Food Waste Intelligence

Hard to believe that it has been a year since I hung up my toque and became the World’s First Food Waste Fighting Chef here at LeanPath. Over the past year, it has been a deep dive into learning all I can about the global scale of food waste. The problem is big--really big--and we need to teach, train, inspire and help all those out there on the front line every day to do their part to combat this global crisis. It’s interesting: the more I teach, the more I learn. Most of my learning has come from talking with the chefs that utilize ...

ReFED, the U.S.-based nonprofit working to reduce the nation’s food waste, just released two new Food Waste Action Guides to help restaurants and foodservice providers develop waste reduction plans.

We were disappointed by news this month that successive government budget cuts are forcing WRAP -- the UK’s Waste Resources Action Programme, a leader in the nation’s food waste prevention efforts – to cut 15 percent of its workforce. These cuts will result in a loss of roughly 25 positions and will force the organization to scale back its important work.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign installed LeanPath scales in its eight dining halls and catering facility in 2013. Even though it was five years ago, Assistant Director of Dining Thurman Etchison still remembers the surprise of those first few weeks. “The thing that shocked me the most was the dramatic decrease in food waste we saw from the start,” he says. “Over a month’s time, we dropped probably six to seven thousand pounds a week.”

It’s like any other priority in the kitchen: if chefs and managers don’t reinforce the message that food waste prevention matters, staff can easily lose focus. Your daily or weekly pre-shift meetings are one of the best opportunities to reinforce your priorities. Here are a few ways to keep your team focused on food waste.