Abstract
A potential strategy for decreasing food waste in foodservice operations is trayless
dining. The objective of this 2010 study was to compare the impact of using a tray
vs a trayless system on plate waste and on employees' attitudes. To test the hypothesis
that going trayless would reduce waste, liquid and solid plate waste were measured
for 1 week with the then-existing tray system and again after a new trayless system
was implemented in a buffet-style university dining hall serving roughly1,000 meals
a day. Foodservice staff were invited to participate in a focus group about the impact
on their jobs. The investigators calculated plate waste per patron under the two systems
and used an independent samples t test to examine the significance of the difference. Comments from the focus group
were analyzed for themes. A significant decrease in solid waste per patron (0.81 oz;
P=0.001) was observed in switching from the tray to the trayless system (4.39±0.24
oz vs 3.58±0.08 oz per patron). A nonsignificant reduction was observed with liquid
waste (49.77±2.62 mL vs 46.36±4.51 mL; P=0.18). Most of the employees preferred the trayless system as long as it did reduce
waste, but felt that increased breakage of dishware and increased need to wipe down
tables were possible concerns resulting from the switch. This study demonstrates that
trayless dining can reduce plate waste, and that employees can be supportive of the
change.
Keywords
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Biography
K. Thiagarajah is a lecturer, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Biography
V. M. Getty is senior lecturer and director, Didactic Program in Dietetics, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 23, 2012
Accepted:
June 25,
2012
Available online 22 October 2012Footnotes
FUNDING/SUPPORT There is no funding to disclose.
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
