Cafeteria Culture Reports

School Cafeteria Waste Reduction Interventions for
​Climate Smart Food Service
October 2024

Introduction

Cafeteria Culture’s School Cafeteria Waste Reduction Interventions for Climate Smart School Food Service project at PS 15 Patrick F. Daly Magnet School of the Arts showcases how student-led initiatives can drive real environmental impact. From January 2022 to December 2023, we implemented innovative interventions, guided by waste audits and student campaigns, to reduce both food waste and single-use plastics (SUPs). Through this process, we identified a crucial link between plastic waste and food waste, showing that reducing one can directly influence the reduction of the other.

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Executive Summary

​Cafeteria Culture’s ground-breaking project leveraged classroom curriculum, student-led campaigns, waste audits, and video to dramatically reduce single-use plastics (SUPs) and food waste in a NYC public school cafeteria. The team implemented a series of innovative, cost-effective waste reduction interventions, centering student leadership and student voices in our School Cafeteria Waste Reduction Interventions for Climate Smart School Food Service project at PS 15 Patrick F. Daly Magnet School of the Arts Elementary School from January 2022 to December 2023. 

Key Findings from extensive pre-intervention (baseline) waste audits and careful observations include:

• 65% of the plastic waste from school lunches came from plastic food packaging, and 35% from disposable foodware excluding milk cartons and trays.
• On average, each student used 5.7 plastic items.
• Approximately 32% of packaged items, including utensil packets and excluding milk cartons were unopened.
• Adults at the service line were pre-plating food items on trays, giving students little opportunity to make their own choices.
• 45% of food waste was completely untouched (not including food waste from the kitchen).

These key findings shaped our three interventions:
1. Plastic Free Lunch Day (PFLD) intervention to target food packaging
2. Reusables Intervention to target foodware (utensils and cups)
3. Mindful Choice Meals (MCM) intervention to target food waste (post-served plate waste)

Previous studies on plastic and food waste in schools have largely examined these issues in isolation. Our interventions, however, explored the connection between the two, demonstrating that a reduction in plastic packaging correlates with a decrease in food waste and vice versa:

• MCM reduced food waste by 50% per student and reduced plastic waste by 51% per student, and
• Reusables + PFLD reduced 99% of plastic waste, 14% of food waste, and increased students’ food consumption by 26% per student.¹

Recognizing the interdependence of these two factors is crucial for designing effective, scalable interventions.
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In keeping with our teaching and community engagement philosophy, we amplified the voices of students and school stakeholders throughout the program. Together with students and staff, the CafCu team co-designed interventions tailored to the community's needs. We were honored to collaborate with PS 15’s diverse student body, including students of varying abilities, to develop student-driven solutions.

We conducted extensive baseline and day-of intervention waste audits to assess the efficacy of our interventions. This critical data informs procurement, menu planning, and procedural decisions for NYC Public Schools, leading to plastic and food waste reduction at the source — thus reducing costs.

The success of these interventions brings the largest school district in the country one step closer to Climate Smart School Food Service and creates a scalable model of student-led, real-world solutions for other schools and school districts to replicate nationwide.

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Key Achievements

Plastic Free Lunch Day: Scaled Across NYC Schools
Started at PS 15 with CafCu students as a one-day intervention, PFLD scaled to 750 NYC public elementary schools, reaching an estimated 400,000 students monthly. 16 NYC PFLDs to date have eliminated about 13.2 million plastic items from the waste stream.

Plastic Free Lunch Day: Scaled Nationwide
With the invaluable previous Urban School Food Alliance partnership, PFLD has been transformed into a national biannual event, open to any school that wants to participate. To date, more than 3,000 schools in 36 states and the District of Columbia have participated in a PFLD event and the number of participating schools grows with each event.

Reusables: Four-Week Intervention at PS 15
The Reusables Intervention – which introduced reusable cups, utensils, and a satellite dishwashing service – combined with PFLD led to a 99% reduction in plastic waste (excluding milk cartons and trays), a 14% reduction in food waste and a 26% increase in food consumption per student.

Mindful Choice Meals: One-Day Intervention at PS 15
This plate waste intervention led to a 50% reduction in food waste weight per student and a 46% increase in the amount of food weight consumed per student by following the USDA’s Offer vs Serve provision to reduce unwanted food. MCM prevents adults’ overplating, and encourages students to make their own choices.

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