Food Waste at American Public Universities

An Issue Brief

Lianna Gardner
Professor Babcock
ENGL 138T
17 April 2023
 2

Introduction
In 2011, a massive pile of half-eaten, malodorous food scraps stood sentry outside of a

University of Maryland campus dining hall.1 In a similar display at Fountain dining hall in North

Carolina State University in 2021, students collected 50 pounds of uneaten food in just one hour

during a “Weigh Your Waste” event.2 Though these events took place with a decade between

them, they share one crucial common denominator: outstanding amounts of food waste on

college campuses.

Food waste is defined by Earth.org as “food that is intended for human consumption that

is wasted and lost, and can occur anywhere throughout the entire supply chain from farm stage to

harvest to households”.3 In fact, it is estimated that 31% of the United States’ overall food supply

is wasted each year, with college campuses contributing to 22 million pounds of that waste

alone.4 To present those numbers in a more recognizable format, that is equivalent to 142 pounds

of waste annually for the average college student.5 However, this waste is not created simply by

students alone. Due to traditional, buffet-style dining, campus dining halls regularly overproduce

food in order to prevent it from running out during mealtimes. Not only does this create more

food than students will consume, it also jeopardizes how much of that food can be stored as

leftovers because as soon as a container of food is touched with a serving spoon, national health

regulations prevent that food from being sent to food kitchens and other recipients.6 In a nation

faced with the ever-mounting chronic threats posed by climate change, economic instability, and

social disparities, food waste is a problem that the United States cannot afford to condone any

longer. Hence, the goal of this issue brief is to outline the environmental, social, and economic

costs of food waste in a college setting, to examine current food-waste-reduction strategies in

 3

place, and to provide potential solutions for improvement so that public universities across the

United States can do their part to help reduce food waste.

The Costs of Food Waste

Environmental Costs

“If food loss were a country, it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind China

and the US”.7 – Earth.org

Although the most visible effects of food waste present themselves as discarded dinner

scraps, it is important to recognize that food waste has environmental consequences at nearly

every step of the food

production process, including

the growth, transportation,

refrigeration, and disposal of

food.8 During farming, food

Figure 1. Sources of food loss from Farm to Landfil7
production is responsible for

excessive water and land use, and the equipment used to harvest that food causes soil compaction

and greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are further increased by the trucks that ship food

from farm to factory or supermarket, where it is estimated that 6 billion pounds of US fruits and

vegetables are discarded annually for various cosmetic reasons such as bruising or insufficient

size and color.9 Furthermore, for foods that require controlled temperatures, the refrigeration

process must be constant, which means 24/7 use of energy through electricity. All of these

effects are amplified significantly for imported foods due to trans-oceanic travel, which makes it

all the more horrifying that nearly a third of environmental consequences due to food waste
 4

could easily be avoided if Americans did not throw out 31% of all perfectly edible foods.

Combine that with the fact that food waste is responsible for 18% of landfill methane emissions,

and it is evident that food waste is not only a matter of irresponsibility, but a matter of

sustainability.10

Consider the average college dining hall hamburger. Excluding the toppings and bun,

each beef patty alone requires 14.6 gallons of water, 13.5 pounds of livestock feed, and 64.5

square feet of land for the cow to graze on – a significant contribution to deforestation due to

agricultural expansion and thus to global warming as well. Continuing on, combined methane

emissions from the cow amount to 0.126 pounds, and the overall process of producing a singular

beef hamburger results in a total carbon footprint of 4 pounds.11 For many college students

whose eyes are bigger than their stomachs, the reality of the situation is that many times, a large

portion of this hamburger remains on the student’s dining hall plate after they have eaten their

fill. Though it may seem insignificant to discard these “scraps”, this food waste is an incredible

waste of energy and environmental resources that could easily have been avoided had the student

made better dining hall choices. Clearly, food waste contributes to more environmental harm

than just greenhouse gasses alone.

Economic Costs

Not only is food waste a huge contributor to environmental consequences, it is also an

incredible waste of economic resources. Every step of the food production process requires

money for labor, resources, capital, and infrastructure, so wasting food is equivalent to both the

age-old adage “time is money” and to the metaphor of throwing dollar bills into the trash can.

