Osnovna šola Antona Globočnika Postojna

Weighing Food Waste at Antona Globočnika Primary School in Postojna

This school year, we weighed discarded food from morning snacks and lunches twice with students enrolled in the elective course Modern Food Preparation. The weighing took place over five consecutive days, Monday through Friday. Project coordinators used the school's public address system to inform students about the amount of food waste and encourage them to finish their meals. Our goal was to reduce food waste by 10% compared to the first weighing.

There was less food waste at snack time than at lunch, even though approximately 250 more meals were distributed at snack time. Lunch portions are also larger than snack portions. Nevertheless, we can conclude that students are hungrier at snack time than at lunchtime. According to unofficial results from a survey on school nutrition for the 2024/2025 school year, only 35% of respondents eat breakfast regularly. Based on this data, we can conclude that the school snack (at 10 a.m.) is the first meal of the day for most students.

During the second weighing, we discarded 26 kg of food at snack time and 192 kg of food at lunch. During the first weighing, we had discarded 28 kg of food at snack time and 177 kg of food at lunch. Comparing the results, we can conclude that we did not achieve our goal of reducing food waste by 10%.

During the weighing process, we found that a significant amount of untouched food was left over. Untouched food remains when students don't like something and choose not to eat it. A considerable amount of fruit was discarded. For example, on Tuesday, 17.5 kg of apples remained, and on Wednesday, 19.5 kg of mandarins were left. On Tuesday, 10 kg of plain poppy seed rolls also went uneaten. Overall, we found that students are quite selective eaters. They would rather go hungry than eat food they don't like or don't feel like eating at that moment.

Fortunately, we also have students who are very hungry and return to the cafeteria for second helpings, where much of the untouched food is consumed. Therefore, the school kitchen staff ensures that untouched food is properly utilized and redistributed.

Although we did not achieve our numerical goal, we have succeeded in getting the school community talking about the problems of food waste and discarded food. We have helped students gradually realize that food is a commodity with its own story—one that includes the work, effort, and energy invested in producing it. However, as long as food remains easily accessible (in terms of price, variety, and quantity), the challenges of food waste will persist. It is essential to continue discussing this issue with children and modeling respectful behavior toward food—only then will they develop their own respectful attitude toward it.

Teacher and School Nutrition Organizer: Petra Rusjan