BY KRISTIN BRITTAIN AND
JESSICA OKEEFE
Lion’s Pride Editor and Assistant Editor

One out of every eight Americans is hungry. Ninety-six billion pounds of good food is discarded in the United States. If five percent of that was recovered, it could provide the equivalent of a day’s food for four million hungry people.

The Saint Leo University cafeteria and service provider Sodexo are very much aware of food wastage.
Hundreds of students filter in and out of the cafeteria consuming more than five third world countries. Research was carried out in the dish room to determine how many pounds of cooked food was wasted from April 1-18. Garbage cans that were used to collect the waste for food held 55 gallons and one-fourth of the container held 125 pounds. The total amount wasted within the eighteen days was 17,039 pounds.

“I think it’s a shame that students aren’t putting into practice Saint Leo’s core value of ‘responsible stewardship.’ If everyone practiced a little moderation and only took what they knew they could eat, and then all this food would not be wasted,” said junior, Amanda Walsh.

“On an average day the cafeteria can produce up to 1,200 pounds of wasted food, which includes bread, meat, vegetables, desserts, pastas, and etc.,” said Robin Lavalle, campus dining manager. “On an event day, up to 900 pounds of food is produced. This is not taking into account all of the take out trays utilized by students per sitting, and there are approximately 150 trays.”

Many cafeteria visitors contribute to the vast amount of food. Upon looking at the conveyor belt transporting the food and dishes into the wash room, they are filled with unfinished pieces of pizza and hamburgers with a single bite out of them.

“Within little over half of a month Saint Leo generated enough waste to feed 34,078 people if everyone fairly shared one and a half pounds of food; with the half pound composed of essential grains, meats, and a dessert, and would amount to a balanced healthy diet,” said Lavalle. “From doing research it is predicted that within three months Saint Leo will produce 76,680 pounds of waste, which could feed 153,360 people.”

The cafeteria now keeps track of the amount of food wasted per day with a board placed over the conveyor belt. Students are now aware of how much food they waste.

“Since we first started doing the board, the numbers have been way down to 200-425 pounds of food wasted per day. I am hoping it is because of the board. Again sometimes we get caught up in our everyday life and forget about other things until someone points it out,” said Lavalle.

Some Saint Leo students also recognize the food waste and try to give back to the community. The Saint Leo Homeless Ministry, which is a part of University Ministry’s Samaritan, feeds the hungry and the homeless of Dade City every Sunday morning. Sodexo works very closely with this group by donating several trays of food each week. Saint Leo Homeless Ministry works very hard to educate the student body about the importance of not wasting food.