Desperdício alimentar nas escolas estaduais de um município do norte gaúcho

Abstract

The school is responsible for transmitting education to students, through awareness of the rational use of raw materials, since all food waste in public schools impacts public money and is linked to sustainability as it implies the reduction of food losses, integrating the sustainable tripod. Thus, the objective of this research was to quantify food waste in schools canteens, which bring high percentages of food waste according to the literature, so the issue was brought to our interest in quantifying this waste as leftovers, food waste and plate waste. The research is a descriptive, quantitative study with 7 of the 12 state schools in a city in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul, which were named from A to G. The leftovers, food waste and plate waste of all meals offered by each school canteen were quantified. The schools were located in the urban area, some worked in two and others in three shifts, the menu could vary according to the meal served. Food leftovers ranged from 0% to 18.76%, schools D, F and G had an acceptable percentage according to the parameters of the literature, representing 42.85%. The results for food waste diverged between 2.71% and 13.75%. The plate waste reached percentages between 1.97% and 9.94%. In the three categories of waste, proposals and factors that could influence food waste were suggested. It can be concluded that not all schools have some control over what is wasted in school meals.