implementing a food recycle system starting in grade school to create take-home meals for lower income students would ensure leftovers go to those in need rather than in the trash. Food that can not be made into meals because they are perishable can be placed in a composting bin that would provide the school and local community with fertilizer. Reducing food waste would reduce the amount of methane introduced into the atmosphere from the decomposing process in landfills. The production, transportation and storage of unused food release carbon pollution so only growing what is necessary would reduce our carbon footprint. Reducing food waste reduces the impact on resource and land conservation, climate change and food security. The time, energy, and money spent discarding food waste could be used for public works. Water usage could be cut back in agricultural use and be distributed to underdeveloped nations. Reduce the resources required to produce our current rate of food i.e. fertilizer, water, land, labor. Make people more conscious of their decisions to throw something out, reduce and reuse before recycling. Introducing resource conservation into grade school education requirements to bring awareness to the importance of protecting our environment.
Smart Objectives Reduce $680 billion in food waste in industrialized countries to $500 billion within the next five years. Reduce childhood hunger by 50% in school districts. Reduce the amount of food waste introduced to landfills by 30 billion lbs.
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