JMU students dump 50 pounds of food every hour
By JACLYN NOVAK
HARRISONBURG, Va. -- It is a typical day at Gibbons Hall, James Madison Universities all-you-can-eat dining hall, and students are piling their trays with servings of pastas, salads, entrees and desserts that they will end up discarding half-eaten.
Whitney Levis, a student at James Madison said, “Whenever I go into D-Hall, everything just looks so good so I take a little bit of everything and end up barely eating half of it.”
JMU sophomore, Katie Lukens said, “It’s a matter of misjudging. You pick all of the food that looks good and do not even think about if you intend on eating it all.”
Everyday, it seems, JMU students throw away enough food to feed a small village. About fifty pounds of food are tossed into garbage cans every hour, which amounts to a staggering 450 pounds of wasted food each day, according to Dwight Campbell, assistant food director at JMU.
The all-you-can-eat style that Gibbons Hall offers attracts a large percentage of college students. “It’s that all-you-can-eat mentality,” said Craig Kravitz, James Madison University Sous Chef. After a long day of classes and studying, students develop hefty appetites. “All of our eyes are bigger than our bellies,” Kravitz said.
According to Campbell, waste comes from students taking too much rather than from overproduction of food. Over the years JMU has made attempts to cut down on waste that stems from cooking too much. “JMU is very good at conserving but we can always do better,” said Campbell, who has worked with the university's dining services for 29 years.
He said that at Gibbons Hall, there was more waste before it switched over to the Fresh Food Company, which cooks food directly in front of students.
Angela Ritchie, marketing manager of JMU dining services said, “Since we renovated D-Hall six years ago and began the Fresh Food company style of service, we have reduced the amount of food that was wasted through overproduction. “Instead of having to predict how many people will be eating with us at each meal, this style allows us to do smaller batches and adapt to the number of people who come through the door,” she said.
For example, on grilled cheese Thursdays, popular nights at Gibbons Hall, dining services limits students to two grilled cheese sandwiches each. “We have limited the amount of grilled cheese each student can have because most of the time they won’t even get to the second,” Campbell said.
Sous Chef Kravitz said that some specific foods are saved and re-used in other items such as soups and specials. “A lot of food we cook that doesn’t go to students gets reused,” he said.
Other JMU dining halls, such as Festival, PC Dukes and Top Dog, control waste by relying on orders. “The way our retail locations like Festival, PC Dukes and Top Dog are set up, we basically prepare much of the food as the customers order,” said Sherry Cox, communication specialist JMU dining services. “We also rely on sales history to guide production of selections such as items in our grab and go coolers.”
Students can help JMU reduce food waste by making others aware of how much they're wasting. Some students concerned about waste suggest creating signs in dining halls that remind students not to take more than they can eat.
JMU student Megan Lynch said, “It would be great if students would inform their friends on not taking too much at dining halls if they are not going to eat it. If students do this then the idea will spread and most likely reduce a lot of the waste.”