[USCC] Food waste generation estimates

[John Cossham]

I think any estimates will be just guestimates.
Based on my experiences of working in several catering establishments, 
abattoirs and more recently, servicing a greengrocer's shop  and a 
supermarket, and taking all their biodegradable 'resources' for composting, 
I'd like to make the following observations:
(and apologies for the length of this post)

a)different operatives will create very different volumes of waste.  When I 
peeled potatoes in a cafe, I cut off thin layers of skin leaving more potato 
for cooking and consumption.  One of my colleagues would be less careful and 
do MUCH thicker peelings, causing perhaps 5 to 10x the volume of peelings. 
I've witnessed other people throwing away slightly mis-shaped vegetables 
which might be more difficult to prepare, whereas I have always tried to 
minimise waste.
Same goes for in the abattoir I worked in (I'm a qualified meat 
inspector)... different people would be quite different in the amount of 
trimming done.  Some are pretty slapdash, others much more careful.  On a 
production line, the speed of different operatives may affect the amount of 
waste produced, as if there is a fast input at the front end, that may put 
stress on the people further down the line.  I remember one slaughterman was 
so quick, I couldn't keep up with the number of guts coming down and lots 
more pancreas got wasted.  But with a slower slaughterman, I could pull out 
more glands. (ahh, back in the days of insulin from pigs!)

b) Now to the veg shop.  In summer, there is more stuff 'going off' as the 
warmer temperatures increase the rate that stuff goes mouldy or limp. 
Different fruit and veg goes off at different rates too, so some summer 
fruits don't last long (peaches, raspberries) whereas winter parsnips will 
stay on the shelf for many days looking good and saleable.  The shop I 
service doesn't have refrigerated displays.  Some do, and may create less 
waste.  'My' shop doesn't produce much organic waste as it has a dedicated 
volunteer composter... how many shops are lucky enough to have one of those?
One of the workers in the shop is good at stock rotation, another is a dunce 
and doesn't do it very well.  More produce gets wasted when that worker is 
in charge for a run of days.  When my greener friend is on, he'll cut off a 
sad cucumber end and sell a half cucumber... but when Ms. Wasteful is on, 
she throws away the whole thing.

c) and back to the catering.  Some catering establishments buy in 'ready 
peeled' potatoes and carrots, giving far less waste in the kitchen, but more 
for the wholesaler who prepares huge volumes of veg for lots of local fast 
food outlets.  The owners of catering establishments will have half an eye 
on keeping costs down, wasting less, so when they are around, less gets 
wasted.  But the underpaid workers often don't care and will waste far more, 
when not being watched, sometimes to 'spite' the boss and as jokes between 
workers.

I could go on and on about my experiences and observations but won't.  I 
just feel that trying to give crude percentages for 'all supermarkets' or 
'all fast food establishments' is asking a lot, because they are all so 
different and circumstances change over time etc etc. But I haven't read the 
methodology used to produce these percentages and weights.

Do contact me 'off-list' if you'd like more info on where these examples are 
set and for more stories!

John Cossham, York, UK
johncossham at tiscali.co.uk

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Coker" <cscoker at verizon.net>
To: "USCC Listserv" <compost at mailman.cloudnet.com>
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 1:48 PM
Subject: [USCC] Food waste generation estimates


> Colleagues:
>
>
>
> The Organics Recycling Committee of VRA, in association with the Institute
> for Local Self-Reliance and Virginia Tech University, have been
> collaborating on a project to develop a GIS model of organic waste sources
> and recycling opportunities in Virginia, thanks to funding provided by the
> RCC program in EPA Region 3.
>
>
>
> The GIS model is similar to previous efforts in PA, CT and MA and 
> aggregates
> food waste generation, by type of establishment and by zip code, 
> throughout
> the state.  The unit waste generation figures we are using are based on
> Jones (2004) in Using Contemporary Archaeology and Applied Anthropology to
> Understand Food Loss in the American Food System, who reports on the USDA
> Food Loss Study, which concluded that commercial sources "lost" 
> significant
> amounts of food:
>
>
>
> Fast Food Establishment                        418.42 lbs/store/day (9.6% 
> of
> food coming into store)
>
> Convenience Store                                 52.72 lbs/store/day
> (26.3%)
>
> Full Service Restaurant                           138.19 lbs/store/day
> (3.1%)
>
> Supermarket                                          120.79 lbs/store/day
> (0.76%)
>
>
>
> We may have an opportunity this fall to "ground-truth" this data in the
> Northern Virginia region of the state, which, as you know, is a suburban
> area to Washington, D.C. and has a high concentration of these commercial
> food waste sources, along with significant institutional sources (Federal
> agency buildings, etc.).
>
>
>
> Does anyone know of more recent unit waste generation data for these types
> of food waste generators? We'd like to update the model with more accurate
> data, and the budget is not going to be able to handle real-world dumpster
> diving.
>
>
>
> Many thanks for your advice!
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Craig Coker
>
> Chairman, Organics Committee, VRA
>
>
>
>
>
> Craig Coker | Coker Composting & Consulting
>
> 1213 Spradlin Rd., Vinton, VA 24179
>
> Tel.: (540) 890-1086, Fax: (540) 890-1087
>
> Cell: (540) 874-5168, Email:  <mailto:cscoker at verizon.net>
> cscoker at verizon.net
>
> Web:  <http://www.cokercompost.com> www.cokercompost.com.
>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
> 


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