Wayne State University ENG Food Recovery Program at Wayne State University

Transcription

1 Wayne State University ENG 3050 Food Recovery Program at Wayne State University

2 Food Waste at WSU Page 2 MEMORANDUM FROM: Aaron Szpytman TO: Jeffrey Cassell (Director of Operations WSU) DATE: July 28, 2015

3 Food Waste at WSU Page 3 Executive Summary It is important to find a solution to food waste at Wayne State University. A food recovery program has never existed at Wayne State and with Aramark Corporation s cooperation a program could flourish and become a model for other universities around the greater Detroit area. Food recovered from the Wayne State dining halls could aid local non-profits that service the less fortunate of the Detroit area. Two possible non-profit organization partners were reviewed: 1. The Food Recovery Network a. A national organization guiding a local student run organization in the process of transporting food from Wayne State to soup kitchens around the area. 2. Forgotten Harvest a. A national organization with a truck fleet that could pick up the food from Wayne State and take it to their distribution center for delivery where it is most needed. I recommend The Food Recovery Network because students are involved in community service and become more conscience of greener alternatives to traditional ways of doing things. Forgotten Harvest does not currently have enough trucks in their fleet to accommodate the food that Wayne State could be bringing to them for delivery.

4 Food Waste at WSU Page 4 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 5 2. Overview of Alternatives 7 a. Food Recovery Network 7 b. Forgotten Harvest 7 3. Criteria 8 4. Method 9 5. Evaluation 10 a. Food Recovery Network 10 b. Forgotten Harvest Conclusion and Recommendation Appendix References 14

5 Food Waste at WSU Page 5 Introduction Food waste is the term deemed for food that was intended for human consumption that is consequently becomes contaminated or unneeded for further consumption (Girotto et al. 2015). This report covers unneeded food that could be consumed after the intended consumption time at Wayne State University. Food waste starts in the agricultural setting while the food is still being grown from with waste like defined as lower quality fruits or vegetables or even food with a low commercial value. In the next phase - processing the food - food waste is produced by damage in transportation, losses during processing or faulty packaging (Girotto et al. 2015). The most food waste is generated the most by the consumer end because of surplus prepared food, or misunderstanding of labeling terms, such as best before or use by dates (Papargyropoulou et al. 2014). Every year the average person produces 475 pounds of food waste each year or 70+ million tons a year in America, which puts the USA at the top of the food waste chart by region in figure 1 (nofoodwaste.com). That is equivalent to about each person filling 25% of an Olympic size swimming pool each year. In addition to the overall waste problem it is a significant expense to transport this food from the cafeteria to the landfill. Figure 1. Food waste by region in 2007 (shrinkthatfootprint.com). The current method of disposing food waste is to haul it off to landfills where it produces harmful methane and carbon dioxide gases. Food waste holds the highest occupancy space in landfills as shown in figure 2.

6 Food Waste at WSU Page 6 Figure 2. Food Waste Compared to other Wasted Materials in 2012 (washingtonpost). It is probable that the majority of greenhouse gases (figure 3) are produced from the food decomposing in landfills. Wayne State University is aiding in the production of these gases because none of the cafeterias on campus currently recycle or distribute their food waste. The issue Wayne State faces can be overcome with the right food recovery program set in place. Figure 3. CO 2 production from food waste per person. (shrinkthefootprint.com).

7 Food Waste at WSU Page 7 Overview of Alternatives The two programs examined for this study are the Food Recovery Network and Forgotten Harvest. Food Recovery Network exceeded the Forgotten Harvest in the ability to recovery Wayne State s food waste. Food Recovery Network The Food Recovery Network is a national non-profit that specializes in recovering unused food at universities across America. They started at the University of Maryland and have spread to over 100 universities. They have collected over 800,000 pounds of food over the past five years and they are still growing (foodrecoverynetwork.org). They have developed a process that specializes in helping students start food recovery programs at universities. The organization is set up with a team of employees that are available to aid students in getting the program off the ground. They start by having some phone sessions with the students to give them an overview of the process, and then help them work with the university dining services. Their team has the necessary tools and information to mentor students in becoming experts in food waste recovery and how to work with the dining services to accomplish this goal. The Food Recovery Network prepares the student/s to create a sustainable program through guidance in finding a partner agency to accept the food (can be any organization that will give the food out free of charge) and other necessary skills like food safety. (Food Recovery network interviews). Once the university dining services begin working with the student run Food Recovery club at the university, the student organization becomes self sufficient in the operations of the program. After this stage the student organization reports to the Food Recovery Network how much food they have collected after each recovery. Forgotten Harvest The other food recovery option examined is the Forgotten Harvest food recovery service. Forgotten Harvest was started about 25 years ago and they have recovered a total amount of 48.8 million pounds of food (forgottenharvest.org). They are a national nonprofit that performs all services does everything within their organization. They have trucks and facilities available in many of the

8 Food Waste at WSU Page 8 major populated areas; so they are able to cover large areas. For example in the Detroit area they collect food from over 2,000 square miles to feed the disadvantaged people. They deliver the food to all different kinds of soup kitchens and homeless shelters throughout the area. They have a fleet of refrigerated trucks that come and pick up the food and deliver it to a storehouse that keeps the food for future distribution. Forgotten Harvest can hold the food in cold storage until needed by of the soup kitchens. They are able to send the food out when and where it is needed. All that dining services would have to do is package up the food for the Forgotten Harvest trucks to come and pick up that food so the role of the dining services at Wayne State is still minimum in this solution. One of the set backs to this program is they do not have any input where the food goes to after it is transported to the storehouse.

9 Food Waste at WSU Page 9 Criteria The criteria that I will consider are as follows: Will this course of action really reduce food waste at Wayne State? Can we implement this course of action? Can we afford to implement it? Is it desirable?

