Summary
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) school
nutrition programs include the National School Lunch
Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program
(SBP). Average participation on a typical school day
is 27 million children in the NSLP, at an annual cost
to USDA of $6.2 billion, and 7.6 million children in
the SBP, at a cost of about $1.4 billion (FY 2000).
Because of the importance of the programs to school
children’s diets and because of the programs’ magnitude,
interest continues in how well the programs operate.
Plate waste is a direct measure of efficiency of
program operations that has been used in a number of
studies. Plate waste is generally defined as the quantity
of edible portions of food served that is uneaten and is
a common reason for food loss at the consumer and
foodservice levels. While some plate waste is unavoidable,
excessive waste may be a sign of inefficient operations
and an unresponsive delivery system.
This report fulfills a request by the House of Representatives
Committee on Appropriations (H. R. 106-
619). USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS)
reviewed the literature on plate waste in school nutrition
programs to determine the level of plate waste in
these programs, factors that contribute to plate waste,
and strategies that may reduce waste. This review concentrates
on studies of the NSLP because it is the
largest, most widely available school nutrition program
and has been more extensively and rigorously studied
than other school nutrition programs.
Based on this review, the best national estimate available
indicates that approximately 12 percent of calories
from food served to students in the NSLP goes
uneaten. The estimate is derived from a large, nationally
representative study conducted in 1991-92 and
thus this estimate may not reflect current conditions
in schools. In addition, plate waste in any particular
school or district may differ substantially from the
national average due to local circumstances and operating
conditions. Although there is no agreed-upon
standard by which to judge an acceptable level of plate
waste, estimates of typical levels of food waste at the
consumer level suggest that the 12-percent estimate of
plate waste in the NSLP is not excessive. Still, efforts
to reduce waste would yield benefits in terms of operational
efficiency. Decreasing excessive waste, particu