Unused Food At Canteens Around

Australia

Many school canteens around Australia are not Agriculturally sustainable. Many canteens around Australia are discarding copious amounts of food off cuts that could be put to better use. Off cuts can be fed to animals which reduces the costs associated with feeding them.

Our School

In our small school canteen alone, on average each day we dispose of approximately:

½ a tomato

½ a lettuce

½ a beetroot

8 pieces of bread

PER DAY

Averages

If each school in Australia has a canteen and they waste the same amount of the previously mentioned foods then…

How much each school

wastes per day

Number of schools in Australia = 9529

Using our school as the base figure to average out the amount of food wasted per day across Australian schools, this is:

– 4764 Tomatoes

– 4764 Beetroot

– 4764 Lettuce

– 3811 Loaves of bread

But wait…

There are 200 School days per year

As such, when the previous figures are calculated across a school year, the following amounts of food are wasted.

WHAT A LOT OF WASTE

4764 Tomatoes x 200 days = 952800 Tomatoes

4764 Lettuces x 200 days = 952800

4764 Beetroot x 200 days = 952800

3811 Loaves of bread (at approx 15 slices per loaf) x 200 days = 762200 Loaves of bread

What do we do with it?

In speaking to our canteen, they only try to buy what they will use, but they (and likely other schools) still have some waste.

What can be done with this amount of wasted food?

What can we do with it?

Feed school chickens with the scraps.

This then reduces the need to buy chicken feed (which are usually costly grains)

The chickens then lay eggs which we can eat/the canteen can use!

The manure from the chickens then will fertilise the ground where they feed and at our school this is a orchard, which helps to produce healthier trees with taster, more sustainable fruit.

Credits

Made by: – Yr 9

Lachlan

Regan

Jason

– Yr 10. Kylie

Rachel

Northholm Grammar School,

Arcadia, NSW