According to the National Resource Defense Council, the act of growing, processing,

transporting, and disposing of uneaten food has an annual estimated cost of $218 billion in the
 5

United States,12 and colleges are certainly not exempt from contributing to these wasted funds. In

fact, thanks to the 2020 research of Divya Jain, a research scholar at Penn State, statistics show

that PSU dining halls wasted almost 265,000 pounds of food during the 2019 fall semester,

which amounted to $369,000 of monetary loss. As calculated by Jain, these funds would have

been more than enough money to provide full tuition scholarships to 20 in-state students or to

fully fund 150 students’ Level 2 meal plans.13 Additionally, a 2017 article from the Daily

Collegian found that the food waste combined from all of Penn States’ dining commons would

be enough to feed the fans of four sold-out PSU football games.14 For those unfamiliar with the

capacity of Beaver Stadium, this equates to 400,000 meals wasted.

With numbers like these, it is no wonder that tuition bills are so high in public

universities. A large percentage of university tuition bills contributes to funding for campus

dining commons, but the painful irony of the situation is that many times, students faced by

economic hardships are forced to choose between paying for their education and paying for

meals. The numbers themselves are striking; Feeding America – a national network of nonprofit

food banks – estimated in 2015 that nearly half (49.3 percent) of its clients in college were forced

to choose between educational expenses (i.e., tuition, books and supplies, rent) and food, and that

21 percent of clients did so for a full 12 months.15 The takeaway from these numbers? There is a

reason that college students eating cheap ramen is a stereotype, but decreasing food waste can

help to eradicate that stereotype, one tuition bill at a time.

Social Costs

Perhaps it is evident that with the high economic consequences of food waste come high

social consequences as well. Though it can often go unseen, food insecurity is a significant

problem for many college campuses across the country, especially for those in poor
 6

socioeconomic situations. In recent years, the number of food pantries associated with the

College and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA) has been steadily increasing as students

are faced with too few resources and too-high tuition bills.16 Penn State is not exempt from this

phenomenon, as a 2021 report from the Penn State College of Health and Human Development

reported that 35% of students

across all Penn State campuses

report some level of food

insecurity.18 Additionally, as if

this hardship were not enough

already, researchers at Johns

Hopkins University have also

found that students who suffer

from food insecurity in college

are 40% less likely to graduate

from college and more than 60%

Figure 2. CUFBA food banks are on the rise17
less likely to achieve a graduate

or professional degree.19 This means that food waste is not only an affront to student’s physical,

economic, and nutritional well-being, but it is also a risk to their education.

Furthermore, as is the case with many socioeconomic issues across the United States,

minority groups are hit hardest by the consequences of college food insecurity. The same

aforementioned Johns Hopkins study found that food-insecure, first-generation college students

had a 47% graduation rate, while food-secure, non-first-generation students had a 76%

graduation rate.20 Additionally, a study from the City University of New York found that
 7

students who support themselves financially are 1.6 times as likely to experience food insecurity,

while black and latino students are 1.5 times more likely to experience food insecurity than white

students who have help from family with their college bills.21 With all of this in mind, the notion

that college campuses are responsible for 22 million pounds of waste each year is simply

unacceptable, and it begs the question: what efforts are currently being made to reduce food

waste on college campuses, and how can those efforts be improved?

Current Strategies in Place to Reduce Food Waste

In September of 2015, the first national food waste reduction goal was announced by

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

With an environmental focus, the goal called for a 50% reduction in food waste by the year

2030.22 Because this proposal applied to the entirety of the United States, colleges and

universities across the country were implicitly included in this effort. As an example of student

leadership and engagement in rood waste reduction, five students from the University of

Maryland created an organization known as the Food Recovery Network in 2011, which partners

with university dining halls to salvage food waste and donate recovered food to local people in

need.23 According to its website, the FRN currently partners with more than 60 student-driven

kitchens in campuses and schools throughout the country (including Penn State), and they also

volunteered at Super Bowl LVII in February 2023 to recover 2,907 pounds of food from the

"Players Tailgate" dining event, which was hosted by Food Network star chef Bobby Flay.24 This

food was enough to provide 2,423 meals to people in need, and it prevented an additional 1.28

metric tons of CO2 from being emitted due to transportation and processing of food waste.25

Organizations like these are slowly making a positive difference in food waste and food
 8

insecurity across college campuses, not only by decreasing the amount of waste itself, but also

by spreading awareness about the problem.

