School Food Climate Challenge

Learning Outcome

After finishing this activity a student will have learned to

understand the consequences of food waste on climate change
understand how is food wasted along the food chain
think about how to reduce food waste both at home and at school
calculate the weight of food leftovers and graph the results

Time required

Educate students: a few weeks

Make an audit: at least a week every school semester

Create an action plan: a few lessons

Tools or equipment required

Copies of data tables, statistics, videos, and other food waste information resources.
Food Waste Audit tools.
Two tables for each checkpoint.
Plastic waste bags for the "control" waste bins. They will make it easier to empty the bins as you fill them with waste.
Waste bins. Select the appropriate number of containers according to the number of items on the menu.
Large containers for emptying already checked waste items.
Scales for weighing individual waste items.
Cloths and ground cloths for ongoing cleaning.
Pictures of the item to stick on the waste containers.
Signage to direct students to the check stations.
Pads, questionnaire forms and pencils for pupil interviewers.
Forms for recording the weight of waste items.
Gloves for pupils who will be separating waste.

Summary of the activity

The aim of the "Love Food, Hate Waste" challenge is to reduce food waste in school canteens. A lot of food is wasted in school canteens. The good news is that this problem can be solved. By making a few small changes, schools can reduce food waste and provide students with competences to become change makers in food waste reduction.

Any school can be part of the solution which consists of implementing 3 steps to reduce the amount of food thrown away.

The 3 steps are:

Educate students;
Make an audit;
Create an action plan

What to do

1. Introduction to the topic

Make presentation or show the class a video about the food waste issue

Food waste is a modern phenomenon that has a negative impact not only on the environment but also on our wallets. According to research by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), one third of the food produced each year is wasted or spoiled, a total of 1.3 billion tonnes. More food is wasted in industrialised countries than in developing countries, and in both types of country there is also waste at a different stage of the production or consumption chain.

Throwing away food means that all the greenhouse gases produced in growing it have been wasted. In addition, landfilling or burning uneaten food produces other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane and contributes all the more intensively to the Earth's climate change.

Preventing and reducing food waste is one of the best ways to conserve natural resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By reducing the amount of food thrown away in school canteens, the school reduces its carbon footprint, reduces waste in landfills or incinerators, helps conserve natural resources used to produce food, and educates children to respect food at a time when hundreds of millions of people around the world are hungry.

See below for some videos and lesson plans to use in the class.

Find out how much the class knows about this topic – use Kahoot application

Possible questions to ask:

Do you know how much food is thrown away in the cafeteria?

Do you know how much food is wasted in your country/in the EU/in the world?

Can you explain the relationship between food waste and climate change? Food waste and hunger?

Explain what the activity is about and formulate what you expect the students to do and learn

Each school which takes part in the Love Food, Hate Waste challenge will draw up an action plan in which it sets a specific goal of reducing the amount of waste from the canteen and a strategy how to achieve it. Then the school implements the plan, monitors every step taken and regularly informs the school community about results.

Step 1: Educate

Using various learning and methodological materials, teachers will integrate the topic into classroom learning activity, educate pupils on the topic of food waste and motivate them to make changes and become part of the solution.

Step 2: Make an Audit

The main aim of the waste audit is to find out why students are not eating certain foods and, based on the results, to make changes that will lead to students throwing away much less food.

Students, in cooperation with teachers, get involved in monitoring the amount and composition of waste in the school canteen. Data collection takes place one day to a week, students monitor and evaluate the amount and composition of discarded leftovers and find out the reasons for not finishing meals by their fellow students.

Step 3: Create a SMART Action plan

Set specific goals how to reduce food waste in your cafeteria: after making an audit and evaluating the current situation, the students create and Action plan which sets specific goal to reduce the amount of canteen waste and strives to meet it. Students regularly monitor the situation by conducting food waste audits at least twice a year and publish results.

3. Introduce students to information materials and resources to start the project

Resources for teachers

4. Research

Help students formulate research questions to find out more data about the issue
- How big is the part of food served and not eaten in the school cafeteria?
- What happens with the thrown away food?
- Why students do not finish their food?
Let students do the research: collect and analyse date, make evaluation and draw conclusions

5. Implementation

Ask students to plan the Food Waste Audit in the school cafeteria:
How to conduct a Food Waste Audit – follow this guide

In cooperation with teachers and school cafeteria workers, the students will conduct an audit of the food thrown away in the school cafeteria.

The audit will simply show students how much food is being thrown out of the school canteen each day. Students can compare the amount of waste thrown away with the weight of the raw materials used to prepare lunch to find out the proportion of food thrown away. The data can be used as a basis for educating students about the importance of reducing food waste.

Evaluate the data obtained and present the results to other pupils, teachers, cooks and parents. Conducting a food waste audit will help you to find out how you can implement changes to avoid food waste, helping to save money and the environment. The results of a food waste audit will assist you to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and save on operating costs. It is ideal to conduct a food waste audit across a minimum 2 week period to help you to identify fluctuations between busy and slow periods. However, if you are able to keep records for 12 months you can identify seasonal patterns and trends.

6. Reflexion after the implementation phase

After the implementation phase, discuss with students the outcome of the project, define some conclusions on how to further implement it.

discuss with students the outcome of the project
- At the end of the audit guide and lesson, what have we learned over the course of the activity?
- What went well? What not? Why? What can we do to make it better next time?
- What information do we now have about which foods are wasted more often? Why do you think these are wasted more than others?
- What can each of us do to reduce food waste on our plates? What strategies have we talked about or used that seem effective?
- Why is reducing food waste so important to environmental and wildlife conservation?
define some conclusions on how to implement the Love Food Hate Waste campaign in the following years

7. Presentation

This could happen over an School Open Day or Parents Day
Invite also municipality officials and policy makers to show them how your school is planning to reduce food waste

8. Survey

Find out how much the class knows about this topic now – use Kahoot application

Tips how to implement the topic to school curriculum

The topic of food waste can be included in many subjects, from mathematics, through biology, chemistry, to fine arts.

Activities carried out by students during the audit, including project planning, data collection, data analysis and interviewing, can be integrated into the mathematics curriculum and other subjects.

Artistic treatment of the theme of food waste: As part of an art lesson, ask pupils to express their feelings about food waste in an artistic or graphic way. The resulting work can be made into an exhibition in the school canteen.

Love Food Hate Waste

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