Food Waste Focus

LeanPath primarily focuses on pre-consumer food waste (or kitchen waste), however many times we are asked for tips to minimize post-consumer waste. And while some of this waste is driven by guest behaviors outside of your control, there are a number of strategies you can employ to minimize front-of-the-house waste. Here are just a few: [...]

When it comes to food waste there are many solutions. Recently Kansas State University launched a simple print campaign to reduce plate waste. Throughout the cafeteria they posted signs that read “Eat what you take. Don’t waste food.” This awareness campaign resulted in a 15% reduction in plate waste. The KSU program is a great [...]

Food waste is a concern for every foodservice operation. In the U.S. approximately 40% of food is wasted between the farm and the plate. Wasted food is especially troubling in K-12 operations because this means that children are missing key nutritional opportunities, well contributing to overflowing landfills. A recent study in Loveland, Texas highlights just [...]

Over the past few years the concept of trayless dining has swept across the nation. The majority of the foodservice venues that go trayless are college and universities with all-you-care-to-eat dining operations. The simple act of removing the tray prevents countless pounds of food waste and other environmental impacts as students grab only what they [...]

Which foodservice waste items qualify as “compostable?” The answer depends on who will handle the composting – keep in mind that many commercial composters handle yard waste but cannot or will not accept food. Those that do handle food waste will usually accept all food waste (pre-consumer and post-consumer) as well as plant-based compostable disposables [...]

Love Food but Hate Waste? Here at LeanPath, we talk about Food Waste Reduction on a regular basis.  Reducing food waste through tracking, goal setting and monitoring.  We give hints and tips about best practices from the many hospitals, colleges and corporate clients we deal with on a regular basis.  We love to hear when [...]

We recently ran across an article in Healthcare Design magazine titled: “Where does your facility fall on the greening spectrum?” Although this article focused on healthcare (regulated medical waste, preferred purchasing, etc.), they spoke about a Practice Greenhealth study and their efforts to break ‘greening’ down into specific categories.  By doing this it helps the [...]

While the following trends are not fully here today, they’re on the horizon: Customers Demand More Information. Customers have been clamoring to understand their food better in recent years: Where did it come from? Who grew it? Is it safe? These customers expect transparency around food. This attitude will expand beyond food sourcing into the [...]

A few months ago Joe Carbonara, the editor of Foodservice Equipment and Supplies Magazine, asked our president Andrew Shakman to look forward to 2010 and think about new trends and ways waste management might evolve.   We have posted excerpts from the article on this blog over the past five Wednesdays. Here is excerpt 5 of 5 [...]

A few months ago Joe Carbonara, the editor of Foodservice Equipment and Supplies Magazine, asked our president Andrew Shakman to look forward to 2010 and think about new trends and ways waste management might evolve.   We are posting excerpts from the article on this blog for the next five Wednesdays. Here is excerpt 4 of 5 [...]