Similarly, evidence suggests that using signage and pathos to remind customers of the

consequences their food waste can have on an environmental, economic, and social scale is

enough to decrease waste. For example, within the past decade, Penn State has implemented

Leanpath screens above compost and trash areas within a few of its residential dining areas,

which reduced food waste in dining halls by 30% during its first year alone.26 These screens

display data about how many pounds of food have been discarded in compost bins at the tray-

return station each day, and they equate those numbers to different metrics such as meals wasted

or amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, according to the Daily Collegian, Penn

State also works with campus environmental organization EcoReps, the Penn State Sustainability

Institute, and a chapter of the Food Recovery Network to deliver leftover meals to communities

in need.27 Coupled with a university-run composting facility that is only five miles from campus

(to which PSU dining halls sent 1602 tons of food waste in 202128), this data indicates that Penn

State has been substantially improving in its food waste management practices in recent years.

However, there is still much room for improvement across PSU and all college campuses within

the United States. Luckily, thanks to research and engineering, there are also a wide variety of

potential solutions for universities to engage with.

Potential Solutions to Food Waste on College Campuses

The United States Environmental Protection Agency currently suggests five steps that

can be taken to prevent or recover food. In order of importance, those steps include reducing

food production at the source, using leftover food to feed populations in need, utilizing food
 9

waste as livestock feed, recycling oil and scraps as energy sources, and composting.29 Most

notably, landfills are listed only as a last resort for disposal of food waste. In compliance with

these guidelines, many universities nationwide have begun to partner with organizations such as

the Food Reduction Network,

Feeding America, and other local

food banks in order to turn their

food waste into meals for those in

need.

Additionally, aside from

improving the allocation of surplus

food, many campuses have been

working to reduce their food waste

at its source: campus dining halls.

Figure 3. US EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy Pyramid
In a University of Illinois study of

more than 1200 dining hall interactions, researchers found that by replacing traditional, circular

dining plates with smaller, oval-shaped plates reduced food waste by 4%, which equates to

roughly 20 grams of food per plate.30 This study indicates that changing both size and shape of

dining hall plates can be enough to combat food waste on campus. However, more important

than changing the size of the plate may be reducing the amount of plates that students use during

mealtime. In fact, research has verified that removing trays from the dining experience can

drastically reduce food waste by 25-30%.32 Not only does trayless dining reduce the amount of

plates students fill with food, it also reduces the amount of water and energy required to wash

those plates before they can be reused. In conjunction with improved signage about what dining
 10

hall items can be composted, these simple, bottom-up implementations have already been proven

to reduce food waste on

college campuses, and

they have vast potential to

make an even greater

difference if universities

across the United States

adopt them in their own

dining halls.

Conclusion
Figure 4: Examples of Improved Composting Signage that Could
be Hung in Universities31

In conclusion, although food waste on university campuses is not a new problem,

it is one whose urgency has been steadily increasing. In an era fraught with concerns over

climate change, economic disparities, and social justice, food waste is a sustainability issue that

is not only irresponsible and disrespectful towards those who do not have the means or finances

to secure their own food, but one that is also wasting millions of dollars and environmental

resources each year. As home to significant portion of the national population, it is high time that

American public universities take responsibility for their obligation to reduce food waste on their

campuses. What’s more, the solutions do not have to be complicated or high-cost. Current

research proves that even small changes make progress; the implementation of smaller dining

plates, trayless dining, and compost facilities all contribute to lowering food waste on college

campuses, while creating sustainability goals and organizing partnerships with food banks both
 11

benefit local communities. In conjunction with one another, short-term solutions and long-term

plans for sustainability in food waste will be what allows American universities to succeed in

their food waste reduction efforts in the future. Clearly, these strategies are food for thought.
 12

Notes

1
Linda, Poon. “When Food Is Too Good to Waste, College Kids Pick up the Scraps.”

NPR, NPR, 27 Feb. 2015,

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/27/389284061/when-food-is-too-good-to-

waste-college-kids-pick-up-the-scraps.

2
Carla, Davis. “How and Why to Reduce Campus Food Waste.” Sustainability, UC

Davis, 15 Dec. 2021, https://sustainability.ncsu.edu/blog/2022/01/04/campus-food-

waste/.

3
Olivia, Lai. “What Is Food Waste?” Earth.Org, Earth.Org, 14 Oct. 2022,

https://earth.org/what-is-food-waste/.

4
Environmental Protection Agency. “America's Food Waste Problem.” EPA,

Environmental Protection Agency, 22 Apr. 2016,

https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/americas-food-waste-problem.

5
Pat, Donachie. “Colleges Combat Food Waste through Innovation, Dedicated Buy-In.”

Higher Ed Dive, Industry Dive, 20 Nov. 2017,

https://www.highereddive.com/news/college-combat-food-waste/510987/.

6
Tanja, Srebotnjak. “Food Waste at U.S. Colleges and What to Do about It.” HuffPost,

HuffPost, 24 Aug. 2016, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/food-waste-at-us-colleges-and-

what-to-do-about-it_b_57bcbc22e4b007f1819a1070#_ftn2.
 13

7
Olivia, Lai. “What Is Food Waste?” Earth.Org, Earth.Org, 14 Oct. 2022,

https://earth.org/what-is-food-waste/.

8
Rob, Wreglesworth. “What Happens to Food Waste in Landfills? the Full Environmental

Impact.” Innovate Eco, Innovate Eco, 10 June 2019, https://innovate-eco.com/what-

happens-to-food-waste-in-landfills-the-full-environmental-impact/.

9
Alec, Rosenberg. “College Campuses Take on Food Waste.” University of California,

UC Davis, 5 Nov. 2021, https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/college-campuses-

take-food-waste.

10
Olivia, Lai. “What Is Food Waste?” Earth.Org, Earth.Org, 14 Oct. 2022,

https://earth.org/what-is-food-waste/.

11
Chelsea, Harvey. “We Are Killing the Environment One Hamburger at a Time.”

Business Insider, Business Insider, 5 Mar. 2015, https://www.businessinsider.com/one-

hamburger-environment-resources-2015-2.

12
Dana, Gunders. “Wasted: How America Is Losing up to 40 Percent of Its Food from

Farm to Fork to Landfill.” National Resource Defense Council, 16 Aug. 2017,

https://www.nrdc.org/resources/wasted-how-america-losing-40-percent-its-food-farm-

fork-landfill.

13
Divya, Jain. “Carbon Foodprint at Penn State - Penn State Sustainability Institute.”

Penn State Sustainability Institute, Penn State Sustainability Institute, 2020,

https://sustainability.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ReducingDiningReport.pdf.
 14

14
Anshika, Agrawal. “Food Waste from Campus Dining Commons Could Feed Fans of

Four Sold out ...” The Daily Collegian, Penn State University , 2 Nov. 2017,

https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/food-waste-from-campus-dining-commons-

could-feed-fans-of-four-sold-out-penn-state/article_e7477c52-bf72-11e7-bf44-

273401e7ee3e.html.

15
Higher Education Today. “Fighting Food Insecurity on Campus.” Higher Education

Today, American Council on Education , 7 Apr. 2017,

https://www.higheredtoday.org/2015/06/29/fighting-food-insecurity-on-campus/.

16
Ibid

17
Ibid.

18
Penn State News. “Food and Housing Security Task Force Shares Progress Updates for

Trustees.” Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, Penn State College of

Health and Human Development, 6 May 2021, https://prevention.psu.edu/news/food-and-

housing-security-task-force-shares-progress-updates-for-trustees/#:~:text=While%20food

%20insecurity%20across%20the%20University%20varies%20widely,University

%20Park%20respondents%20have%20reported%20experiencing%20food%20insecurity.

19
Johns Hopkins University. “Food Insecurity during College Years Linked to Lower

Graduation Rate.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins

University , 1 Sept. 2021, https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/food-insecurity-during-

college-years-linked-to-lower-graduation-rate#:~:text=A%20study%20led%20by%20a
 15

%20researcher%20at%20Johns,lack%20of%20consistent%20access%20to%20adequate

%20food%20resources.

20
Ibid

21
Nicholas, Freudenberg, et al. “Food Insecurity at CUNY: Results from a Survey of

CUNY Undergraduate Students.” Food Insecurity at CUNY - Graduate Center, CUNY,

City University of New York, Apr. 2011,

https://web.gc.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2021-05/cunyfoodinsecurity.pdf.