10 Food Waste at WSU Page 10 Method The main methods for gathering information about the applicability of food recovery organizations assisting Wayne State in minimizing food waste production were meetings with the Aramark food service and the Food Recovery and Forgotten Harvest representatives. I conducted weekly meetings set up with the non-profits and I would meet with the dining services at least once a month to discuss how the aspects of their program would work for the unique situation of Wayne State. Being in the middle of a city setting with restaurants and food services all around the area can prove to be a tough challenge for university dining services and potentially food recovery programs.

11 Food Waste at WSU Page 11 Evaluation Food Recovery Network Partnering with the Food Recovery Network will begin the complete the task of reducing food waste at Wayne State University. They have demonstrated success in working with other universities and it shows that their method works with university dining services. Other organizations that do not understand the unique situation of university dining services may not be as successful. Their experience in the field of university dining services will be valuable. This course of action could be implemented at Wayne State. According to the Aramark dining services at Wayne State, they would be comfortable with using a non-profit service like the Food Recovery Network. The only concern they brought up is the transportation aspect of the food going from Wayne State to the soup kitchen. The food will be transported by students and there is a possibility they might not be able to keep the food at a safe temperature to avoid food-borne illness. Aramark expressed concern that students cars are not certified food delivery trucks and they do not have the refrigeration mechanisms available in commercial food delivery trucks. The Food Recovery Network responded with a compromise to provide coolers to the student organization that will allow the food to remain cold during transport along the one mile route to the intended partner agency. This took care of Aramark s concerns. The Food Recovery Network was even entertaining the idea of providing the student organization with a grant to allow them to buy some reusable commercial grade food coolers for the cars. This demonstrates that the Food Recovery Network is very flexible in their approach to working with the dining services. They know that the dining services are already wary about allowing students to transport food to a different agency, but they have the resources and approach available to make the process easier and more streamlined. This approach is affordable because all of the costs of this program are not borne by the University or Aramark. This is due to the resources the national Food Recovery Network has available to them. They are able to provide a five hundred dollar grant to each new student organization to help them get the supplies needed to recover their first amount of food. The kinds of items needed for one semester of recoveries (a recovery a week, 15 recoveries) are in the appendix at A1. The totals for the supplies fall well below five hundred dollars.

12 Food Waste at WSU Page 12 Forgotten Harvest Partnering with Forgotten Harvest will also begin complete the task of eliminating food waste production at Wayne State University because the organization has been working with different areas for so long and they have an amazing record in recovering food. Wayne State has also worked with Forgotten Harvest in the past, for example facilitating canned-food drives that allow Forgotten Harvest to distribute baskets around Thanksgiving time to families in need (forgottenharvest.org). This prior relationship will aid in getting the logistics worked out sooner. We can implement this course of action at Wayne State because the Forgotten Harvest has experience recovering food from other universities across the country. Currently, Forgotten Harvest does not have enough trucks to be able to accommodate Wayne State on their delivery route. This would set back the time frame that would have to be implemented for Forgotten Harvest to start making the recoveries. Wayne State could afford to implement this program because Forgotten Harvest does not charge for picking up the food (forgottenharvest.org). As long as the total pounds of food exceeds fifty pounds then Forgotten Harvest will be able to come and pick up the food to use it. Forgotten Harvest s program is desirable up until to a point. They do not accept all foods, and would rather take the leftover meat products. Since Forgotten Harvest receives a lot of food they look for different kinds of recoverable food from certain locations. The dining services at Wayne State do regularly have meat products as recoverable food but this is not a guarantee that each time they will have that kind of food.

13 Food Waste at WSU Page 13 Conclusion and Recommendation In general, all of the different entities and organizations that were part of this report agreed that Wayne State could recover food from university services. Food Recovery Network is the more favorable option because their plan could be implemented in this coming school year in the fall. Aramark has agreed to work with the Food Recovery Network at Wayne State University and myself in cutting down food waste in the dining halls. This option can be a fix for the next coming years until an organization like Forgotten Harvest can be implemented so that the sustainability of the program will remain intact. For the time being, Aramark will be able to get the students involved in their university going green and they will be able to take a step in the right direction for making tomorrow a better today.

14 Food Waste at WSU Page 14 Appendix A1: Costs Quantity Item Description Cost 2 $8.18 Taylor 5989N 5" Classic 1" Dial Instant Read Thermometer 2 case $56.56 Choice Full Size Foil Steam Table Pan 3 3/8" Deep - 50 / Case 2 case $34.16 Choice Full Size Foil Steam Table Pan Lid - 50 / Case 1 case $33.11 Case of 1000, 10 Boxes of 100 Noble Products Large Powder Free Disposable Latex Gloves for Foodservice 3 $36.00 Coleman brand 72 can collapsible chest coolers $ Total Cost Cost breakdown of one semester of supplies that the Food Recovery Network at Wayne State would need (Food Recovery Network interviews).

15 Food Waste at WSU Page 15 References Americans throw out more food than plastic, paper, metal, and glass. September 23, Retrieved from: Forgotten Harvest Paste Events. May 1, Retrieved from: Girotto, F., Alibardi, L., Cossu, R., Food waste generation and industrial uses: A review. Waste Management. J. Souder, personal interview Food Recovery Network. July 1 July No Food Waste. June 28, Retrieved from: Papargyropoulou, E., Lozano, R., Steinberger, J., Wright, N., Bin Ujang, Z., The food waste hierarchy as a framework for the management of food surplus and food waste. J. Clean. S. Demarais, personal interview Food Recovery Network. June 5 June The food wastage footprint is big. Retrieved from: