‘Plate Waste Warriors’ Examine School Food Waste
A study led by a team of Texas A&M University System researchers found school meals paired with popular vegetables are less likely to wind up in garbage bins.
A team led by Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Institute for Obesity Research and Program Evaluation at Texas A&M University measured food waste in three elementary schools in Bryan and Dallas. The schools are participants in the U.S. Department of Agriculture National School Lunch Program both in pre- and post-implementation of the new standards.
The study was funded by the Alliance for Potato Research and Education and is published in the journal, Food and Nutrition Sciences.
“Our research team looked at whether there is a relationship between consumption of certain entrees and vegetables that would lead to plate waste,” said Dr. Oral Capps Jr., an AgriLife Research economist in College Station. “We found that popular entrees such as burgers and chicken nuggets, contributed to greater waste of less popular vegetables.”
Conversely, entrees paired with potatoes – served as tator tots, oven-baked French fries, and wedges – experienced the least amount of overall waste, Capps said.
“Our study shows that optimizing entrée-vegetable pairings in schools meals has the potential to positively impact vegetable consumption, which is especially important for those students relying on school meals for their energy and nutrient needs,” Capps said.
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This article by Blair Fannin originally appeared in AgriLife Today.
