School Cooks Up Effort to Trim Food Waste, Costs
They are trying a new way to stop wasting food at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH – by leaving cafeteria trays behind.
Rector Bill Matthews and Kurt Ellison, the boarding school’s director of food services, are boosting a plan to remove dining trays from the cafeteria. Their theory, supported by practice at, at least one other school, is students and teachers will take less food if they have to balance plates in their hands.
Mr. Ellison said studies over the past two years showed the 1,200 people who eat in the St. Paul’s cafeteria were throwing away more than 350 pounds of food a day, costing about $112,500 for the school year.
Administrators said they suspect people were taking more than they could eat because they could fit it on their tray and because the food is so plentiful, and good.
“Like most kids, sort of being in a candy store, the kids will take more than they actually need,” said Doug Dickson, vice rector for students.
After several failed attempts to persuade St. Paul’s diners to take less food, Mr. Ellison visited a boarding school in Massachusetts that was experimenting with the no-tray rule. Out of 700 students in the school’s dining hall, Mr. Ellison said he only saw two with trays. And the food service director there reported they were saving money.
“It was such a no-brainer when I saw it that I had to suggest it when I came back,” Mr. Ellison said.
During the first days of school this fall, he talked to students about the importance of taking care of the environment. He also explained that not using trays, while not mandatory, had been proved to reduce food waste and dish washing costs. He also hopes the initiative will help students realize how lucky they are.
“This has been a great thing for us to do, not only in reducing the amount of waste, but in raising the consciousness of what we have in abundance in America and what most of the world does not have,” Mr. Matthews said.
In the cafeteria, most students, including senior Albert Gilbert, aren’t carrying trays. “That’s the price we have to pay if we’re going to save money for the school and save the ecosystem,” Mr. Gilbert said.
But sitting nearby, senior Charles Vennat, said trays have their advantages. “It’s nice to sit down and relax, and not have to run to the kitchen all the time to get more food,” he said. Plus, he said trays make it easier to clean up.
“Certain trayless individuals, they’ll stick their extra cups and trash on your tray,” Mr. Vennat said.
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