Federal regulations cause excessive food waste

In the past few years, school food waste has grown to an alarming level due to issues with student preference and federal regulations. According to a survey of 145 students, a majority of students throw away school food because the food doesn’t taste good as a result of the Nutrition Services Department being prohibited by federal regulations from frying or using butter and oil on food. In the past, students were allowed to take any lunch item offered to them; however, due to recent regulations, they are now required to take every single item, leading to even more food waste. “It’s not just about us not wanting to give [students] what [they] want. I would love to give [them] what [they] want so this [food waste] can all go away but it’s not up to us. It’s the federal government,” Nutrition Services director Emmalyn Coles said. According to the World Wildlife Fund, American schools waste approximately 530,000 tons of food annually, costing $1.7 billion nationally. The Nutrition Services Department is required to give out five component meals based on federal regulations: meat, grain, fruit, vegetable, and fluid milk. The funding goes toward paying the employees, leaving only a small amount of money to produce meals with five components each. To find a balance between student acceptability rates and federal requirements, the department has collected feedback from students through programs like Student Think Tank and the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Committee. “Our priority definitely is acceptability,” Coles said. “I’d love to hear the ideas and see if we can make something in our program that meets the requirements.”