Reducing Food Waste in School Cafeterias

Mathematical Association of Nepal

Deadline: 24th April 6:00 PM

Problem Statement
Investigate the problem of food waste in school cafeterias and develop a
model to minimize waste while maintaining nutritional standards and stu-
dent satisfaction. Consider factors such as portion sizes, menu variety, food
preferences, and scheduling constraints.

Tasks
1. Develop a mathematical model to quantify food waste in school cafe-
terias.

2. Analyze the factors contributing to food waste and identify opportuni-

ties for reduction.

3. Propose a revised cafeteria system (e.g., menu planning, portion sizes,

scheduling) that minimizes waste while ensuring adequate nutrition and
student satisfaction.

4. Estimate the potential cost savings and environmental benefits of your

proposed solution.

1
Submission Guidelines
Please adhere to the following guidelines when preparing your submission:

a. Ensure that your work is original and has not been previously submitted
to any other competition or publication.

b. Prepare your submission in the format of a report, with a clear struc-

ture that includes sections such as Introduction, Model Development,
Analysis, Proposed Solution, and Conclusion.

c. Include any relevant mathematical derivations, tables, graphs, and fig-

ures to support your analysis and conclusions.

d. Cite any sources you have used or referred to in your work, following a
standard citation format (e.g., APA, MLA, or Chicago).

e. Your submission should be in PDF format, with a maximum file size

of 10 MB.

f. Clearly label your submission file with your team name and the title of
your report (e.g., ”Team Name Reducing Food Waste.pdf”).

g. Submit your report by the specified deadline. Late submissions will

not be accepted.