Food waste in restaurants

Food waste in restaurants

               If we put together all the food wasted by restaurants, we could recreate Mt Everest. U.S. restaurants alone waste about 22 Billion pounds of food each year (The Problem). Food is a limited resource, so we can't just waste it like this. According to scientific studies, if we want to survive we will have to stop eating meat by 2050 (Wolchover). However, it is possible to reduce/eliminate food waste. restaurants could do these three things to limit food waste: donate their leftover food, let customers take food by themselves (Self-service), and encourage customers to take leftovers home.

                   First of all, donating food can reduce the number of people who can't have a proper meal, or survive. "Almost 821 million people in the world - one in nine - do not have access to enough food (Why are so). Each year, 2 billion people could be fed with all the food wasted annually, so why don't restaurants just donate their leftovers (Huber)? Restaurants can also profit from doing so. They could cut down the cost of food waste disposal. It would also be good for the staff's morale since they would be doing something good. Donating food directly helps people in need, and there would be fewer food landfills, which pollute the air. It can also help achieve their environmental target (Why donate ?). Some restaurants are starting to donate food and governments are starting to pass laws that help them do so. Hopefully, more and more restaurants will give away their leftovers.

Secondly, all restaurants should have self-service. Serving yourself isn't the most glamorous thing, but in these times, it is more important to save the planet. If you just ask for something in a restaurant, you do not know the quantity, and there are chances that you won't be able to finish. On the other hand, if you serve yourself, you will have exactly what you want. You will have the perfect quantity of food, and the food you like.

It is better for the customers since they won't have to wait for their order. It is also better for restaurants since they won't have to pay for waiters. There won't be any need for them, after all, people will be serving themselves (The Top Benefits).

Finally, customers should be encouraged to take leftovers home. There are already doggy bags today, but a lot of restaurants do not offer them, but they should. Another possible solution is to make customers pay if they don't take it home. Maybe some people don't like doggy bags; but governments are funding research for new ways of packaging food, so in some yeats, we will see new ways to bring food home that people will hopefully like ("Why donate?"). 

In conclusion, there are a lot of ways to reduce food waste, like donating food, bringing leftovers home, self-service and more. Restaurants have a lot of options to choose from to not waste food, and, hopefully, they will try to do something. People are starting to understand the problem that food waste is, and even governments are funding research to neutralize it, so hopefully, we'll see the amount of food wasted decrease.

Works cited :



“Why Donate Surplus Food?”. Foodwise.com.au.  Do Something!. N.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2020.

Huber, Chris. “World’s Food Waste Could Feed 2 Billion People”. Worldvision.org. World Vision, Inc. 23 Nov. 2017. Web. 23 Feb. 2020.

Wolchover, Natalie. “Will People Really Be Forced to Stop Eating Meat?”. Livescience.com. Future US, Inc. 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2020. 

“The Problem of Food Waste”. Foodprint.org. GRACE Communications Foundation. N.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2020.

“The Top Benefits of Self-Service Kiosks in the Food Industry”. Ordermate.com.au. OrderMate. 9 May 2018. Web. 23 Feb. 2020.

“Why Are So Many People In The World Hungry?”. Worldvision.com.au. World Vision Australia. N.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2020.