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Preventing Food Waste in the AMS Nest

University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

Food waste is a social, environmental, and economic sustainability issue. This study was aimed at studying food waste produced by AMS Conferences and Catering (AMS C&C) and suggesting alternative uses with the goal of decreasing the amount of pre- and post-consumer waste produced during a catering event. Pre-consumer waste analysis was achieved through personal visits to the AMS kitchen, observation of food preparation, and staff interviews. Pre-consumer food preparation was not a significant source of waste. However, the disparity in the number of attendees at the conference (n=39) compared with expected attendance numbers (n=70) resulted in a significant amount (over four full trays, or at least 25 portions) of food waste. The reason for this waste appeared to be miscommunication between event organizers and conference planners and overestimating the amount of food needed for second helpings during the event. A survey of conference attendees revealed interest in the option of choosing a small or regular portion size when registering for a catered event. Other recommendations to mitigate waste include: an extension to the amount of time conference planners have to confirm attendance numbers, a “green tax” deposit system paid by conference planners to in the event of under-attendance to help fund redirection strategies and developing an alert email list and/or partnerships with the AMS Food Bank, Sprouts Cafe and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank as sources for food redirection. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report; University of British Columbia. LFS 450

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0343187

Land and Food Systems, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/