School Nutrition Services (SNS) Research

Publication: JAND

Date Published: November 2017

Reference: 

Food Waste in the National School Lunch Program 1978-2015: A Systematic Review
Byker Shanks, Carmen et al.
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 117, Issue 11, 1792 - 1807

Key Takeaways: This Study Assessed Food waste trends and measurements in the US school cafeteria in the school cafeteria in nearly 4 decades. This Study aims to identify patterns in food waste, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and recommend standardized measurement approaches. Research employed various methods to asses food wastes including in person visual estimation (11 studies), digital photography (11 studies), direct weighing (23 studies), and combinations of these methods (8 studies). Direct weighing was the most common and most considerate. The study found that there was significant food waste in fruits and vegetables. Intervention outcomes include changes in meal presentation, nutrition education has shown mixed results, where some led to a reduction in waste, while others had no significant changes.

#Interventions