Food Waste Management Case Study: Cafeteria

Q1. Examine and define the problem.

In the recent years, food waste is getting more severe in the campus cafeteria. Food waste occurs when food is deliberately disposed by students after they fail to plan the quantity of food to be prepared and stored food until it is spoilt or passes the expiration date. Food may also be lost uneaten due to poor management of their own food. Besides that, food waste occurred when food is discarded. This is because consumers fail to plan the amount of food which will satiate their appetite. In other words, food wastes are leftovers. The leftovers are then cleared up by the cleaners. This leads to an increment of finance to dispose the wastes. Wasting food is not only an ethical but an economic issue. Thus,

Start adding waste

 Place the food waste excluding fish, meat and dairy product due to the emergence of pungent smell into the bin and up to one-third of the bin. The ‘browns’ and ‘greens’ in the waste acts as a starter as it contains microorganisms necessary for decomposing the waste.

 The microorganisms use carbon and nitrogen in the waste as food, so you should add a mixture of “greens” and “browns” to the compost bin.

 Carbon is rich in “browns” whereas nitrogen is rich in “greens” Examples of browns are dead leaves, twigs, woody prunings, wood shavings, egg boxes, cardboard, newspaper and waste paper while exemplifies of greens are fruits, vegetables, leaves, flowers, grass cuttings, eggshells, teabags and coffee grounds.

 After adding the waste to the starter compost, add water to the mixture and mix thoroughly using a spade or garden fork. The mixture should be moist but not wet.

iii. Maintain the compost mixture

 The compost mixture generates heat as the microorganisms eat, grow and respire. So if you feel that your mixture is warm, this means that the composting process is doing fine. Mix the contents of the compost bin daily to circulate air and release