Plate Waste in School Catering in Rezekne, Latvia

Jelena Lonska, Anda Zvaigzne, Inta Kotane, Inese Silicka, Lienite Litavniece, Sergejs Kodors, Juta Deksne and Aija Vonoga
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Jelena Lonska: Research Institute for Business and Social Processes, Faculty of Economics and Management, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, LV-4601 Rezekne, Latvia
Anda Zvaigzne: Research Institute for Business and Social Processes, Faculty of Economics and Management, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, LV-4601 Rezekne, Latvia
Inta Kotane: Research Institute for Business and Social Processes, Faculty of Economics and Management, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, LV-4601 Rezekne, Latvia
Inese Silicka: Research Institute for Business and Social Processes, Faculty of Economics and Management, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, LV-4601 Rezekne, Latvia
Lienite Litavniece: Research Institute for Business and Social Processes, Faculty of Economics and Management, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, LV-4601 Rezekne, Latvia
Sergejs Kodors: Institute of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, LV-4601 Rezekne, Latvia
Juta Deksne: Research Institute for Business and Social Processes, Faculty of Economics and Management, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, LV-4601 Rezekne, Latvia
Aija Vonoga: Research Institute for Business and Social Processes, Faculty of Economics and Management, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, LV-4601 Rezekne, Latvia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-26

Abstract: This research was conducted within the framework of a research project aimed at detecting patterns of plate waste and developing recommendations for improving catering in seven schools in Rezekne city (Latvia) by a combination of observation, physical weighing, semi-structured interview approaches and statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA). We identified plate waste (including wasted beverages), which remains after the lunch of schoolchildren in grades 1–7, examining a total of 7064 lunch samples. The originality of the research is due to the fact that a unified menu was designed for the field study, which ensured the same field study conditions in all the schools. The results of the research revealed that the average weight of plate waste per schoolchild reached 178 g, and the total weight of plate waste accounted for 28.75% of the total weight of food served. No significant differences in plate waste weight between various age groups and grades of schoolchildren were found, which was also confirmed by a one-way ANOVA test. An analysis of plate waste by food category showed that beverages accounted for the largest share of total plate waste (42.24%), followed by staple food (28.38%) and meat (11.77%). An analysis of plate waste shares of food served (%) by food category revealed a similar situation: the largest share of food served was made up of beverages (37.56%), followed by staple food (36.48%) and meat (28.77%). An analysis of the monetary value of food waste showed that the average cost of plate waste (excluding beverage) per schoolchild was EUR 0.236, which represented 16.6% of the national and municipal funding of EUR 1.42 per portion. Given the research results, the authors have concluded that in order to reduce the amount of plate waste generated by Rezekne city schools, school menus should be based not only on the requirements prescribed by relevant legal acts but also on cooking processes that meet the requirements of modern consumers (learners), e.g., by following trends in cooking practices in society to make the learners interested in consuming school food.

Keywords: food waste; plate waste; school menu; eating habits; eating behavior; school catering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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