Iowa Waste Reduction Center Releases School Food Waste Whitepaper

The Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC) at the University of Northern Iowa recently released a whitepaper characterizing food waste at K-12 schools in rural Iowa. Food Waste in Rural Schools analyzes data collected by the IWRC over the last five years of providing direct technical assistance to K-12 schools across the state related to food waste prevention and reduction.

IWRC estimates K-12 students in Iowa tossed over 150,000 pounds of food and beverage waste every school day during breakfast and lunch in the 2018-2019 school year. Moreover, Iowa’s K-12 students tossed nearly 30 million pounds of food and beverage waste in 2018-2019 (based on 180 day school year) with the majority of this ending up in the landfill.

The whitepaper details methodology, student impact, outcomes of assistance, and food and beverage waste data collected over the last five years. With the current situation created by the novel coronavirus pandemic, this whitepaper can be used as a guide for K-12 schools to calculate food and beverage waste rather than conducting actual waste sorts; which would be nearly impossible to conduct with social distancing and public health protocols.

You may download the whitepaper at https://iwrc.uni.edu/sites/default/files/IWRC_FWwhitepaper_WEBVERSION%20(1).pdf.

Cover of IWRC whitepaper, "Food Waste in Rural Schools"