Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Trayless dining at U. Pitt could save food, cash
By Mary Hancock
The Pitt News, U. Pittsburgh
March 15, 2009

After days of collecting messy leftovers, University of Pittsburgh environmental club Free the Planet estimated that Market Central would reduce food waste by nearly 30,000 pounds each year if Sodexo took away meal trays.

The club contrasted how much food students threw away on days they had trays and on trayless days. Members discovered that students eating in Market Central waste 29,600 pounds a year. Additionally, each dining student wastes an approximated 16.5 pounds of food annually.

The calculations present a minimum statistic because the data was limited to food wasted during dinner and lunch hours Mondays through Fridays. So the results exclude breakfast every day and weekends altogether, which would have added to the overall food waste totals, Free the Planet secretary Jessica Herbe said.

Some students might have noticed that the study inadvertently collected inedible pineapple rinds and bones. Volunteers realized the problem quickly but continued the method to remain consistent throughout the entire study. Because the inedible food was reliably collected, the results still reflect a difference in waste between days with and without trays that would not be influenced by this error, Herbe said.

The study also notes that trays lead to wasted water because each tray takes about one-third to one-half of a gallon of water to wash.

“Although the results do not have an accurate count of the number of people that use trays, the amount of water wasted on washing trays is obviously astronomical,” Herbe said.

The variation in waste between the two days will not change the regular policy regarding trays alone. Pitt and Sodexo will consider the results and student response before making any definite decisions, said Jodi Ludovici of Sodexo’s campus food services.

“Sodexo ... has a strategic initiative toward sustainability and recognize the significant results. However, student feedback is the main contributing factor,” Ludovici said.

Sodexo has converted many universities to trayless dining, including UC-Davis, Georgia Tech, Rowan University, George Mason University, the University of Idaho and Buffalo State. Sodexo will collect students’ opinions on the potential change in person at Market Central, and it will also provide surveys if students wish to give criticism or approval, Ludovici said.

Trayless dining reduces water, chemical and energy usage that lead to more efficiently run cafeterias.

“At Sutherland, we are saving 200 gallons of water each day by our commitment to trayless dining,” Ludovici said. “This totals to 43,000 gallons per year. Another way to look at it is 200 gallons of water saved per operational day for every 1,000 meals served.”

Pitt business administration professor Prakash Mirchandani explained the phenomenon that leads to this type of waste.

Though trays provide a convenience to patrons, they lead to waste in a fixed-price buffet setting that does not necessarily occur in an a la carte cafeteria. They allow consumers to take any desired variety of foods without having to pay a higher cost. These extra rations might never be eaten when it actually comes time to sit down, Mirchandani said.

“Eliminating trays will reduce both consumption and wastage. Avoiding overeating will have obvious health benefits for the students. But reducing food wastage will have some efficiency benefits as well,” Mirchandani said.

The elimination of trays leads to a more proficient operation at any buffet-style cafeteria through both the incoming and outgoing supply chains. Since a trayless buffet needs less food to run, it would be able to buy a smaller quantity of materials. Although it reduces the amount of food, the buffet still caters to everyone without as much waste. This also lowers the cost of transporting the unneeded food that would have otherwise been wasted, Mirchandani said.

Market Central plans to go trayless every Tuesday and Wednesday until the end of the spring semester, including Earth Day on April 22.

“Our goal would be to open fall ’09 trayless,” Ludovici said. “The Perch at Sutherland opened trayless this last fall and is very well perceived.”

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