Abstract
The purposes of this study were to quantify and compare the kind and amount of solid waste generated in two school foodservice operations located in urban and rural areas. A waste stream analysis was conducted to quantify and characterize the kind of waste in the production and service parts of each operation. The SPSS 10.0 for window was used for data analysis. Non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney) was adopted to determine if significant differences exist in amounts of waste generated in the urban school and the rural school. An average of 415 meals, including 43 adult meals, were served daily in the urban school, while an average of 177 meals, including 24 adult meals, were served daily in the rural school. Food waste generated in the production part in the urban school composed approximately 87% and 45%, while that in the rural school composed 71% and 28% by weight and volume, respectively. Waste per meal was not significantly different between the urban school and the rural school in the production part except the cardboard waste. The total waste per meal at lunch was 154g or 465m1 in the urban school and 51g or 334m1 in the rural school. Students in the urban school discarded significantly more food waste and milk than students in the rural school did. The research results suggest that school foodservice dietitians should evaluate the acceptability of menu items based on food waste per meal, and assess the feasibility of implementing a plan for recycling packaging waste and composting organic waste.