22
Environmental Protection Agency. “America's Food Waste Problem.” EPA,

Environmental Protection Agency, 22 Apr. 2016,

https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/americas-food-waste-problem.

23
Food Recovery Network. Food Recovery Network,

https://www.foodrecoverynetwork.org/.

24
Parija, Kavilanz. “After the Super Bowl, State Farm Stadium Will Have Tons of

Leftovers. Here's How That Food Will Get to People in Need Fast | CNN Business.”

CNN, Cable News Network, 7 Feb. 2023,

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/07/business/super-bowl-2023-food-recovery/index.html.

25
Food Recovery Network. Food Recovery Network,

https://www.foodrecoverynetwork.org/.

26
“Sustainability.” Penn State LiveOn, Penn State University ,

https://liveon.psu.edu/university-park/sustainability.
 16

27
Anshika, Agrawal. “Food Waste from Campus Dining Commons Could Feed Fans of

Four Sold out ...” The Daily Collegian, Penn State University , 2 Nov. 2017,

https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/food-waste-from-campus-dining-commons-

could-feed-fans-of-four-sold-out-penn-state/article_e7477c52-bf72-11e7-bf44-

273401e7ee3e.html.

28
“Does Penn State Measure the Amount of Food Waste Generated from Food Served

within the University?” Penn State Sustainability Institute, Penn State University , 26

Oct. 2022, https://sustainability.psu.edu/faq-items/does-penn-state-measure-the-amount-

of-food-waste-generated-from-food-served-within-the-university/#:~:text=Penn%20State

%20measures%20the%20amount%20of%20food%20waste,soil%20that%20is%20used

%20on%20university%20landscaping%20grounds.

29
Environmental Protection Agency. “America's Food Waste Problem.” EPA,

Environmental Protection Agency, 22 Apr. 2016,

https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/americas-food-waste-problem.

30
Marianne, Stein. “Smaller Plates Help Reduce Food Waste in Campus Dining Halls.”

College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois

32
Urbana-Champaign, 24 Feb. 2021, https://aces.illinois.edu/news/smaller-plates-help-

reduce-food-waste-campus-dining-halls.

31
“Recycling, Composting, and Waste at Penn State.” Penn State Sustainability Institute,

Penn State University, https://sustainability.psu.edu/campus-efforts/operations/recycling-

composting/#:~:text=Penn%20State%E2%80%99s%20Organic%20Materials
 17

%20Processing%20Center%20%28OMPEC%29%20is,then%20all%20be

%20manufactured%20into%20mulch%20and%20compost.

32
Tanja, Srebotnjak. “Food Waste at U.S. Colleges and What to Do about It.” HuffPost,

HuffPost, 24 Aug. 2016.

 18

Works Cited

Agrawal, Anshika. “Food Waste from Campus Dining Commons Could Feed Fans of

Four Sold out ...” The Daily Collegian, Penn State University , 2 Nov. 2017,

https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/food-waste-from-campus-dining-

commons-could-feed-fans-of-four-sold-out-penn-state/article_e7477c52-bf72-

11e7-bf44-273401e7ee3e.html.

Davis, Carla. “How and Why to Reduce Campus Food Waste.” Sustainability, UC Davis,

15 Dec. 2021, https://sustainability.ncsu.edu/blog/2022/01/04/campus-food-

waste/.

“Does Penn State Measure the Amount of Food Waste Generated from Food Served

within the University?” Penn State Sustainability Institute, Penn State University ,

26 Oct. 2022, https://sustainability.psu.edu/faq-items/does-penn-state-measure-

the-amount-of-food-waste-generated-from-food-served-within-the-university/

#:~:text=Penn%20State%20measures%20the%20amount%20of%20food

%20waste,soil%20that%20is%20used%20on%20university%20landscaping

%20grounds.

Donachie, Pat. “Colleges Combat Food Waste through Innovation, Dedicated Buy-In.”

Higher Ed Dive, Industry Dive, 20 Nov. 2017,

https://www.highereddive.com/news/college-combat-food-waste/510987/.
 19

Environmental Protection Agency. “America's Food Waste Problem.” EPA,

Environmental Protection Agency, 22 Apr. 2016,

https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/americas-food-waste-problem.

Food Recovery Network, https://www.foodrecoverynetwork.org/.

