Augmenting Sustainability for The Inherently Wasteful Buffet
In the United States, food waste is estimated as 30-40% of the food supply and accounts for the single largest component adding to landfills. Every year, millions of Americans enjoy the luxury and convenience of buffet style eating options at universities, hotels and restaurants alike. This style of service provides ease of use for consumers, fast service, and an efficient workflow for kitchen staff. Unfortunately, the benefits and perceived efficiency are inadvertently compromised by substantial problems. Namely, food wasted at buffets depletes precious resources, including land, water, and wildlife habitat that was needed to produce this overabundance of food. Wasted food also generates emissions of traditional air pollutants and greenhouse gases. This project aimed to address the question of how a system that is wasteful by design can be remodeled to reduce its environmental impact, using the Connection Café at The University of Texas at Arlington as a case study. Utilizing SimaPro, a life cycle analysis software, the system was modeled to represent two weeks’ worth of food for the Connection Café. By utilizing SimaPro’s modelling, initial results yielded measurements of the environmental impacts of the food measured across all life cycle stages. This study is an illustration of how finding hotspots in a system can be used to then augment its sustainability. The research also analyzed foods selected, where they are grown, how they are served, the post consumer phase, and social viability to changes in the system. Results include a proposed redesigned model in which incorporating a Meatless Monday alone can reduce carbon emissions by nearly 14% for the Connection Cafe and potentially save the University over a quarter of a million dollars annually.
