We need to change the dining halls at Penn State where others serve you (ex: East and Pollock dining commons). Sometimes the portions the server gives students is more than enough, which leaves students throwing out unwanted food. If students were able to serve themselves, they would be able to choose a more accurate amount of food they want, and thus not have to throw away extra food. Currently, we (University Park) are wasting 600 tons food annually.
The average 19 year old eats about 2,200 calories a day. 2640 (average male)+1785 (average female) = 4425. 4425 divided by 2 = 2,212.
1 pound equals about 3,500 calories. Based off of my own assumption, I would say about 1000 calories of food is wasted by the average PSU student a day. That’s about 30% of a pound.
2000 pounds equals 1 ton. So multiply 2000 by 600 = 1,200,000 pounds. Multiply 1,200,000 times 30%= and that’s 360,000 pounds or 180 tons of food.
In a perfect world, if students were able to serve themselves, we could completely eliminate the factor of student wasted food (in University Park) out of the 600 tons wasted, making the total number about 400 tons wasted. Still not 0 tons wasted, but that’s more of an oversupply problem.
Without a doubt Penn State has a food waste problem and fortunately there are people at this university who are trying to do something about it.
What I am curious about is how you got that 1 lb of food equals 3500 calories, if you think about it, a pound of broccoli will have a lot less calories than a pound of ice cream?
Try using the figures from this website to prove the point that you are trying to make, because it is a really important point!
http://www.centredaily.com/2013/12/24/3957405/penn-state-ramping-up-composting.html
Although I see your point, I think that even in the circumstance that students were allowed to self serve themselves food, there would still be plenty of waste. As the saying going, “your eyes are bigger than your stomach,” and many more times than it should, people put more food on their plates than the amount they eat. Also, while I lived in the residence halls in past years, every time I was in the dining commons, I would specify if I wanted a smaller amount of food than what they were providing. Although you do make a point about self serving and eliminating unnecessary food waste, I just think that each individual is more responsible than blaming the system. If you are not very hungry and do not want as much as you see the servers serving, they are more than happy to give you a smaller portion if you just ask!
I honestly never even thought about this issue. The amount of waste is incredible, and I am part of this problem. You would think Penn State (being so progressive in waste management) would have a process to eliminate this issue. I agree with your idea of self serving but the only issue in regards to that plan is that many people would lose their jobs. Local people and students depend on these jobs for financial support. As stated above I will likely change my eating habits when I go to the dining halls.
That’s crazy I never thought about how many calories a day I eat, but 2200 is definitely not as much. As college students I feel like we consume more because of the consumption of alcohol.
I completely agree with you. During my freshman year, every time when I went to pollock commons for lunch/dinner, I always ended up getting more than I could possibly eat. However, instead of taking a lot of food at once, I now have usually 2 or 3 rounds for just one meal. What I mean by that is that in the first round, I take salad and fruits, and the second round is when I get my carbs and protein. This type of eating habit is better for me and the environment because I get to ” take a break” during each round and not waste food.