Freudenberg, Nicholas, et al. “Food Insecurity at CUNY: Results from a Survey of

CUNY Undergraduate Students.” Food Insecurity at CUNY - Graduate Center,

CUNY, City University of New York, Apr. 2011,

https://web.gc.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2021-05/cunyfoodinsecurity.pdf.

Gunders, Dana. “Wasted: How America Is Losing up to 40 Percent of Its Food from

Farm to Fork to Landfill.” National Resource Defense Council, 16 Aug. 2017,

https://www.nrdc.org/resources/wasted-how-america-losing-40-percent-its-food-

farm-fork-landfill.

Harvey, Chelsea. “We Are Killing the Environment One Hamburger at a Time.” Business

Insider, Business Insider, 5 Mar. 2015, https://www.businessinsider.com/one-

hamburger-environment-resources-2015-2.

Higher Education Today. “Fighting Food Insecurity on Campus.” Higher Education

Today, American Council on Education , 7 Apr. 2017,

https://www.higheredtoday.org/2015/06/29/fighting-food-insecurity-on-campus/.

Jain, Divya. “Carbon Foodprint at Penn State - Penn State Sustainability Institute.” Penn

State Sustainability Institute, Penn State Sustainability Institute, 2020,

 20

https://sustainability.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ReducingDiningReport

.pdf.

Johns Hopkins University. “Food Insecurity during College Years Linked to Lower

Graduation Rate.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns

Hopkins University , 1 Sept. 2021, https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/food-

insecurity-during-college-years-linked-to-lower-graduation-rate#:~:text=A

%20study%20led%20by%20a%20researcher%20at%20Johns,lack%20of

%20consistent%20access%20to%20adequate%20food%20resources.

Kavilanz, Parija. “After the Super Bowl, State Farm Stadium Will Have Tons of

Leftovers. Here's How That Food Will Get to People in Need Fast | CNN

Business.” CNN, Cable News Network, 7 Feb. 2023,

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/07/business/super-bowl-2023-food-recovery/

index.html.

Lai, Olivia. “What Is Food Waste?” Earth.Org, Earth.Org, 14 Oct. 2022,

https://earth.org/what-is-food-waste/.

Penn State News. “Food and Housing Security Task Force Shares Progress Updates for

Trustees.” Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, Penn State College

of Health and Human Development, 6 May 2021,

https://prevention.psu.edu/news/food-and-housing-security-task-force-shares-

progress-updates-for-trustees/#:~:text=While%20food%20insecurity%20across

%20the%20University%20varies%20widely,University%20Park%20respondents

%20have%20reported%20experiencing%20food%20insecurity.
 21

Poon, Linda. “When Food Is Too Good to Waste, College Kids Pick up the Scraps.”

NPR, NPR, 27 Feb. 2015,

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/27/389284061/when-food-is-too-

good-to-waste-college-kids-pick-up-the-scraps.

“Recycling, Composting, and Waste at Penn State.” Penn State Sustainability Institute,

Penn State University,

https://sustainability.psu.edu/campus-efforts/operations/recycling-composting/

#:~:text=Penn%20State%E2%80%99s%20Organic%20Materials%20Processing

%20Center%20%28OMPEC%29%20is,then%20all%20be%20manufactured

%20into%20mulch%20and%20compost.

Rosenberg, Alec. “College Campuses Take on Food Waste.” University of California,

UC Davis, 5 Nov. 2021, https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/college-

campuses-take-food-waste.

Srebotnjak, Tanja. “Food Waste at U.S. Colleges and What to Do about It.” HuffPost,

HuffPost, 24 Aug. 2016, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/food-waste-at-us-

colleges-and-what-to-do-about-it_b_57bcbc22e4b007f1819a1070#_ftn2.

Stein, Marianne. “Smaller Plates Help Reduce Food Waste in Campus Dining Halls.”

College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of

Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 24 Feb. 2021, https://aces.illinois.edu/news/smaller-

plates-help-reduce-food-waste-campus-dining-halls.
 22

“Sustainability.” Penn State LiveOn, Penn State University ,

https://liveon.psu.edu/university-park/sustainability.

Wreglesworth, Rob. “What Happens to Food Waste in Landfills? the Full Environmental

Impact.” Innovate Eco, Innovate Eco, 10 June 2019,

https://innovate-eco.com/what-happens-to-food-waste-in-landfills-the-full-

environmental-impact/.