How do you know that you're focusing on the right waste management priorities? Want to be greener and wondering how to get there? Can't afford to lose any time and need the biggest win for limited dollars?

To answer these questions, you don't need to start from scratch. Operators should check out a new class of green restaurant and foodservice "standards" (such as Green Seal's GS-46 standard and the National Restaurant Association's soon-to-be-revealed Greener Restaurants program) that provide excellent prioritized checklists for your waste management toolkit. These tools leverage the knowledge and experience of industry experts, providing a roadmap that shows what matters most and which steps simply should not be missed along the journey. They also speak to foodservice sustainability and green practices beyond waste management.

Additionally, there are other tools which address specialized foodservice areas such as convention centers, colleges and hospitals (the convention industry APEX standards, AASHE STARS program, Green Guide for Healthcare, respectively). The US EPA also has a powerful central organizing framework called the Food Waste Recovery Hierarchy which helps prioritize.

At LeanPath, we're excited that most every one of these standards recommends tracking or auditing food waste as a first step in a waste management program. They recognize that waste prevention is the place to start and you can't make any progress toward that goal without food waste tracking. (Learn more about LeanPath's automated tracking tools.)

So check out these standards and compare with what you are currently doing. Are you missing a key area? Are you spending a lot of resources on something that doesn't rate highly or appear at all? Are you addressing food waste prevention by tracking all your pre-consumer food waste every day?

Once you've done a self-assessment using the checklists provided by these tools, you can decide whether you want to pursue an official certification or recognition. Green Seal offers formal, third-party certified recognition while most of the other players allow for self-certification. What's important is to tap into the knowledge underlying these standards first and then, once you've started down the path, go get credit for your hard work.

Micah Cavolo is the Executive Chef with Bon Appétit Management Company @ Intel Jones Farm Campus in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Background

Micah has been with Bon Appetit for the past 15 years and at Intel for the past six. He has a long history in corporate foodservice and has been in the culinary industry for 20 plus years. His first job with Bon Appetit was at a small college in Scotts Valley, California. He then moved on Stanford University, where he became interested in the impact of food scraps on the environment. He started a composting system there as well as at his next two accounts, Pacific University in Stockton, California and at Intel in Oregon.

Experience with Waste Tracking

Chef Micah has been using LeanPath’s ValuWaste system for about a year. He reports that the system has raised awareness in the kitchen of how much product was being wasted. It has allowed his team to focus on problem areas and implement traceable results. In fact, he believes the best part of the program is the traceability back to underlying waste causes.

Initial Expectations

As with many chef customers, he was not sure what to expect from ValuWaste at the onset, but “has been very pleased with the information that I was able to get from the program”.

His biggest surprise about automated food waste tracking? “I was surprised at the steady lowering of waste as it was projected over the duration of the program. It is still going down, which makes me wonder where the bottom will be… zero waste?”

Recommendations

His advice to managers starting or already using the program is to “Be diligent at the scale. Make sure your staff understands the importance of weighing everything that goes in the trash/compost. Use positive reinforcement to get the staff involved.”

Takeaways

Chef Micah believes that they “made great strides in reduction of batch cooked foods and beverages that would have gone unnoticed into the compost. But thanks to the ValuWaste program it made us examine and come up with a solution that in the end saved us money and time.”

• Biodegradable Products Institute
• Healthcare Without Harm Guide to Bio-based Service Ware

1. Create a written "Food Review Policy" which will be implemented after every meal service. The key aspects of this policy include:
• Bringing all overproduced, unserved food to a central location for review immediately upon conclusion of service
• Ensuring the review is conducted by a culinarian who is fully trained on food safety and HACCP requirements.
• Sort the items and document correctly for HACCP
• Determine an expected use for each retained item
• Communicate the plan
2. Be creative (within safety constraints).  Redirecting extra prepared items might seem like a challenge, but we see breakthroughs all the time. For example, one of our clients has created a café station solely as a venue for secondary uses.  Each day a team reviews saved items and brainstorms ideas to reposition the products.
3. Donate What You Cannot Use.  If there is no immediate avenue for a secondary use within the operation, you can donate to a local food rescue organization.  Visit the EPA food scraps site or Food Donation Connection to learn more.
4. Track the leftovers and target future waste prevention.  Track the amount of food waste electronically or on paper and use this information to focus staff behavior and minimize future overproduction. Waste prevention is always the ultimate goal.
 

• School Kids and Foodwaste
• Food Holidays and Reuse – April and May
• VA Sustainability Achievement Award Goes to Waste Initiative