Reduce food waste at schools
Reducing the amount of food your school wastes is important because:
- the embedded energy from growing, transporting, storing and preparing food is also wasted;
- the money spent on buying and preparing the food is wasted and costs are incurred in treating and disposing of it; and
- perhaps most importantly in the context of schools, children are not gaining the nutritional benefit of the wasted food.
So why not check out the materials on this page for ideas on how your school could waste less food?
Food waste reduction activities
 Background information (3980 kb) ![[pdf]](http://www.recyclenowpartners.org.uk/display_images/document_icons/pdf.gif){kind=icon} | Learn more about why we need to waste less food and what a difference your school can make by taking action to reduce food waste. |
 Improving Dining Experience (545 kb) | A practical guide to improving the dining experience at your school with input from schools that have already made progress. Use this to identify your school’s priorities and find out about changes you can make to create a more pleasant eating environment with varying budgets and time. |
 Improving Familiarity (822 kb) | Are your pupils willing to try new foods? What are staff and parent’s attitudes to school meals? Use some of tried and tested activities to encourage students to have an open mind when it comes to school meals. This guide covers possible reasons for students being reluctant to try new food and suggests ways to overcome this. |
 Meals Cooked to Order(528 kb) | A different approach to reducing food waste in schools, this offers guidance on how to implement a system which allows pupils to select the meal option of their choice and provides caterers with information on exactly how many portions of each meal option to produce each day. It also outlines a number of additional benefits that this system could bring to your school. |
Primary School Presentation
 Food Waste Assembly - Primary School (19385 kb) ![[ppt]](http://www.recyclenowpartners.org.uk/display_images/document_icons/ppt.gif){kind=icon} | Use this engaging assembly presentation to encourage the whole school to waste less food. It can also be a great way to introduce the food waste reduction actions your school plans to implement. |
Secondary School Presentation
 Food Waste Assembly - Secondary School (21144 kb) | With a positive focus on making the most of food at school, students or staff can use this adaptable presentation template to introduce issues around food waste. It can be a great way to introduce the food waste reduction actions your school plans to implement. |
