Abstract

RIBEIRO, Joana  and  ROCHA, Ada. Economic impact of food waste in a school centre. Acta Port Nutr [online]. 2019, n.19, pp.36-41. ISSN 2183-5985.  https://doi.org/10.21011/apn.2019.1907.

Introduction: The younger population spends most of the time at school and therefore it is in those places that they consume most of their daily meals. It is then of high importance to control food intake namely by quantifying food waste in the school environment. Objectives: Evaluate the economic impact of food waste from school meals in a school centre in the north of the country. Methodology: The work was carried out at the school centre during 6 days, including 1684 meals. Food produced, leftovers and waste were measured. Per capita consumption, the cost of waste and the number of people who could be fed with the value corresponding to waste was calculated. Results: The results showed that there were wasted 29% of the produced food, and that bread was the most wasted meal component. The average cost of waste was around 35€ per day and it would be enough to feed 119 people. Conclusions: The performance of the food unit taking into account the food waste according to Aragão is awful and produces unnecessary costs, so it is essential to define strategies to reduce food waste.

Keywords : Food waste; Economic impact; School meals.

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