Highest on the food waste hierarchy is source reduction.  The college has several alternatives for source reduction that should all be considered given their minimal resource use and potential for waste reduction.  The Meal Plan system offers opportunity for waste reduction through several policy changes.  Reducing the number of students on the Meal Plan could have considerable impact on waste reduction.  While acknowledging that it is important to maintain investment in plate cost, eliminating the Meal Plan requirements for students living in off-campus housing or perhaps only for seniors should be considered as a small but important measure.  Furthermore, the College must consider reintroducing Meal Equivalency at grab-and-go stations as it reconnects students to the value of the food they purchase and reduces the waste of items such as fruit and chips.  Reintroducing the weighing of food would also make students more conscious of their purchases.  While health should remain a concern on campus, students should have the ability to make educated decisions about their food choices.

Other policy changes should be applied by Bon Appetit at the distribution end of the food supply chain.  In the grab-and-go stations, stocking only items that are about to pass their “best buy” dates would prevent student from purchasing the more recent food items and would require less purchasing for Bon Appetit.  In the buffet-style facilities, using smaller bowls or half-batches during non-peak hours would reduce the food thrown away due to Servsafe policies.

In coordination with these policy changes, the College must also prioritize education.  Dining Services in tandem with the Office of Student Life should lead these efforts as the two parties responsible for providing food for students through the Meal Plan.  If Dining Services is to reduce the number of items stocked at a given time or only stock items near their best buy dates, students should be made aware of the reasons behind the decisions.  Dining Services should also make labeling information more transparent as many students remained confused on what the labels mean.  More coordinated efforts to raise awareness and remind students of their waste behaviors should also be developed by Dining Services, the Office of Student Life, the Sustainability Office, and student organizations.  Connecting food waste to social justice through Hunger and Homelessness week and integrating a “Food Waste Awareness Week” during Earth month would offer focused and direct engagement with students.  While 96% of students have heard of food waste, the percentage of those who are aware of its consequences has not been measured.

Prioritizing food waste reduction may also require more investment in LaFarm, a food system actor that has the potential to reduce its food production waste.  Funding the construction of a ServSafe kitchen facility at LaFarm could eliminate the waste of products on the verge of spoilage by offering the opportunities to can and pickle foods on site.  Better storage facilities for LaFarm’s produce would also reduce the spoilage of food that has yet to be used by Bon Appetit.  While current storage facilities have not been identified as major sources of food waste on campus, LaFarm Manager Sarah Edmonds acknowledges that better storage, particularly spaces with moisture control, would contribute to waste reduction (S. Edmonds, personal communication, March 29, 2017).

The intangible aspects of waste reduction are perhaps the most necessary and most neglected measures.  As discussed in Section VI, communication is both a major obstacles and opportunity for waste reduction.  Providing a space for all food waste actors to exchange ideas must be a priority—perhaps even the first step—in any future action.  Marie Fechik-Kirk hosted a meeting for all those interested in food recovery in the beginning of the Spring 2017 semester to discuss what additional organization was needed, identify obstacles, and inform attendees of recent developments.  Representatives from Athletes Care, Lafayette Hunger Coalition, SEES, LEAP, Eco Reps, LaFFCo, First Year Commons, Meals at Third Street, Dining Services, LaFarm, the Nurture Nature Center, and the Sustainability Office attended.  Future meetings about food waste should draw from this model but expand to include other topics surrounding food waste, such as composting and policy changes.  The second frequently neglected measure is that of data collection.  As an institution striving to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, Lafayette should make regular efforts to weigh food and interpret trends.  If the compost program resumes, the effort of separating food waste from trash will be a daily responsibility that will facilitate measurements.  Without these measurements of food waste, it will be impossible to track the effectiveness of future actions.