A team of Penn undergraduates is working to cut down on food waste in dining halls by offering tasting spoons for sampling.
In accordance with Penn’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 4.0, the Eco-Reps — a cohort of 15 students — work with Penn Sustainability and University partners to carry out projects related to environmental challenges on campus. The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke to the team focused on minimizing food waste at Penn’s dining halls about their findings.
The project team includes three Eco-Reps students and is led by project supervisor and regional sustainability coordinator for Bon Appétit Elise Dudley.
According to Wharton sophomore Sydney Gedeon, their team collected data through “weigh the waste” stations first installed in University dining halls last fall. At these stations, they recorded physical measurements of food waste and surveyed students.
In an interview with the DP, Dudley emphasized the importance of “peer-to-peer education” and raising awareness about waste goals and initiatives.
“Having those conversations be between students breaks down a lot of barriers, and can help us get to the root of issues, understand the reasons for plate waste, and how we can all work together to have better communication between Dining and the student body,” Dudley said.
The team is now working on a solution to help reduce food waste — tasting spoons.
Gedeon explained that this initiative — first piloted in all-you-care-to-eat dining halls this semester — will allow students to sample food before committing to a whole portion.
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“One of the main issues people have here is that the food doesn’t taste good,” Gedeon said. “So if people could try the food, and they didn't like it, they wouldn't have to take the whole portion and waste it.”
According to the surveys, other common reasons that students wasted food were that they were full, they were served too much, or they ran out of time to eat.
When reflecting on their project, College sophomore Raye-Lee McDonald explained that students were “less inclined to take a sample” when “familiar food” was offered.
“I personally still think people should take a sample even if the food is familiar,” McDonald said. “You don’t know if it’s going to be salty today, or it’s going to be soggy, or you’re not going to like it regardless.”
Gedeon said that one of their team’s biggest challenges was “getting the message out.”
“I feel like people do not care about how much food they waste, or they don’t know the consequences of facing or throwing away food,” Gedeon said.
McDonald explained that this attitude deterred the team from pursuing a campaign to persuade students to reduce their waste intentionally.
“I feel like students here already know that food waste isn't a good thing,” she said. “But I don’t think knowing that is enough to move them to stop wasting food, especially when there's so many food places around us and they can get better food whenever, wherever.”
McDonald acknowledged that the issue is not Penn-specific, adding that she hopes to “come up with a solution that could influence other schools.”
On the whole, Dudley said that students have been “receptive” to the initiatives.
“We’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from students thanking us for being there or talking about the values that they grew up with at home around wasting food,” Dudley said.
She emphasized the importance of student engagement in waste reduction efforts. Without “consistent education,” she explained, it’s more difficult to make progress.
“By the time food arrives on our plate, so many hands have touched our food,” Dudley said. “There’s a lot of stories in it. Bringing more mindfulness and awareness to everything that goes into a plate can really change our relationship to food and to waste.”
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Staff reporter Danna Cai covers climate and sustainability and can be reached at cai@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies biology. Follow her on X @dannaacai.
